Finished Pieces of Work

 Karen has finished another interesting page of her holiday diary. A little while ago she visited Northern Macedonia and remembered swimming in  Lake Ohrid where harmless, non-venomous water snakes were also swimming.

The watery background has been sewn using a circular sashiko pattern that looks like waves and the snakes are made from kumihimo braids.

Thank you Karen. That is a very ingenious way of representing your "lake swimming" amongst the native species!

Sandra has completed her landscape picture with a sashiko frame.

The landscape has also used sashiko patterns but in a more random way.

The landscape has a sun rising above the hills with trees either side of a stream with flowers.

The trees and stream are made from kumihimo braids. The flowers are cut from Japanese material and secured with pearls.

Thank you Sandra

Exhibition of South Lakeland Stitchers Work - Grange Library June 2026

Walking through the library and turning left I was met with a pop of colour and then I realised it was all of our work set out beautifully on three display boards.

The range of work is very wide, there is something of interest for everyone and it might inspire you to try something new.

Thank you to the members who set up the exhibition, members who have lent their work and anyone who has come to see it. The range of skills exhibited is impressive. 

Sashiko and Kogin - Tanya Shaw June Meeting 2026

 Tanya one of our own members  arrived with samples of sashiko and kogin Japanese embroidery as insiration, complete with packs of instructions and charts for us to choose from.

Tanya gave a a short history of sashiko and  our first job was to transfer our chosen pattern onto our material. A whole variety of transfer methods were used from pens, carbon, the window and a light box.

Once the pattern was transferred to the fabric the running stitches were started using sashiko thread or perle. Tanya reminded us the ratio of stitch to gap should be approx. 3:2.

Row upon row of neat running stitches began to appear and with it pictures and patterns.

By the end of the afternoon some members had managed to finish their patterns and were now thinking about what to do with their embroidery. Turn it into a bag, a book cover, a picture - all will be revealed at the next meeting!

The finished pieces are beautiful and the clean lines of stitching against the background can be fully appreciated.

A big thank you to Tanya for organizing a fun day and inspiring us to have a go at a technique which at first can look a little daunting.