Inspired by Bea and the embroidered glasses case she gave me for Christmas, I dug out all my old embroidery gear yesterday: couple of my hoops, couple of my Nana's hoops, some embroidery thread, and a few books. Then I dug into the gi-GAN-tor bag of fabric scraps I scored a few months back on Freecycle, pulled out a teal scrap of neoprene that spoke to me, and set to doodling.
Even though it has been something in the neighborhood of 2.5 *decades* since I last picked up the needle and put it to fabric, it seemed to come right back. I enjoyed just playing with shapes and stitches, rather than following a pattern; I don't think I ever did that while embroidering before, but I've found such inspiration when I've knit and crocheted that way, I thought freeform was the way to go.
So after starting this wee sampler, I got sucked into trolling Etsy.com for vintage embroidery transfers for several hours. It's not like I have the funds to actually buy any right now, but it sure was fun to see what's out there. And I started to collect a mini-blogroll of embroidery sites. If you are an aficionado, and you haven't seen 'em already, check out Feeling Stitchy, Patternbee, Pimpstitch, Vintage Transfer Finds, and Sublime Stitching. There's also Flickr, with the Embroidered Stuff, Stitched by Hand, and Embroidered Art Group pools. SO much inspiration!
I wandered over to the thrift store next door today, and SCORE! I got a 10" wooden embroidery hoop for a buck ninety five, and Kim threw in a 12" vintage linen napkin in pristine condition. Gotta go plug in the iron, now, and cogitate on a design.
To round out the holiday weekend, here is a shot I took on Christmas that I forgot to post 'til today. There's another here, and one here, if you're still feeling the need to revel in Xmas-y goodness.Do you think it's too early to start on Christmas '09 embroidery projects?
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embroidery was the second thing my mom taught me, after knitting... i haven't done it in years, but suddenly i have the urge to go find a hoop.
ReplyDeletedamn! velma, i do not have TIME for embroidery. you need to stop with the inspiration thing, ok?
ha! it's about time someone else got frustrated with *my* endeavors! i'm always feeling your end of things: too many crafty projects, too little time. i hear ya.
ReplyDeleteyou know, i never thought about it, but my mom must have taught me to embroider too. i don't know where else i would've picked it up. i didn't do much then, but she did. i still sleep on pillowcases she embroidered for my 'hope chest', even though the chest itself is long gone.
she didn't knit though, she crocheted. tried to teach me once but we 'bout strangled one another. boy would she laugh if she could see me now! she'd never believe i could crochet.
Awesome! I love your doodles.
ReplyDeletebea: yay!
ReplyDeleteVery nice - as is all of your work. You have inspired me to start a project that I've been putting off...because it will consume my life once it's begun. Thank you. I think.
ReplyDeletethank you humbug!
ReplyDelete