A whitework alphabet: letter I (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)
There will be no coasting gently through the last 2 months of 2019. A general election has been announced for December 12th and now the next 6 weeks promise to be even more tumultuous and disruptive than the run up to the Christian festival we shall try hard not to name usually turns out to be – especially if you have two or more of the following – small children, an extended family, a job, a tendency towards Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), uncomfortable winter shoes, an insubstantial winter coat and a cat who has decided not to leave the house until spring. (Strike that last one. Deciding not to leave the house is very helpful as we can go away and the cat sitter won’t have to worry about letting her in and out.) I only mention this as from now on I shall be zig zagging up and down to London more than usual to support the political journalists in their domestic needs – hence, embroidery as well as blog posts will probably become a bit more erratic.
Whitework Dragonfly (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)
And aren’t I glad it’s Great Western Trains to and from Cheltenham. On Tuesday I went to Euston to meet daughter No 3 and her two little charges off the Virgin train from Chester. With a big suitcase, a large backpack and a car seat, getting off a train and maintaining control of the 2 year old was always going to be a real challenge – one not helped by the train being delayed by about 40 minutes due not only to a signalling failure but also, apparently, cows on the line near Rugby! Many Virgin trains were cancelled or delayed and the concourse was as packed at Nottingham Forest’s Trent End used to be on a match day in its heyday (no seating and few rails to lean on). I gather this is not unusual for Virgin. And Euston Station is not the loveliest of places at the best of times. Paddington and GWR, I salute you for making my journeys to and from London so pain free and even enjoyable – would I be willing to come down to help so much if journeys were regularly disrupted…
Whitework butterfly and beetle (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)
This week I is for insects and fluttering around a capital I of appliquéd silk are dragonfly, beetle and butterfly. Insects, with their often intricately marked bodies, many jointed appendages and wings of lace filigree (not all have wings), make good subjects for embroidery.
Insect Emporium by Susie Brooks and illustrated by Dawn Cooper (published by Red Shed Books, 2016)
I borrowed Insect Emporium by Susie Brooks with illustrations by Dawn Porter from the grandchildren. Full of large and very colourful images, the book is visually very gorgeous, though almost more as a design source book than a teaching aid, for the text is minimal (but then I’m not really their target audience!). Screen printing a set of curtains or a full 50s style skirt with big bold praying mantises, dragonflies or stag beetles in shades of lemon, lime, coral, aubergine and turquoise is very tempting, reminding me of a couple of couture embroidered stag beetles in just these colours on an Alexander McQueen shirt (see below). Of course, they appear with my I in whitework … but now I’ve had the idea of curtains – well, perhaps a hanging – I’ve got very excited. The list of things I want to do just gets longer and longer…
Alexander McQueen shirt with beaded and embroidered beetles
