City and Guilds Machine Embroidery

Our small group of embroiderers have now finished the first term. Our time has been spent on a design for craft module and also applying these elements to lots of new sewing and embroidery techniques.  I have thoroughly enjoyed dabbling with dyes, painting fabric and practising my appliqué !!  We have all been working hard at completing our books which evidence that we have all diligently practised everything we've been shown -  I have seriously edited mine as some of my practice samples are real shockers!  It's a bit like in school where you aren't just supposed to come up with the answer but have to show the working out.  Well my working out mainly went in the bin!!

This term we now have to produce ten samples which demonstrate different embroidery techniques. The samples are to based on architecture and we need to show that we have considered the design element of the course.  I have been busy with my camera and sketch book in and around Broadstairs. It's amazing what you notice when you really start to look.  Next week I'm off to Brighton for a mini break and I'm hoping to get some good pictures of the West Pier and the Pavillion.  These I hope will inspire some of my samples.

Luckily our work does not have to be a direct representation of what we see just an interpretation - so I'm thinking quite a bit of artistic licence here then.

Until I have some photos to post here's a pic of some stitching I did on soluable fabric.

And after it had been dissolved -

That's it for today.  Happy stitching  - Jacky O

Happy new year!

Wishing you all a very happy new year.  Looking back to 2015 in my sewing room I can see that it was a very productive year but there were some major shifts in the direction my stitching took me.  I made six traditional quilts and a number of bags. But I also made three "modern" quilts.  These did not incorporate traditional blocks and appeared rather random but I loved making them and decided I wanted to explore different aspects of quilting and stitching.  That said I signed up for a city and guilds course in machine embroidery.

That alas is where it all went wrong for my blogging!! The course has been pretty full on with "home work" each fortnight, trying out lots of different processes and techniques. There is also a design element which has had me playing with paint, dyes and lots of other play school stuff!! So although I have been kept very busy since September there has not really been anything to show on my blog which I why I stopped.

However, the new term starts next Friday and with architecture as our theme we will be making a sample each week to demonstrate what we are learning and I will be posting pictures of these regardless of how they turn out!! So keep watching this space, it will be different I promise.

This is one little piece I made - a bit scrappy - as a sample of bonding fibres, fabric, thread and stitching.

Happy stitching .......Jacky O