Brooch commission.

Not posted for a while as been very busy, with work luckily. One of my lovely students that I taught last year at The Royal School commissioned me to work a number of brooches for her. A very exciting project . A few of them are shown below. All of them with very tight briefs , which sometimes I think is much better. Exact colours of silk backgrounds were asked for, and as an embroiderer I of course have every imaginable colour in my stash!!! The holly design was the hardest to work as it was so small but needed lots of shading for it to look realistic. So thank you to S , I know you read this blog . I enjoyed every minute of working them for you.

The brief for this one was just, black and white. My vase embroideries are always popular so I thought a black and white one would be interesting to work. I used a black silk thread and tiny glass beads from Prague. 2 inches dia.

 Two Autumn leaves in silk shading. Worked on a silk dupion. 2 inch dia.

 The tricky one !!! Two inch size again but it needed three leaves to balance the design which meant small stitches. 

 Pansies are one of the best flowers to silk shade as there is not much of an angle change and lots of dramatic colour changes. 2 inch diam.

 Another leaf this time I made it a little more orange. 1 inch dia.

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.

Pansy stumpwork silk shading.

Long and short embroidered pansy stumpwork.

Close up of the centre of the long and short pansy.

This pansy was embroidered in long and short stitch with stranded cottons. I used a very fine linen backing and couched wire around the individual petal edges which was then covered in the long and short stitch. The petals were all then cut out and the edges turned back and stitched. Having wire on the edges under the stitching meant that I could manipulate the petals so they are curved. The stem is covered millinery wire. I had hoped the pansy would have a more delicate feel to it so next time I may paint part of it and add some stitching to that.