What Are You Stitching?

The glistening tales of goldwork in this week’s All Stitched Up! had our eyes hungry for more. We scoured our files for the divine sparkle of goldwork threads and here are some treasures we found.

Patricia Austin

‘Since I was a little girl I have loved working with my hands. My mother taught me to knit and embroider and I have done so ever since. I live in France but had the opportunity in May to go to Cheshire in the UK for a course in goldwork by Sara Rakestraw of Golden-Hinde, which I enjoyed enormously.’

‘Each of us worked an Art Nouveau Initial, I chose an ‘A’ for my surname. The leaf is stumpwork (which I love!).’

This piece is wonderful, Patricia. We like the use of curved shapes to contrast the straight elements of the A. We’re glad you get so much enjoyment out of your embroidery.

Maureen Bradley

‘I thought you might like to see  J. R. R. Tolkien’s Tree of Amalion that  I embroidered.’

‘Tolkien drew the leaves in the tree to represent thoughts and ideas for stories, some of which develop into fantasies some remain as thoughts. It seemed relevant to embroidery, where some basic stitches with colour and embellishment can become wonderful works of art.’

This is a very clever project, Maureen! A wonderful homage to the whimsy and creativity of Tolkien’s lifelong work and a beautiful interpretation of the embroidery medium. Well done!

Miryam Weisberg

‘I have made Balthazar from Inspirations issue #116. I’d never done three-dimensional embroidery before, and it turned out gorgeous. Thank you for publishing such a treasure of a magazine!’

We’re thrilled to meet your Balthazar! We would never have guessed this was your first attempt at three-dimensional embroidery, Miryam. We look forward to seeing what you stitch next with your new skills.

Do you stitch with gold threads? Has your embroidery been inspired by drawings? Have you tried any new techniques?

Whatever you are stitching, we’d love to see it! Email photos of what you’ve created with needle and thread along with a few details about your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com