Experimental Stitching on Papers - Sue Tyldesley April Meeting 2025

 Sue who is a member of our group set up a beautiful and varied display of embroidered work using a range of papers [ See Below]. As soon as we saw them we wanted to have a go at experimenting with ideas and then having a go at making a piece.

Sue talked to us about textile artists who used papers in their textile art and showed us some of their work.

She told us that first we were going to modify a range of papers using a variety of techniques and most members had also brought papers from their home stash.

She had set up work stations for painting, inking with walnut ink, stamping, waxing and she had a pile of papers that we could further modify.

We could modify the papers flat or  crease and screw up to produce a ruffled soft surface.

Members set to work with gusto modifying papers trying to remember to stick to a colour scheme as advised by Sue.

Once the papers started to dry we were able to start to build our "pictures" by overlapping, cutting and tearing, trying out colours and thinking about stitches we might use.

By the end of the afternoon most members had reached the point where they were ready to stitch. They took home their paper piece to machine and hand stitch and we wait until next month to see a variety of landscapes, bags and abstract pictures.

A big thank you to Sue for giving us lots of ideas for what to do with modified papers and inspiring us with her own work.

Thanks Sue!

Experimental stitching on papers - Sue Tyldesley April Meeting 2025

 

The Golden Compass - Raffle April Meeting 2025

 

Finished Pieces of Work

 Christina has been very busy making items decorated with black work.

She completed her scissor keeper, a pincushion and a little roll all embellished with the very beautiful, delicate stitches of blackwork.

She has added little pops of colour and beads to make the embroidery catch the eye.

Thank you Christina for sharing such fine stitching with us.

Ann E. has finished her delightful black work pin cushion using mainly black. She then used bright gold star stitch and French knots as a contrast to add interest.

The gold and black whipped stitch is beautiful around the edge and provides a lovely frame for the fine stitching.

Thank you Ann for your pretty pincushion.

Sandra wanted to have a go at blackwork but found the counted thread material and the needle too small so she found some size 6 binca online and decided to try that!

She made two squares black on white and white on black, machine stitching to fabric squares and onto red making a needle case.

She made a twisted braid and stitched around the edge providing more interest.

Thank you Sandra for thinking outside of the box.

Japanese Flower Bag - Wendy Barrington / Jewel Bag - Janet Tabarandak March Meeting 2025

 The day was split into two parts; making a Flower bag with Wendy B. in the morning and a Jewel bag with Janet in the afternoon.

Japanese Flower Bag - Wendy Barrington

Wendy showed us her colourful completed bag  with drawstrings and two pockets opened by flaps.

Wendy demonstrated making a square of two different fabrics sewn together and then turned inside out. The resultant square was then folded to make a triangle and then the two bottom points were each folded in a third and sewn to make the pockets. The top points were then folded down and a casing was sewn for the ribbon drawstring.

Traditionally the bag would have been sewn by hand but some members used a sewing machine.

Wendy said it was important to press seams and folds as it looked better and it folded easier.

By the end of the morning most members had finished their flower bag complete with beads for the drawstrings. There was a wide range of jewel-like colours and they all seemed to complement each other.

Jewel Bag - Janet Tabarandak

Just before lunch Janet showed us her Jewel bags made from different sized squares to produce different sized bags.

She explained about sewing the squares and triangles together making "two bags" that would fit inside each other, sewn together and bagged out making one Jewel bag.

Again the bag would have traditionally been made by hand but some members used their machines.

As the squares began to grow into bag shapes Janet showed us how to make tabs to hold the cord for opening and closing.

Most members nearly finished their Jewel bag and took it away to finish at home.

It was a good and productive day with most members taking home one completed bag and one nearly finished bag.

A big thank you goes to Wendy B. and Janet for leading the two sessions and introducing us to the two colourful, attractive and useful bags.