White Threads

What Mountmellick is not

Sometimes, people who have never seen Mountmellick embroidery before have some trouble understanding what makes Mountmellick embroidery distinctively its own style. I know I did, when I first started learning about it!

Because Mountmellick embroidery is a traditional style of embroidery, by studying historical examples, we can come to an understanding of what it really [...]

SAL: Looking at buttonhole stitch

Today I want to focus on a small discussion that one of our stitch along participants and I have had over the last week.

SJ had said that she was making good progress on her stitch along embroidery, but she wasn’t happy with her buttonhole stitch. Without being able to see her buttonholing, there was one [...]

finished brooch

Yes, it turned out to be a brooch – the colourful little embroidery I have been working on over the past few days worked its way into a brooch. This is mostly because I have been really pushed for time this week, with very little extra brain space for idea generation… I used a couple of [...]

Colourful gift

Yesterday I showed you the beginnings of a gift for a friend. At the time I wasn’t very happy with it, and suspected that I would end up taking out most of the stitching.

And I did! This is the new version of the embroidery. I finished the red wiggly chain stitching. I can live with it! [...]

gift for a friend

This weekend we’ll be celebrating a good friend’s 50th birthday. (Carina, if you are reading this, stop now!) I would like to make her a gift because she’s special!

She likes bright colours. My first thought was “Oh dear, I don’t do bright coloured embroidery.” I was envisioning garish brightly coloured Hardanger! But then I realised, [...]

SAL: still buttonholing

I’m still pushing along (or given our recent – still resultless – federal election here in Australia, perhaps the phrase to use would be “moving forward”) with the buttonhole edge around the Mountmellick embroidery cushion.

I hope yours is progressing well too, wherever you are up to in the project. Anyone want to share how you’re [...]

Embellish magazine

There’s a reasonably new textiles magazine on the Australian market called Embellish. Its focus is shibori, embroidery, and other textiley things. I got in contact with the girls there a while ago to send them a copy of The Left-Handed Embroiderers Companion for review.

A few days later after receiving their copy, one of the editors [...]

SAL: things for finishing

If you’re doing the cushion, you’ll need a couple of extra bits to make it up. Firstly, you’ll need access to a sewing machine, unless you’re hard core and don’t mind doing it by hand(!). White machine sewing thread will be helpful.

You will also need a cushion insert to stuff the cushion with. You can [...]

Ethiopian restaurant

Firstly I just want to show you that I have not made much progress on my buttonhole edge around my Mountmellick embroidery stitch along cushion – but at least I have made some!

The big news of the day is that there is an Ethiopian restaurant in Sydney!

The African Village Cafe and Restaurant 359 Chapel Road, Bankstown [...]

Classes in 2011

I have been taking quite a number of bookings for classes for next year. I teach Hardanger, Merezhka (Ukrainian drawn thread work), and Mountmellick embroidery. I am also currently devising some classes based on teaching and experimenting with unusual and difficult stitches. I am an accredited tutor with the NSW Embroiderers’ Guild.

If you would like [...]