Stitching bliss in Halberstadt

I am back from a wonderful stitching weekend in Halberstadt! My husband and I drove up there on Friday and back again yesterday. It takes us about 8 hours to get there. On the contrary, most stitchers from the Netherlands have a far shorter drive. Maybe some Dutch stitchers could join us next year? Stitching in the medieval cloisters with the largest medieval textile collection next door is after all a pretty unique experience! Especially when the museum's director, Dr. Uta-Christiane Bergemann, is on hand to give us an exclusive tour of the cathedral and the exhibition. It worked out really well for all of us. This means that we will do it again next year. And this time, we will take our inspiration directly from the museum's textile collection. So, watch this blog and the newsletter for more information. For those of you who would like to see more of the Cathedral and the collection, please download the free Domschatz Halberstadt App. It is available in English and German and has some nice close-ups of the embroidered textiles.

Although we had one American lady joining us in Halberstadt, I do understand that not all of you can make such journeys (I still recommend it as this is a collection you really want to see!). Since she needed instruction videos in English, I decided to turn the workshop into a self-paced online course. It consists of five instruction videos and an embroidery kit. There's one video on setting up your slate frame (always available for free on my website). Then there is a video on traditional pattern transfer with prick and pounce and iron gall ink. Buying a full kit for this step is optional as you can also use the transfer method of your choice. The other three videos show you the different couching and embellishment techniques used in the sampler. You will have access to these videos for a whole year from the time of purchase (this will entice you to not only buy a course but also work on it :)). The embroidery kit will contain a large piece of linen (so it will fit a traditional 24-inch slate frame), Japanese thread, gilded silver passing thread with a silken core (otherwise known as 'real gold thread'), real gold twist, fresh-water pearls, Chinese flat silk, linen sewing thread, linen string, cotton string, beeswax and needles.

So, how does one sign up for the course? Through my webshop. Very soon. Unfortunately, I still don't have all the ingredients for the embroidery kits in. But as soon as it has all arrived, I will start kitting them up. Equally, I don't know the exact price yet due to invoices still being on their way. And then there is the small, but pretty important, matter of calculating the shipping costs. This can equally only be done once everything is in.

I will announce the course first on my Patreon site and then through the blog and newsletter. As it has proven to be very difficult to guess how many people end up signing up for courses like these, I will have an initial trial run of 10 kits. There will not be a waiting list. New batches will be announced in the same way as the first batch. Happy Stitching!