A stitch in time

I signed up for an embroidery course a few weeks ago run by the guys and gals at Mastered.com. They provide online courses for those interested in fashion and jewellery making and are taught by big names in the industry like Diana Springall and Hand and Lock (who put the gold work embroidery on Michael Jackson's famous military jacket).

I have dabbled in embroidery over the years. Everything from cross stitch, crewelwork, stumpwork, needlepoint and tapestry, traditional embroidery using every kind of available thread. So I figured I had enough experience to chose Creative Embroidery as it covers creating your own motifs and patterns. We are using bold techniques involving acrylic paint, sponges and cut paper to form line, shape and form which will be turned into a pattern that we will embroider on a surface of our choice. A few of my experiments are shown below.

What really surprised me was how much I enjoy using a sponge and cut paper to create images lacking in detail. Then cropping them to find interesting shapes and patterns - well, it's like magic. I must do more of that - even if it's just for fun.

I'm still working through the course. I want to create a sampler of stitches before I start to embroider my chosen motif. And there are instructions for making a clutch bag that I want to try too. So it's definitely something that is going to take some time. No doubt you will see more of my embroidery on here soon.