Some months back, my friend & I did a workshop in our county town of Shrewsbury as an introduction to goldwork embroidery. It was a relaxing day getting some understanding of goldwork embroidery. The technique we used was just couching - laying down gold threads & couching over with threads to hold the shape. It is a technique I use for various threads & it is relaxing.
However, from background research online before that course, I knew that goldwork is much more complex, often used in intricate religious & ceremonial garments & it is a specialised field.
I bought a book to better understand the techniques & various threads used, but other than a brief read, it was not studied.
My talented friend & neighbour who makes the most amazing beaded miniature books surprised me with a goldwork kit for my birthday in April, as a follow-up to the workshop I had done a few days before.
I must admit to being rather overwhelmed when I opened it & found an array of gold threads, beads, & instructions that were rather challenging. I put it aside & thought - this will take careful work to even find out what each thread & instruction is for.
This weekend, being a long one here, I decided now or never; I had postured enough.
I have my creative space & machines in a spare room that I have taken over & so I laid out the contents of the goldwork kit & spent a lot of time deciding which threads are which - rough or smooth purl, pearl purl, leather, bright check. passing thread, beads & more. Once they were laid out on the right section of the instructions, it felt more ordered & manageable.
Fortunately I have an embroidery stand that is essential when you need your hands free.
Mine has a small board that you can peg instructions to - essential at such times as these when following instructions is the only way to see a way forward with unfamiliar techniques.
I have not really used silk so putting in grid stitching to hold it to the backing fabric was interesting.
Then the pattern was traced, then pinned to the hooped fabrics, running stitches around all the shapes, the tracing paper then torn away to leave just the outline stitches.
That took much longer than I thought it would ...
Then the process of following each & every instruction in order to couch the stems with the really fiddly pulling back of the threads at the end of each section so they are not visible at the front.
Tracing & adding felt to part of the flower shapes, then beading it by cutting some of the wire - I think I made mine a little big but it worked out even though it was fiddly.
The gold leather shapes on the flowers needed a thimble to get the fine needle through the leather & keep it neat. Gold beads on part of the shapes followed before the shapes were outlined with the stretchy bright check wire. I worked through the order of things & on the second day was relieved that the progress was good.
Finally after about 10 hours of stitching, cutting, threading multiple needles, the last stitches went in & I could un-hoop it & decided what next. There is a carboard backing board, but perhaps I will just hoop it for now until I decide how I want to display it.
It is easily the most challenging sewing I have done, & it requires very nimble sewing & an awareness of several techniques & use of threads & wires.It is a massive relief to say it is done, I did it after putting it off for weeks because of the unknown nature of the techniques.
My friend Diane is a City & Guilds embroidery & her stitching is precise, mine is good but she is way too generous to say anything other than be complimentary.
I feel a sense of relief & pride that I completed this rather challenging gift & I am in awe of the work of guild people who do intricate goldwork.
It is a real skill, one which I don't have, but then again, I have never studied embroidery formally.
Do you also procrastinate when challenged until you have to step up? Thank you for stopping by, please subscribe & share - it is much appreciated.
Dee πͺ‘ππ