Embroidery Emporium

Skyrim Inspired Stitches

2012-02-25T13:07:00.000Z

So, I foolishly bought my other half Skyrim for his birthday when it came out last year. Bring on slowly being turned into a Skyrim widow!! haha. Anyway, I have spent many hours sat sewing, whilst he rides around Skyrim destroying dragons, and avoiding injuring chickens. The 'I used to be an Adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee' comments, that seemed to be said by every other person his character spoke to really cracked me up. At one point we were laughing about it, and we came up an embroiderer version!! There was no way around it, it had to made up!!

Stitched on cotton, and transferred the pattern with pencil. Is stitched mainly in backstitch, with a small amount of satin stitch. The skull logo is another awesome pattern Urban Threads, who also featured this hoop over on their website/blog so go check it out - http://www.urbanthreads.com/blog/?p=4047 !

The hoop makes me laugh every time I look at it!!!

Vicki

Ghost Reveries

2012-02-25T12:49:00.002Z

So, about 2 years ago I decided that I wanted to make my other half an embroidered version of the Opeth logo, as they are one of his favourite bands. Only took several years for me to actually finish it!!! I hoped it would be ready by Christmas 2011, but alas, I was once again thwarted in the plan and ended up finishing it in February! Oh well, better late than never anyway!!

I made the pattern by converting an image of the band logo using KGStitch. It is stitched on 16 count black aida using 2 strands of white thread. I think I used about 2 and a half skeins of thread for this project.

It's now framed and awaiting us to find a new house so it can go up on the wall!

Still needs a better iron, but my ironing board is currently covered in coal dust so thought it best to avoid using it!!

So pleased that I have finally gotten around to finishing this! For a while it felt like it was actually never going to get done!

Vicki

Kindle Cover

2012-02-25T12:35:00.000Z

After forgetting to update my blog for a week or so once again thought I should update it with what I've been making recently.

I got bought a Kindle for Christmas and I absolutely love it!!! I never thought I'd own any sort of ebook reader but wouldn't be without my Kindle now!! My parents bought me a lovely leather jacket thing to keep it in for Christmas as well and I didn't want it to get scratched when it's being carted around in my bag, so thought I would make a stitched case to keep it in :)

The case is made from felt, with two embroidered patches. The patch on the front is from an Urban Threads pattern. I traced the pattern onto the fabric and the outlined it in backstitch. The books were then filled in with mostly veryyyyy tiny satin stitch. Man, that satin stitch was incredibly frustrating!!

The patch on the back was made using an image I found online. Again it uses satin stitch and back stitch. I lined the inside of the cover with red felt for a bit of contrast.

The case is stitched together using blanket stitch. Again, I used red thread for some contrast. It closes with a flap that has three press studs, so the Kindle is kept safe inside.

I am so pleased with how this turned out :D I can make these cases to order over on my Etsy store - http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmbroideryEmp
Vicki

Baa, Baa French Knot Sheep

2012-02-06T11:13:00.000Z

I have hated french knots since the first time I ever tried to stitch them, and have always really struggled to stitch them properly. Usually I substitute them for either beads or some sort of backstitch. I thought it was about time to finally get to grips with the pesky things, and cross off another thing from my 50 Projects list!

I found the pattern for this in a recent issue of Crossstitcher magazine and thought it was very cute, and a perfect small project to test out my french knots. It is stitched on linen and as well as french knots uses satin stitch, back stitch and cross stitch. As well as being my first time at using the knots, this project was also the first time I had used cross stitch on linen. Can't say I found using the linen easy for cross stitch though, will stick to aida in the future I think!! I freehand drew the pattern onto the fabric and got stitching!

So after avoiding starting the french knots and stitching everything else on the hoop that I could!! I watched loads of different youtube tutorials, read loads of tutorials, yet still the french knots evaded me. In the end I just ended up getting quite frustrated with them and tried wrapping the thread around the needle in a variety of different ways to see which one worked best for me. After eventually finding my "french knot groove" they got easier and easier to stitch and started to appear really quickly. They are stitched in 2 strands of cream thread and 1 strand of brown thread to make it a bit more multicoloured. I love how the sheep turned out so fluffy with all the french knots.

I think there are over 200 french knots in this project!! So I don't think I will be worried about doing them in the future :D

Vicki

January Round Up

2012-01-31T13:16:00.000Z

I thought to keep me on track with my 50 Things list I would do a round up of things I have completed in the month :) So far I have made a pretty good start on the list!

1. Update my blog at least once a week.
I think so far this has been going well!! Definitely been updating the blog more, although there is still a backlog of the things I've made recently to go up. I think if I can keep it up for 6 months then I can strike it off the list :)

2. Make pattern for Japanese wedding sampler
The process for this is slowly getting off the ground. I have drawn out a pattern I am happy with. Need to check the symbolism of some bits and confirm spellings and such and then will be ready to chart up properly.

17. Cover for my Kindle.
This is totally finished!! :D :D And currently awaiting a blog of it's own, but for now here's a sneaky peak -

25. Add to hoopla wall.
Already two more hoops! And have several more planned out and awaiting stitching! Here's a pick of how my hoopla wall looks -

A Wingardium Leviosa hoop has been added since I took this picture.

26. Tangled hoop.
I am totally in love with this hoop!! If you scroll down you will see my blog on it. It's such an awesome colour and I love how it turned out!

27. Wingardium Leviosa hoop.
My second hoop of the year to be finished and hung on the hoopla wall. This is still awaiting a blog of it's own,but as I am planning several more Potter themed hoops thought I would wait and group them all together. Here's a pic of it though -

44. Set up an Etsy store.
I finally did it! My Etsy store is up and running! Here's the link to it for anyone who would like to see - http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmbroideryEmp

So all in all not a bad month for crafting and lots of things I wanted to do and make have already been achieved :) Vicki x

Etsy!!

2012-01-29T23:02:00.001Z

I have finally organised myself into setting up an Etsy store! Something I have been meaning to set up for ages. Y

ou can find me here - http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmbroideryEmp
So go take a look :)

Also, another thing crossed off my 50 things list!! Slowly working through it now!

And to make this post much more interesting, here's a picture of the very lovely and adorable Eyra cat doing what she does best, snoozing.

Vicki x

Embroidered Hankies

2012-01-16T14:15:00.000Z

For Christmas I decided to embroider some hankies for my Nan. I bought Aimee Rays awesome Doodle Stitching books earlier in the year and loved pretty much all the designs in the book, so it was a pretty easy to find patterns I wanted to stitch. They took two evenings to stitch up, and are done using two strands of thread with backstitch and satin stitch. I drew the patterns on with a pencil, tracing the pattern from the book. Here's some close up shots -

I think this cat one is my favourite of the bunch :) ^^

(I actually have the same initials as both my Nan and Mum).

These were really fun to make, and very quick to stitch up. Will definitely be making some more :)

Thanks for reading, Vicki x

Tangled Hoop

2012-01-15T14:16:00.000Z

I absolutely love Tangled, and it has fast become one of my favourite Disney films! Who could fail to love a film with a sword fighting horse, magical hair and a hilarious chameleon! I've wanted to make something Tangled themed for my ever growing hoopla wall for quite a while now and have had this one planned since before Christmas. I always loved the sun symbol you see all throughout the film, and this hoop is based on the purple flag Rapunzel has with it on.

I'm pretty sure it's framed in a 12" hoop. I started by wrapping some purple ribbon around the outside ring of the hoop, and left enough at the top to hang it with. I then pulled some purple satin material taught across the hoop, making sure it was totally flat and nice and tight. I found an image of the design online, printed it out and then cut out two of the suns rays to use as templates. Using the lens cap from a telescope a traced out a circle onto some yellow felt and then pinned the two paper templates onto more felt and traced around them. The larger rays are made using the same felt as the circle, whilst the smaller ones are from a slightly brighter shade of yellow felt. Once all the shapes were cut out I then pinned them all onto the hoop.

All the felt was then stitched down using two strands of thread. Once they were all stitched down, I couched some sparkly Russian gold braid in a swirl in the centre of the sun. I thought this would a bit more sparkle to the hoop. I love how the hoop turned out and is already hanging up on my hoopla wall :) I think it only took a couple of hours to stitch up one evening, and was the first piece I completed from my '50 Projects 2012' blog.

Thanks for reading, Vicki x

50 Projects in 2012

2012-01-09T12:54:00.001Z

So, inspired by a thread on Craftster that I missed the sign up date for I thought I would set my 50 craft challenges for the year, to help motivate my stitching when I am not working on commissions. In no particular order, here’s what I have so far -

1. Update my blog at least once a week.
~~2. Make pattern for Japanese wedding sampler.~~[Feb]
3. Stitch Japanese wedding sampler.
4. Finish dolphin WIP.
5. Finish Jack Sparrow WIP.
6. Start ‘Library Cat’ kit.
~~7. Start Buffy & Spike kit.~~[Feb]
8. Start Henry VIII & Wives kit.
9. Organise all my silk.
10. Sort out Viking outfit.
11. Sort out Medieval outfit.
12. Alter black Tudor outfit.
13. Make and embroider an Elizabethan Coif.
14. Blackwork Henrican coif.
15. Blackwork for Jason’s shift – collar and cuffs.
16. Make sleeves for brown Tudor outfit and alter it.
~~17. Cover for my Kindle.~~[Jan]
18. Try stumpwork.
19. Try crewelwork.
20. Learn to knit.
21. Make a Hogwart’s scarf.
22. Advertise and promote my website more.
23. Update photos in my work albums, and keep them up to date.
24. Improve the underside of my blackwork.
~~25. Add to hoopla wall.~~[Jan/Feb]
~~26. Tangled hoop.~~[Jan]
~~27. Wingardium Leviosa hoop.~~[Jan]
28. Glow in the dark Lumos hoop.
~~29. Deathly Hallows hoop.~~[Feb]
30. Felt Christmas stocking.
~~31. Finish Opeth WIP.~~[Feb]
32. Read more books on historical embroidery techniques.
33. Enter more craft challenges on DeviantArt.
34. Actually get enough courage to do my first swap on Craftster, instead of just reading all of the awesome ideas on the swap board and never entering one.
35. Go to more than 2 events this year.
36. Keep all the patterns on my laptop properly organised.
37. Make every card I give this year.
38. For my first piece of blackwork to sell on the stall.
39. Expand the range of embroidery stitches that I feel confident with. (Currently only really happy with back stitch and satin stitch)
4~~0. Stop being terrified of doing French knots.~~[Feb]
41. Take better photographs of my work.
42. Keep my website up to date with pictures and blogs.
43. Be more active on my facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Embroidery-Emporium/115006128541419
~~44. Set up an Etsy store.~~[Jan]
~~45. Set up a Folksy store.~~[Feb]
46. Hopefully get more blackwork commissions.
47. Update my Flickr account with all the pictures I meant to upload there last year.
~~48. Try my first cross stitch on linen instead of aida.~~[Feb]
49. Stitch a Christmassy cross stitch.
50. Make more of my own patterns.

Pheww, well I think that list of epic-ness will keep my going for several years!!! Haha!! Anyone else set themselves challenges or aims for the year?
Vicki x

Tinkerbell Mini Cushions

2012-01-09T12:24:00.000Z

Hii. So yet more Disney stitchery is appearing on my blog!! My friends granddaughter loves Tinkerbell and the first cushion was made for her. As she is quite young I didn't want to make something and just frame it, so thought a cushion would be a bit more fun and colourful.

I found the pattern on ebay and loved it and made up the pattern for the 'R'. After I finished the cross stitch I mounted it onto a piece of felt. As I can never leave the reverse side of my work blank, I stitched her name onto the back and added some sequins for a bit of extra sparkle. I then blanket stitched the two pieces of felt together. The cushion is stuffed with toy filling.

So, immediately after I finished this one and posted on my facebook, I was asked to make another one!! My Aunt commissioned me to make one for my cousin, who also loves Tinekrbell. I changed the colours of the flowers for this one, as I don't like to make things that are exactly the same. Charted out an 'M' for the front as well.

This cushion was then put together in the same way as the first. As it was a Christmas present I was asked to stitch 'Xmas 2011' into the back. They were actually pretty quick to stitch up and a fun pattern to do :)

Here's a close up shot of the first design so you can see all the details -

Thanks for reading, Vicki xx

Thomas Kinkade Cross Stitch

2012-01-08T16:16:00.000Z

Soooo, yet again I have been dreadful with updating this blog. I was stupidly busy with stitching over Christmas and time just slipped away. I'm working on a pretty big blackwork commission at the moment in quite a short time frame so not much free time for blogging I'm afraid. Hopefully will get the chance to update this blog with all my latest pieces and show the amazing crafty bits I got for Christmas at some point soon. Having a brief sewing break for half hour so thought I'd do a quick blog about one of the Christmas present I made this year. My Mum is a huge fan of the painter Thomas Kinkade and she has wanted one of his pieces of artwork for years and years. I've been meaning to stitch her up a Kinkade piece for a while now and this Christmas I finally got around to doing one :) I found the kit for 'Evening Glow' on ebay. I had been searching for a kit I liked for weeks and finally found this one.

It was a printed canvas kit, so the picture was already on the aida material. It came with a chart, which gave a pattern for how you could embellish the picture with a variety of cross stitch, half stitch and back stitch using 1, 2 or 3 strands of thread to create a more 3d feel.

The great thing amount this chart was that you could add as many or as few embellishments as you wanted. I decided to pretty much stick exactly to the pattern on the chart, and once I had completed that, I added bits that I thought would make the piece stand out a bit more. This was really fun as I could just stitch what I wanted as I went along. I also stitched the artists signature into the corner.

The kit came with a load of blending filament. This was thread that I had never used before and I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive amount using it, as I have never really been found of using metallic threads. This turned out to be totally different to what I was expecting. It was much smoother than metallic threads, and although when you came to the end of the length of thread you were stitching with it was starting to fray slightly, for the most part it was incredibly easy to stitch with and gave a fabulous sparkly result. I would definitely use it over metallic thread in other projects that I wanted to add a bit of sparkle to.

Apologies for the rubbish phone camera picture, but this is the only shot of it I have were you can see just how sparkly the blending filament made it :) I had great fun stitching it up, and couldn't wait for Mum to unwrap it on Christmas day :) Thanks for reading, Vicki x

Blackwork Commission

2011-12-15T19:15:00.000Z

Apologies for being dreadful at updating my blog recently, have been uber busy with stitching! So, back in May I received a blackwork commission for the fabulous couple who run 4 & 20 Blackbirds, who are a group that demonstrate authentic historical cookery, and I have to say there food is absolutely delicious!! Here's a link to their facebook which I recommend that you check out - https://www.facebook.com/pages/4and20-Blackbirds-bringing-historical-cookery-to-life/181236131901644 . I was commissioned to make two sets of blackwork collars and cuffs for them to wear with their posh Tudor outfits. We spent a while deciding on patterns and in the end we settled on this one from the Blackwork Archives - http://blackworkarchives.com/art/lace2.gif. I modified the pattern slightly, left out the crosses and the extra bit on the top of the pattern, as I thought this would make them a bit to wide for their purpose. A work in progress shot -

The thread of this linen was incredibly fine, which made counting it rather difficult and time consuming. In order to get a straight and uniform look with my blackwork, I always count the thread of the linen as I find this gives me the most precise results. It is embroidered with silk thread from the Silk Mill - http://www.thesilkmill.com/default.asp The finished cuffs -

There is over 60 inches of blackwork in total, which worked out as to nearly 120 hours worth of stitching - I think. Sort of lost count after I reached the 100 hours mark!!! The completed set was handed over at the end of October, and I am now very much looking forward to seeing the blackwork in use on their costume :D :D And here is the finished set -

Vicki.

Articles and Adverts

2011-11-12T14:24:00.000Z

A few weeks back my friends at Black Knight Historical - http://www.blackknighthistorical.co.uk/ asked if I would like to put an article in a souvenir brochure for one of their upcoming events, Norfolk Living History Fayre. I wrote the article on the Katherine Howard blackwork cuffs I had made.

Page 1 -

Page 2 -

[Layout was made by Kindra Jones @ Black Knight Historical]

As well as the article I also had a small advert in the magazine -

And finally, I had a small photobook of all my historical embroidery made up to go to markets where my embroidery is being sold -

Exciting times :)

Cloak Modification.

2011-10-30T16:11:00.001Z

A friend of mine asked me a few weeks back if I would be able to modify his cloak for him. He wanted some rabbit fur attaching to the shoulders. I had never worked with rabbit fur before so thought it would make an interesting challenge.

I got my friend to put on the cloak then draped the fur over the shoulders and pined it into place. We did not want to cut he pelts so in order for the fur to lie flat it was folded over slightly at the neckline. Then the stitching began. I started working along the neckline, stitching from the front to back seam, and the down the back. After this was done the cloak was tried on again and fur re-pinned. Most of the pelts were actually very easy to sew, the fur was incredibly soft and it was easy to push the needle through the under side. So that no stitching could be seen on the fur, it attached by stitching entirely through the leather-y underside of the fur.

The only area I experienced any difficulty was with stitching down the last bit of the right side. The pelt here was incredibly tough, and ended up in me bringing in reinforcements to help pull the needle through the fabric with a pair of pliers!!

Was quite a fun change to embroidery :)

More Disney Stitchery

2011-10-01T17:02:00.000+01:00

So, I am *very* annoyed that I couldn't get to London this weekend to see Rapunzel get officially recognized as a Disney Princess. Really wanted to watch the parade :D :D Instead, I spent my morning sorting through loads of pictures and found all my Disney related crafts!! I've been really busy with loads of commissions and the likes recently so thought I should finally get around to updated the blog!!

I've been working at the Disney store for over a year now and since I've been there a few good friends have left for other jobs. The other girl who started at the same time as I did is leaving this week, which I was actually pretty sad about!! So I wanted to make her a goodbye card. I know she loves Belle and Beauty and the Beast and I found this colouring page of her online. I traced the pattern onto some cotton fabric then stitched around it with two strands of thread using back stitch. There's a bit a of satin stitch on her eyes and lips as well. I crayon tinted certain parts for a bit more colour, and then added some ribbon roses to her bouquet :)

This was another leaving card I made a colleague. I found a silhouette picture of Mickey Mouse and turned it into a cross stitch pattern KG Stitch. Stitched on 14 count white aida and mounted on some red paper before being stuck onto the card.

I made this Minnie card when my manager moved stores. I found the design online and stitched it onto 14 count aida also. I added some beads, as well as a ribbon bow.

As well as the card I also made her a framed piece. I found images of the Disney logo and Mickey Mouse and turned them into cross stitch patterns by using KG Stitch. I love this program - so easy to use!! I them put both the images together to create this -

And the last bit of Disney stitching I found was this Nightmare Before Christmas keyring I made. My friend loves Jack Skellington so for her birthday I made her this keyring out of felt :)

I'm sure there will be many more Disney themed stitchings on here :D :D

Thanks for reading, V x

Hoop Extravaganza!!!

2011-08-22T02:08:00.000+01:00

Soooo, I've been totally obsessing about hoop art recently and managed to purchase a large selection of hoops on ebay. I quickly started planning out what I wanted to do with them all.

I had a pretty bad day the other, one of those days where everything that could go wrong, went dramatically wrong. I decided that instead of being miserable I would stitch out the negativity in a bid to improve my mood!! Worked out pretty well to be honest lol :P Here is what I came up with:

Summed up my mood pretty well, and was a good way of using up loads of bits of left over thread that I had lying around. For the text I used the font generator on this website - http://www.stitchpoint.com/eng/tool/alph/cross-stitch-writing-tool.php

I've been wanting to stitch up something Emperor's New Groove related for a while now. I absolutely love this film. Most definitely one of my all time favourite Disney creations. Kuzco and Yzma totally crack me up throughout the entire film. Too funny. Anyways, I found some Emperor's New Groove colouring pages online, and thought that this one would make a good embroidery pattern.

I love him!!! Stitched up one of my favourite quotes from the film, using the colours of the text on the film cover.

Next I decided to add some Pagan themed hoops to my growing hoopla collection. I found a Goddess pattern I liked on Urban Threads (http://www.urbanthreads.com/) and stitched up using split stitch for the outline, and backstitch for the swirls in the centre. I then added a bit of crayon tinting around the edge of the hoop for more colour.

To go with the Goddess hoop I made a Green Man one. This pattern is from Aimee Ray's awesome awesome Doodle Stitching Motifs book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doodle-Stitching-Collection-Aimee-Ray/dp/1600595812), which I am totally in love with at the moment. Done in two strands of different coloured green thread. Used some crayon tinting here too.

Thanks for looking, V x

Under the Sea.

2011-08-11T21:45:00.000+01:00

So, I have wanted to make a mermaid/ocean themed bit of stitching for quite a while now and had never quite found any patterns I liked before. I stumbled across Sublime Stitching - http://www.sublimestitching.com/ and the mermaid pattern they had and loved it!!

I decided that I didn't want it to be just a mermaid though, and started thinking up a total under water scene. I recently discovered Aimee Ray's (http://dreamfollow.com/) wonderful Doodle Stitching books. I absolutely love the Motif Collection book, so many fabulous little designs!! All the other sea creatures and waves are images from that book.

So after I traced all those motifs onto the fabric (which was the remains of an old bed sheet that was cut up to make costume patterns) I added some freehand bits of seaweed. Then the stitching began!! Most is just back stitch using two strands of thread, with some satin stitch also. Wanted to try and improve some of my embroidery techniques and this was the perfect oppurtunity to practise my satin stitch. Naturally, working for Disney, the mermaid took on the colours of Ariel, and then the whole thing started to go down a Little Mermaid theme. Well why not?! Ariel is a pretty awesome Disney Princess after all!! So I added my interpretation of Flounder and Sebastian, and no Little Mermaid themed stitchery would be complete without a dinglehopper!!

After the stitching was complete I thought it lacked a bit of colour so decided to crayon tint certain parts to make it a bit brighter. I covered Ariel's tail in sequins and added some to the waves to add a bit of sparkle to the whole thing. I then framed it in the hoop, after wrapping some blue ribbon around it as the hoop was a boring pale pinkish colour. I've been admiring the many amazing hoops on Craftster (www.craftster.org) for a while now and thought this would make a good addition to the start of my own hoopla wall. Here be the finished article -

Can't wait for it to go up on the wall now!! Nice to work with lots of colour for a change :D :D Thanks for reading, V x

Lady GaGa inspired hoop!

2011-08-09T16:50:00.001+01:00

So, I am totally in love with Lady GaGa at the moment. I find I have the new album on pretty much constant repeat. Yesterday, after watching far too many youtube videos of her on TV shows I decided some GaGa stitchery had to be made! It was watching this vid that I got the inspiration - http://youtu.be/Jh53Ykumt2o (Totally awesome video of GaGa on the Paul O'Grady show :) )

Aaaaanyway, her live performance of Hair is just fantastic on that clip so wanted to use lyrics from it on the hoop. "I just wanna be myself and I want you to know, I am my hair." I didn't have quite the right shade of turquoise felt in my stash so decided on using white for her hair. Stitched a square of blueish felt onto the black, then stitched the white hair and sunglasses on top.

I stitched some metallic silver thread to the shads to add a bit of blingyness. Then started on trying to make the hair look more like hair. I tried to make sure that the fringe was quite defined then added random lines wherever a felt to make it more hair like. Made a bow out of some left over white ribbon and stitched that on top :)

I then freehand stitched the song lyrics around the edge as I went along, and added some sequins for a bit of sparkle.

The excess material at the back was then trimmed down, and the remainder was stitched tightly together to pull the front of the hoop tight. It only took a few hours to complete :) i'm quite pleased with how it turned out. On quickly becoming addicted to hoopla craftiness after all the amazing ones on Craftster - http://www.craftster.org/

Thanks for reading, V x

Regency Reticule & Other Graduation Gifts

2011-07-26T14:49:00.001+01:00

My lovely friend recently graduated from her History degree with a first, which was totally awesome!! In order to say a big congratulations I wanted to make her some gifts :)

I asked her if there was something she wanted for any of her historical costumes, and we decided on a regency reticule. The bag is made from silk and lined with linen, and all the embroidery has also been done using silk thread.

I traced the design lightly onto the silk with pencil, and have used 2 strands of thread for all the stitching. The design was one I found here - http://www.needlenthread.com/

The border is mostly done in backstitch, with some satin stitch for the centre of of the flower.

I then backstitched around the outline for the "K" and filled in the letter with satin stitch.

I bought a blue silk tassel and stitched that into the bottom lining of the bag,and then threaded blue silk ribbon through the top for the wrist straps. It's a big bigger than some reticules I have seen as I wanted it to be big enough for my friend to hide her phone in at events. Damn smart phones and their large screens :P

As well as making the reticule I wanted to make her something that actually celebrated her degree. I started looking at graduation samplers online but found nothing that I really liked, so I decided to combine aspects from several I had seen and came up with this -

I drew out the pattern I wanted on graph paper. It has a graduation cap and certificate with a bow. I stitched a "1st" into the certificate and then stitched up the details of her degree in the University's colours. Popped a border around the outside, which I made up as I went along and then popped it in a frame.

She also needed a card -

This was another pattern which I put together using a few designs. Stitched on the cap and certificate and then tinted them with wax crayon. I foolishly stitched the grey border in before doing the writing!! I wanted to write "congratulations" in the top but got fed up of trying to make the letters fit in, so in the end went for "YAAAY". Much more fun :P Cut a hole of a card and stuck the piece down, with some sticker peel on's to make it a bit more interesting.

And here they are all together -

Thanks for reading, V x

Roses, Roses, Roses!

2011-07-18T15:45:00.000+01:00

About a week and a half before a Tudor event I did in June I was asked if I would be able to make 8 Tudor Roses for use on a Yeoman of the Guard Tudor Livery jacket. There were 4 jackets, and a rose was required to adorn the front and the back of the livery. It was decided the make the roses out of wool, and applique all the sections onto a piece of linen. I think the most time consuming section was actually cutting out all of the pieces needed - 8 linen squares, 8 red roses, 8 white roses, 40 green leaves and 8 gold centres!! I spent most of that day surrounded by an ever growing pile of material.

After all the cutting out I set to work pinning down all the pieces so that I could get sewing! All the sections are stithced down using two strands of thread.

The centre of the leaves are embroidered with some silk thread from the Silk Mill, and extra detail has been added to the petals of the white rose. In the centre of the flower gold thread has been couched down. Here's a pic of the finished rose.

And a shot of the finished article on Adam's Livery jacket at the Blickling Hall event.

(The livery jacket was made by Prior Attire and is not my work. You can find Prior Attire here - http://www.priorattire.co.uk/ )

All in all it was a bit of a mental time trying to get these finished in the time I had!! After getting the phone call I had work for several days. I tried to find some suitable fabric in Bath, but the so called fabric shops there are pretty rubbish for decent quality material, and the prices are often ridiculously expensive for the quality you are getting! In the end material was sent out to be from off cuts of the livery. This arrived 5 days before we set off for the event. During this time I was moving house, repairing my costume, and on a mission to make as much blackwork as possible for the event. Pretty much the whole journey in the van to the event was spent sewing them and frantically trying to get them finished in time. 4 were totally finished by the Saturday morning, and the 2 more finished by the Sunday. I then thankfully, had another week and a half to finish the last two. Mental times!! If I'd had more time I would of fancied them up a bit more, but oh wells :)

Vicki x

A Busy Year So Far!

2011-07-18T15:08:00.000+01:00

OK, so I have just set myself the challenge of working out how much I have already made so far this year! Since finishing Uni in 2009, I've been stitching pretty much every day, and seem to have been stitching non stop so far this year!! Here's why:

- Engagement Cross Stitch Card
- Snape Phone Case
- Portal Phone Case
- Cross Stitch Motorbike Cushion
- Embroiderd Jane Seymour partlet
- Baby Cross Stitch Card
- Baby Birth Sampler
- Silver Wedding Anniversary Cross Stitch Sampler
- Felt Android Card
- Kathryn Howard Cuffs
- Crayon Tinted Buddha
- Lace Effect Blackwork Cuffs
- Hairdressing Cross Stitch Sampler
- Winnie Pooh Card
- Cross Stitch Birthday Cake Card
- Cat Wedding Present Cross Stitch
- 8 Embroidered Tudor Roses
- Henry VIII Goldwork Garter
- Mrs Pemberton Blackwork Cuffs
- Artichoke Blackwork Collar
- 2 x Portal Hoops
- Quatrefoil Collar and Partlet
- Embroidered Shift
- Tudor Overgown
- Blackwork Coif
- Bess Of Hardwick Redwork Collar
- Jane Seymour Blackwork Cuffs
- Regency Reticule
- Graduation Card & Present
- Blackwork Tudor Rose Needlebook

How I love Picasa for saving all the dates of my pictures!!

Cuffs for Kathryn Howard

2011-07-17T21:56:00.000+01:00

Before Christmas last year I was asked to by a close friend to make some cuffs for part of her new Kathryn Howard outfit. We spent quite a lot of time researching patterns for this project, as we were keen to get the period of the blackwork as accurate as possible. After much discussion we decided to combine blackwork used in two different portraits. The first being a portrait of Jane Seymour by Holbein -

From this portrait we used the blackwork band from around the edge of the cuff. I managed to find a better quality close up version of the cuffs, which enabled be to see the pattern in more detail, and re-draw it. After several tries at getting the size if the pattern correct I found one that worked well.

The second portrait is one believed to be of Kathryn Howard herself -

From this portrait we used the thin vertical bands that radiate in towards the wrist. The only versions of this painting I could find were all very low quality so I was unable to exactly copy the pattern used, and therefore decided to base mine on one found in the Janet Arnold: Patterns for Fashion 4 book. I drew the whole thing up on graph paper, and then set to stitching.

It's stitched on linen, with black silk embroidery thread from the Silk Mill. After getting started on the design there was much discussion on how long these cuffs should be. We eventually decided to make them just over double the length of the wrist measurement. I have a feeling they were around 18" long, but the paper this was written has evaporated into the sea of packed boxes whilst moving.

I was working on these on and off for several months, but when I had the time to focus on just them, the cuffs came along quite quickly. Here's some pics of the finished design -

And a close up -

Overall I am really happy with how the combination of the two patterns turned out. After finishing the embroidery I gave the lengths of embroidered material to my friend who was going to make them look more cuff like. The material was pleated into a cuff band and neatened up around the edge. The first time I saw the finished article was at the event at Blickling, and it was great to see them in use as part of such a beautiful costume.

(Gown was made by Prior Attire - http://www.priorattire.co.uk/)
(Rings on show were made by Gemmeus - http://www.gemmeus.com/)

Thanks for reading, Vicki x

A Dabble into Redwork

2011-07-17T21:49:00.000+01:00

For a bit of a change I decided to start on a redwork pattern for demonstration at the Blickling Hall event. I have recently been reading a book on Bess of Hardwick, who is an amazing women, with a fascinating story. The front cover of this book is a a fabulous portrait of her wearing a garment totally embroidered in a fabulous redwork design.

Whilst researching her online I found that someone had already drawn this pattern out, and therefore I most definitely had to make it. As I knew I wanted to work on this at the event I started to stitch the pattern onto material on my frame a week or so before. In the end it only took about an hour to stitch the first segment using the pattern.

This pattern proved to be quite popular at the event, and as I'd done lots of reading on Bess of Hardwick was a really good talking point to be able to explain where the pattern had come from and the history behind it. In fact, I spent more time talking to members of the public than actually sewing, and was great to see so many people interested in the craft.

After the event I took the material off the frame. I do find the frame quite difficult to work, and find that it doesnot keep the material anywhere near as tight as I would like. This may be something to do with by bodged up attempt at getting it to stay on the frame though ...

Once into my trusty little hoop I was well away with the pattern, and it was finished within about 3 days. It's all stitched on linen, using one strand of red silk embroidery thread from the Silk Mill. This pattern was great fun to do, and I am hoping to use it on a new Elizabethan coif for myself :D

Here's some pictures -

The Blickling Hall event was great fun. Was amazing to see Henry VIII, all his six wives and a little Prince Edward all in one place at such a fabulous setting. I managed to get one shot of my costume at the event -

Thanks for reading,
Vicki x

Guisborough & New Tudor Kit

2011-07-17T21:08:00.001+01:00

*waves*

I was invited to an Elizabethan event by the fantastic Black Knight Historical (http://www.blackknighthistorical.co.uk/) which meant that a whole new Tudor kit was needed. With much help from my ever patient Mum, we made a grey over gown, that was trimmed with fur at the bottom. In hind sight, making said over gown out of very thick wool was a bit of a warm experience shall we say!! My favourite part about making this new kit though, was actually getting to make some blackwork items for myself and getting to wear them :D!!! Before now all the blackwork I had been producing had been as commissions for other people, so I always had to wave goodbye to the pretty embroidery. Until now!! I was working on the embroidery for the best part of 2 weeks:

Coif - 3.5 days
Partlet - 5 days
Shift - 2 days

Overgown - 1 week!!

The coif was a total pain, mainly due to a mistake in the measurements, meaning that initially it was too small for my head. A lot of unpicking later, restarted with the right measurements and all went well. The coif is based on one I found online (I forget where) and just totally fell in love with. Some of the flower patterns in the diamonds are taken from the Warwick Shirt. (http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/web/corporate/pages.nsf/links/aa47f702d5996adc80257149002da95e) I used a pattern from the Tudor Tailor for the coif. (http://www.tudortailor.com/) The coif also has some pearls sewn into the small diamonds, to make it look that bit posher.

The partlet has all be handsewn. I found the pattern for the collar on the Blackwork Archives. This website really is amazing and has some great patterns on it :) (http://www.blackworkarchives.com/)
The collar was actually pretty easy to do, and the pattern seemed to appear really quickly. For the detailing down the front of the partlet I used the line running through the middle of the flowers to tie it all together. The same pattern is used across the front of the shift, and around the cuffs.

All the blackwork was done using silk from The Silk Mill. I have to say this thread is a joy to work with! (http://www.thesilkmill.com/)

I really enjoyed making the whole kit, as well as having great fun at the event, where I was doing blackwork displays. It was lovely to finally get to wear some of my own embroidery at last :) Here's a shot from the day of the event, in full kit with my embroidery frame working on the second cuff for my next commission!

There are more detailed shots of everything in this blog over in the gallery section of my website - www.embroideryemporium.co.uk :)

Vicki x

Twilight & Vintage Princess

2011-07-17T21:04:00.000+01:00

Although I personally am not a massive fan of the Twilight Saga, my lovely cousin is!! For Christmas 2010 I *eventually* decided to make her this bag with the Twilight logo. The logo itself was pretty easy to turn into a chart. I found a high quality picture of what I wanted and turned it into a suitable cross stitch chart by using KG Stitch - which is a fabulous bit of software for anyone wanting a simple programme for pattern making :)

I was not happy with just having a plain and simple bag though! I found the lovely Vintage Princess a few months ago on Facebook and her creations immediately came to mind when I wanted to finish the bag off. I contacted Laura with what I wanted and she was brilliant!! I loooove what she came up with and think it looks fab on the bag :) Perfect! Here's a link for her website, which I recommend any of you reading this check out!! Her jewellery is amazing and she is so lovely and helpful - http://www.vintageprincessjewellery.bigcartel.com/ . Oh and make sure to find her on facebook too!!

Here be some piccies of he finished bag:

Hello from Embroidery Emporium

2011-07-17T21:01:00.000+01:00

*waves* Hello!

I'm Vicki, aka. Embroidery Emporium. I already have a blog over at my website - www.embroideryemporium.co.uk , but am hoping that by having a blog here which people can follow, I will actually remember to post in it more often!! Currently attempting to copy across some of my existing blogs so bear with me :)

On here you will find writing, ramblings and general sewing madness from the life of a blackwork and embroidery obsessed reenactor. Since meeting my partner 2 and a half years ago I have been thrown into a world of fantastic clothing and embroidery, wonderful events with wonderful people, and delving into many fascinating periods of history. I am completely self taught in regards to my sewing, and only started blackworking after being requested to by a close friend. Since the first collar I have started a total love affair with blackwork, and always find myself drooling over lovely embroidery in paintings, and have a list of "Things I most Definitely Have To Make" which is several pages long!! Slowly working my way through that one! I predict that will be a life long mission ...

Vicki x.