Crewel work finished

I have had my crewel work returned from assessment (yet to receive the written summary but received positive feedback so all good). I really enjoyed crewel work, the texture of the wool, the quickness of the stitch up and the relaxation of hand stitchery. The intermediate course was a perfect winter activity!

Here are my finished pieces below, I haven’t photographed the samplers, maybe next time. All coursework will be on display at our upcoming biannual exhibition and should be mind blowing, there have been some wonderful portfolios of work produced over the last two years by some creative and accomplished stitchers. Well done everyone including the tutors.

The first piece is a bag made from a Nicole Mallalieu design. The embroidery includes free machine embroidery as well as the crewelwork and is on a pocket at the front of the bag. The design for this began with the vintage fabric I bought on a trip to A piece of Cloth. (I thought I had blogged about this visit but cannot find it, will do later) It includes left over light grey woollen fabric from a long ago project, dark grey woollen fabric from a pair of Op Shop trousers, heavy black fabric from a discount shop and some lovely red linen as lining. I have a magnetic catch on the pocket and a zipped gusset on the bag. Nicole’s pattern was a dream to sew with very explicit directions, however it is an advanced pattern so I wouldn’t attempt alone without a good background of sewing skills. It is very roomy and will be perfect for carrying lots of gear to GeeTAG group and workshops (and shopping trips!)

This cushion was designed from the roman blinds in our family room where this chair sits. It was great fun to stitch as we had to use 15-18 stitches so I could be very creative in applying the stitches even though it is a quite traditional design.

This paperweight is one of the minor pieces made from one of the samplers. I chose a nice flat river stone from the garden and felted the wool over first. The embroidery was cut out and then needle turn appliqued into place. I had originally designed a lotus flower to embroider for this but ran out of time. Might do a matching one at some stage.

Another minor piece: we had to do crewel embroidery over  a patterned piece of fabric. Most people embroidered over tapestry but I decided to make Claudia a cushion when I found the red patterned fabric. I cut out a motif and ironed onto a heavier fabric with vliesofix to make a sturdier base for the wool embroidery.