Beginning Crewel Work

Hello Dear Reader,

I am linking to Super Mom - No Cape's Vintage Stitchery Party No 28, today.

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The year I joined my local handicraft group the project we all worked on was "Creative Crewel". The topic was "fruit"! I think crewel work was new to many of the members. It certainly was to me!

I used to be hooked on cross-stitch, but once I started crewel work I couldn't stitch enough embroidery!

My first Crewel work

One of our members, who directed us in this project, had dyed all the fabrics that we used - the blue silk for the backing and the coloured blanket wool for the "fruit".  This was my first embroidery project and whilst I was working on this project I was also stitching my Embroidered Town Ruck, which was mainly inspired by the "fruit" project. 

Here is everyone's work being attached to the final piece, which is now hanging on display in our craft room.

The blue here isn't quite right, but you can see the ideas everyone else had.

The blue shown in this photograph does not truly represent the colour of the fabric (as it was taken under fluorescent light). The previous photograph, which was taken in natural light, reproduces the colour exactly.

Funnily enough, this month, we are again stitching Crewel work.

To my horror, the day we were getting our instruction my train was delayed, and I had been rushing around so much that morning that I had to buy a sandwich for lunch en route too! I was late to my handicraft group, and when I arrived the instruction was already under way!

This is my chosen pattern and I was intending to work
 from this picture, however it isn't really clear enough.

Our instructor, (not the same lady who took the aforementioned project) is yet another member of our group, brought along lots of patterns and books for us to choose from.

We used Hot-Iron Transfer Pencils to trace our chosen patterns on to tracing paper and were told:

• be sure to press heavily with the pencil, and in flowing lines,
• turn the tracing paper over, pin the design to the fabric,
• press firmly over the design with a hot iron.

BEWARE: these pencils leave permanent marks and must be covered by your embroidery, as they do not wash out.

This was new to me, because in the past I have made my own patterns by drawing onto my fabric with an ordinary pencil, which usually fades in time or can be washed out - again beware, it doesn't always wash out.

The maxim is:  try on a scrap of the same fabric before you start!

Well, I learnt something useful here, and hope this helps anyone new to stitching.

Unfortunately I scorched my fabric by over
pressing it, luckily it only shows in the photograph!

Hopefully, my stitching will take the eye away from the scorching.  I will be making this into a small cushion and when it is in use I am sure it will not show.

Tools of the trade!

My colour choices - although they may change as I
progress with the stitching.

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AN UPDATE - COCOA SAMPLER

Ta dah!  I've finished the house view!  Although there are white stitches to be added (the stars in the sky!) when I finish the whole sampler, I'm leaving them until the end so they don't get grimy from being handled while I'm stitching.

 It's certainly encouraging to have finished two of the scenes now!

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To finish today, I'd like to show you some photos I took a couple of weeks ago. I was at the kitchen sink with my hands in soapy water when I saw a sparrowhawk sitting on our hedge.  I raced for my camera and the sparrowhawk watched disdainfully as I tried to photograph him! Sorry the picture is a bit blurred, but it was a rush to catch him, and it is also photographed through the glass window!

A few days ago there were a couple of birds briefly circling above our house and the surrounding area which I imagine were some form of buzzard.  No I am not imagining it!  We have quite a few nature reserves around this area, and we are next to a common, so its the ideal countryside for all these birds.

Also, some time ago my husband went on an organised nature open day in a disused quarry (again nearby) and he was told that there are a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons living high up within the vertical chalk face of the quarry, perhaps it was those I saw, but it was only a fleeting glimpse.

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Once again, don't forget to pop over to see what the others linking to Susan's blog, Super Mom - No Cape's Vintage Stitchery Party are stitching.  Plus, each week Susan has a free downloadable vintage pattern for you to embroider! This week, the pattern is of a Ring-Necked Pheasant.

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Thank you for visiting here today, and I'd really love it if you leave a comment to let me know you've been!

Until we meet again (oops, slipping into theatrical mode) I hope you have great week.

Hugs!

Barbara xx