Saturday 14 September 2013

What a lovely lovely day of embroidery.

I have had such a wonderful day today.  A while ago I decided I wanted to learn to how to hand embroider because I had seen so many beautiful things like this!

Seriously, wow!

My hunt for a workshop started online and I couldn't believe how hard it was to find a hand embroidery workshop in Nottingham given the amount of craft studios and workshops there are, they al, seem to be machine embroidery.  I therefore widened my search to the whole county and I found workshops run at the Manor Farm Tea Shoppe in Bleasby, typically the hand embroidery workshop had been run the day before I was reading about it online.

I read closely and found out the lady running the workshops was called Jane Lightfoot and also held private workshops at her home. As is necessary I looked up her Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jane-Lightfoot-Designs/246582298747187) and internet (http://janelightfoot.com/) pages and checked out what she was capable of and here are some lovely examples.


My mind was made up so I made contact to find out about how these workshops are run.  I was told they're best done with a partner so I got hunting.  My friend Sarah from primary school said she was interested but lived too far away.  After suggesting she visit for a night it was all booked and the date was set, so exciting!

We arrived this morning at Jane's and were taken to her beautiful sewing room where we immediately got started.  We first learnt how to French knot and ribbon stitch and made a lovely little daisy.


Then we moved on to make a tulip using chain and ribbon stitches.


Next we moved onto my favourite ever embroidered flower, the bullion rose.  It's a tricky stitch but so beautiful, one very big smile appeared when I finished this one.


Once we had finished our practice flowers and drunk tea and eaten amazing homemade flapjack, we moved onto making our needles and pins case.

The first part of this process was to choose the fabrics and ribbon to adorn our cases.  This was tricky because Jane has a beautiful and extensive selection of fabrics.  I faffed, faffed a bit more and then forced myself to make a decision.  One the fabric was cut with a very nifty fabric cutter much like a pizza cutter we started the machining.


I was better than I remembered and managed to get things reasonably straight.  The ribbon was a little tricky though as I had chosen a thin little piece.


Once we had finished stitching the material onto the front we started our embroidery.  We took a little break for lunch where we were fed with the most delicious home made quiche, salad, beet root and then cake and scones.  I was so full I could have had a little sleep.

I decided that I loved the look of some stocks that had been sewn by Jane so I made a start with one of these in the centre of my pin case with some variegated silk ribbon.  Ooooooh, I love it!


Next I just had to make a bullion rose, they are so pretty.  This one turned out with a few more petals than I intended but I think I like it more because of this.


Then I made a pair of pretty tulips as we were running short on time and another bullion rose would have taken me ages.  I also wanted a nice variety on the front.


Then we sewed the side ribbons in place.


The next job was to sew the front, the wadding and the lining together.  We used a walking foot which is something I knew nothing of but now think is one of the best things ever.  It was a tense moment turning it the right way out but also very exciting.  All we needed to do now was slip stitch together the hole and sew in the pages.


And here it is, my stunning, wonderful, beautiful and favourite stitched thing ever!




Here is mine and Sarah's together on the table while we stood looking at them smiling.


I could not have wished for a better day.  Jane was fantastic and I feel really inspired and confident to continue embroidering on my own.  I would highly recommend her workshops and if you can't make one at the Manor Farm Tea Shoppe then do consider getting in touch to arrange a private workshop as it was wonderful.  

Thankyou Jane for such a lovely day. X

1 comment:

  1. Hi Lynsey,
    Thank-you so much for coming to the workshop and I am so pleased you enjoyed the day. I can tell from your blog that embroidery excites you as much as it does me! it's always nice to teach people with such enthusiasm. Your stitching really was beautiful for a first attempt and I think you have a real flare for the silk ribbon embroidery and should definite;y do more! Happy sewing and I look forward to seeing other items that you create. x

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