What Are You Stitching?

Elizabethan style embroidery is one which is always popular. Perhaps it is the intricacy of the designs, with elaborate foliage, detailed flower and animal designs and an incredible variety of stitches.

Looking through our What Are You Stitching? files, we have discovered a number of gems that fit with the style to share with you this week and we can only marvel over the time and effort invested into each of these exquisite projects.

Christine Harris

‘I’ve wanted to do a men’s medieval nightcap for a very long time and late last year I gave it a go. I’m pleased with it.’

‘The pattern was one that I found years ago online for individual use. I’ve never found another pattern that I liked as much.’

It is a beautiful piece, clearly stitched and constructed with care. It is sure to become a family heirloom, Christine.

Catherine Jennings

‘I thought you might like to see this box I have completed. I bought two of the silk kits several years ago (the second by mistake!).’

‘The first I made into a picture. The second I embroidered during lockdown and mounted in this box which was made for me by a friend’s husband.’

Stitching the same design twice shows true devotion, Catherine! As it is such a beautiful design (David Smyth’s Garden from A Passion for Needlework), we’re sure you would have enjoyed many, pleasurable hours stitching them.

Lois Woollams

‘This little purse was hand stitched with silk and silver thread as a follow up to the medieval Sweete Bag (from Inspirations issue #99), with a modern twist of a zip closure and tassels.’

‘The little tag is a hexagon embroidered with a heart on one side and the first initial of my niece, ‘J’, on the other. It is covering a gold coin, which was traditionally always given with a purse.

The pattern is designed from a piece in the V&A museum. It took six months sewing with a magnifying glass!’

But what a result, Lois! We love the modern twist and we’re almost speechless at the detail and design of this amazing piece.

Susan Hobkirk

‘At the start of lockdown in the UK, I decided it was the ideal time to start stitching Victoria Laine’s Sweete Bag from Inspirations issue #99. I had pushed my particular boat out and ordered the kit at the time but was trying to find the space to start what was a big project for me. Big in magnitude, but teeny tiny in execution!’

‘As I write, I have finished all of the embroidery and today I will start on the construction. Then, I will begin on the next mammoth task of making the braids to go around the project.’

There is no denying that Victoria’s Sweete Bag is a huge project, despite its diminutive size. You’ve done an incredible job with it, Susan.

Do you love all things Elizabethan, or is Jacobean more your style? Perhaps you adore the Victorian period, or maybe modern embroidery is what you love more than any other. Whatever style, whatever period, we want to see it. Send us pictures of your work, with a bit of information about the project and your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com