Bundle of brooches and 10,000 views.

Here is my latest selection of brooches. My needles are hot right now !!
       Before I make any more I am going to decide on my next large embroidery project. Although I would love to do another silk shaded giant embroidery I think it would be good to do a different technique. Either blackwork or appliqué. Watch this space.
      I am also thrilled to see I have had over 10,000 views of my blog. I know this is a very small amount in the world of blogging but it is huge for me. So thank you to everyone who follows me or just checks in every now and then. Also thank you to everyone who comments on my posts. It makes me feel that I am not just writing to myself.

Polka dot pansy. Silk shading long and short with a beaded background.

Beads and sequins.

Another oak and acorn crewel work . I just love doing them.This time on a floral printed background.

Drawing straight onto the silk fabric with my silk thread. No design on there just sketching away with my needle. Try it !!

No traditional colours here for this crewel work. Cerise meets lime and turquoise.

Brooches

After trying out a couple of brooches I am now addicted to making them!!! The giant turquoise beetle embroidery did feel like a trial at times so these brooches satisfy my need for projects that are not on the frame for months.
     I have sold most of these in the Royal School shop and now have s frame set up with about ten brooch projects at a time. If I get fed up with one I just move on to the next. Although I am just itching to start another big project......

These two brooches have appliquéd vases with thread sketching and tiny antique bead work. 

A silk shaded leaf with stranded cottons.

A tiny silk shaded pansy.

Crewel work vase and flowers with french knots and stem stitch.

Crewel work oak and acorns on a silk background with metal work detail.

Long and short leaf with seeding on a silk dupion.

French knot hydrangea with long and short leaf.

Crewel work embroidery.

This crewel work embroidery sample was stitched quite a few years ago for a class at the Royal School so I thought I would dig it out and perhaps mount it or make it into a pin cushion. It is 11x9 cms so quite small but suitable for a two day class for beginners. It is stitched on traditional linen twill so very tough fabric using Appleton crewel wools. It is all stitched with one strand apart from the coral stitch which is two as I feel very often this need to be bulked up.

Crewel work embroidery sample. 

Close up showing long and short stitch, padded satin stitch(with padding), seeding, raised stem band, cretan, french knot trellis and whipped herringbone among others. 

Close up showing tiny whipped wheels, buttonhole scallops, coral stitch and whipped stem stitch.

Crewel embroidery brooch.

I seem to be very much inspired by acorns at the moment. This is a little crewel work long and short brooch with a couple of acorns and an oak leaf. I stitched this is in Medici wool with a little twig in red metal . I think I will do a few more of these in various colour ways.

Crewel embroidery brooch.3 cms 

Silk shading on a necklace.

This was a little silk shading sample I did for a necklace. The necklace blank was really narrow so it was a bit of a squeeze to stitch. The embroidery is only one centimetre wide. The little acorns are french knots and satin stitch with stem stitch for the branches. All worked in one strand of stranded cotton. I mounted the embroidery on vilene but I think I will use thin mount board next time so I can stretch it tightly. I can see a few wrinkles on this one!!

Seaside embroidery

This little starfish I embroidered ages ago. I wanted it to really 'grab' surfaces so there is a really fine florists wire under the edges. The base is a machine embroidered sateen with velvet discs french knots and various surface stitches. The background is a beautiful Japanese paper that a student gave me as a gift.