What Are You Stitching?

Blackwork is a technique that is much loved and has been practiced for centuries. It is incredibly versatile and can be as simple or as complicated as you like. Although it requires careful counting, it is meditative in execution and wonderfully pleasing on the eye when complete. Here are a few delightfully varied blackwork projects for you to enjoy.

Bridget O’Brien

‘I was so enamoured with the project Limonera Pear by Christine Burton, I asked my husband to buy me a copy of the book A Passion For Needlework | Blakiston Creamery for Christmas. I sourced most of the supplies locally here in Canada.’

‘The only thing I couldn’t obtain was the couching thread for the leaf. But, in digging through my stash, I found a bit of Japanese silk metallic fabric and it worked out beautifully.’

You certainly picked a very popular project Bridget, it’s been one of our all- time favourites thanks to the exquisite design. Your version, with its bespoke materials, is absolutely fabulous, it really has been completed beautifully. Well done!

Carol Higginbotham

‘I have been doing blackwork for the Embroiderers’ Guild of America for a long time. I taught my first national seminar for EGA in 1979 and have been teaching at seminars across the country since. I love to take the soft shading of crewel and surface embroidery and work it in blackwork.’

It is so wonderful to hear how long you have been teaching for, Carol. It is an amazing legacy you have created. And your pieces are so striking! Such fine delicate work, they really are beautiful. We’re sure your students must love stitching them with you.

Mary Trouson

‘When I saw the Limonera Pear in A Passion for Needlework | Blakiston Creamery I just had to stitch it. I couldn’t find the silk georgette called for or even a close match, so substituted a tea green cotton instead. This meant I didn’t need the tissue paper. I also used a vintage grey Belfast linen rather than the platinum.

Loved every minute of stitching this!

Though I have to admit that I was beginning to wonder if I would ever finish the leaf!”

Well done for persevering Mary, the results speak for themselves. And kudos for your resourcefulness in sourcing and substituting all the materials you used. You now have a special one of a kind Limonera Pear you can cherish and be very proud of.

Do you like doing blackwork? Are you enamoured with the counting, loving the neat geometric stitches that result? Or do you prefer to be free with your stitches, avoiding the restrictions posed by holes in the fabric?

Whatever it is you like to stitch, we’d like to see it. Send us a picture of your work with a bit of information about the project and your stitching journey to news@inspirationsstudios.com