Contemporary Cutwork from the Folio

The last post showcased some the more traditional pieces of  Cutwork from the Embroiderers Guild Folios. Here are a few modern and colourful ways of using Cutwork. Enjoy!

Correct me if I am wrong but I believe this is Hardanger? using yellow, blue and red threads, above. It is very striking stitched in vivid colour.

A sampler worked on blue linen with ideas showing how the design could be used in practical ways around the home. This was another of my favourite pieces.
Below, a Hedebo sampler on white stitched by a self-taught student named Stephanie Louch. She also used the Hedebo technique more freely to stitch the wonderful jellyfish, starfish and fishes under the sea.

Threads Drawn from a loosely woven cloth can be stitched over by hand, as above, or freely by machine (drop the feed dogs first) and can make wonderful textural pieces like this. It is especially great for making a tree design.

Similar to Reverse Applique this free machined Cutwork piece on red suede made by Elaine Wilson has coloured pieces of silk remnants showing through. This is achieved by layering fabric and sewing the design before carefully cutting away different layers to reveal the various colours of fabric underneath.

In 1986 a stitcher by the name of Rebecca strong made these lovely delicate pieces of Cutwork using a sewing machine and metallic thread.

Below, beautiful Whipped Eyelets on blue fabric sit protected by their plastic cover. Another favourite.

Here is a very modern piece, not sure of the date but it was made by a Miss Manning. It looks stunning mounted on pink card, was that her intention, I wonder, or did someone curating the pieces at the Embroiderers Guild HQ in Bucks, have this idea?

Below, the last photo of our post, are free machined pieces donated by the East Kent Guild. These are on Organdie, the cutwork being made with a soldering iron. 

The green sample on the right was inspired by a design on an early English Tile at Canterbury.

Well, that's all from the Folios for now. Maybe our branch will borrow another in the future, but until then why not get cutting and stitching yourself or look out for our May post which will be reporting on the workshop we had creating Cutwork Butterflies. 
As always Happy stitching!

A Folio of Cutwork

The April meeting of the Lytham St Annes was a little unusual as it was an opportunity to view by slide and 'in person' part of the Embroiderers Guild Collection.
Folios are made up of various samples of embroidery based on one technique that have been preserved by mounting and placing in strong plastic folders to protect them. This enables the work to be loaned out for a limited time period to Embroiderers Guild Branches around the country.
Our branch borrowed the Cutwork Folio and our member speaker spent a great deal of time carefully photographing each piece and presenting them to us via a slide show that accompanied a talk that she had written also.

When this idea was first stared, folio collections were called Model Boxes with the samples and a description of the stitch, technique, influence and/or name of the embroiderer accompanying each sample.

Here is a Baby's Bonnet from Flanders made around 1550 to 1600.

Cutwork is a form of embroidery where threads or part of the fabric is removed before being surrounded by stitches or connection bars of thread. It is a forerunner of Needle Made Lace and is an umbrella term for a number of different techniques that include Broidery Anglaise, Renaissance Embroidery, Richelieu, Venetian Embroidery, Reticella and Hardanger.

This is a long gown for a baby, perhaps a Christening Robe and it dates from 1850 - 1870.

Originally, Cutwork was used in the sacramental robes and grave cloths of Saints and appeared around the 13th Century.
Between the 13th and 16th Century it was principally Nuns that used this technique to make robes for Priests but during the 15th early'lace' masking flourished in convents, Court and homes of the nobility.
The Court of Elizabeth I favoured it for collars and ruffs on their gowns and robes.
In the 19th Century with the advent of the sewing machine this type of stitching could be made faster and by the 20th Century machine embroidery became established.

Here are lovely examples of Cutwork Mats, the one above left came from Norway and was donated by a Lady Blake. Above right the mat with a Cut work Cross design came from Sicily.
Below, the Circular mat from the 1920s and donated by a 
Miss Brekke; is an example of  Buttonhole and Padded Satin Stitches.

Various names have been used to describe Cutwork through the ages. In France it was known as Point Coupe, Punto Tagliato in Italy and Opus Seis Sum in Germany. There is also Danish Hedebo, Mexican Open Work, Czech Cut Work, Russian Touchon Lace of the Ukraine and Drawn and Cut work from Spain and Sicily.

This was one of my favourite parts of the Folio, above, worked by a Mrs Isabel del Strather ( or Strother?) is shows a well thought out design for a Hardanger piece based on the underside of an African Violet leaf. The technique is called Knoster Blocks and worked in perle thread.

More Hardanger above and below, sorry I did write some dates but do not appear to have them for these.

Above, these are Napkin rings using a variety of cutwork techniques and include needlework and cross stitch. 

Below, is the South Lakeland Sampler made by 62 stitchers over a period of 5 years at the Ruskin Lace School during classes spanning 1972 to 1977 taught by Elizabeth Prickett who also designed the piece. It is made on linen with cutwork and needle lace and is in storage at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Here is a link to the V+A page regarding this piece.

Many thanks to our member SD for her hard work putting the talk and slide show together for us. Just writing this post has taken so much time so I do appreciate all her work, especially sending me these photographs to use in the Blog. Thank you!
In the next post will be examples of more contemporary and colourful Cutwork pieces. Be sure to have a look.

The 100 Hearts Project

To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the ending of 
World War I, members of the Embroiderers Guild were invited to make a heart which will be on display in locations around the country.
Principal exhibitions to display the hearts are the Knitting and Stitching Shows at London and Harrogate this year and the NEC, Birmingham in 2019.

Here are two hearts lovingly made by members of Lytham St Annes branch.

This red heart decorated with goldwork, was made by our member K in honour of her grandfather who fought in the Great War.
The writing on the top reads Royal Fusiliers.

The goldwork Flags and the Thistle represent their emblems. Very detailed work.

The lettering reads 1916 Somme and his name  

James Henry Hesse number 2466. 

The stripe signifies that he was wounded in battle. Wounded ex-service men had to wear these stripes to prevent them from being harassed by some who would go around giving a white feather to any man whom they deemed as cowards for not being in active service! 

This very brave man was a Signaller who put up the wires used for communication during WWI. It was a very dangerous job and this led to him being shot in the back and lying in No Mans Land for over 24 hours. He was found on 16 July 1916 and sent to the Casualty Clearing Station 12 miles away but the shrapnel stayed and bothered him for the rest of his life and would flare up with red patches on his skin.
The casualty report stated 'several gun shrapnel in back' and his records managed to survive when the Warehouse in London were they were kept was destroyed during the Blitz. 
These are known as the Burnt Records.

This blue heart, below, was stitched by our member L to honour her grandfather's brother who was not known to her until researching her family tree.

W. A. Hutchings fought bravely in the famous series of battles in Arras during WW1.

He sadly died on 23 April 1917. It is a pity that we do not know more about him.

I find the motif of the soldier at the graveside of a fallen hero so  poignant. The silhouette also shows the recognisable army uniform from this time period which changed distinctly in the next World War.

Detail above, shows poppies growing in among barbed wire.

This picture shows the many beads which were carefully stitched around the heart.
Thank you to our two members for sharing their work and stories with us.
This has been the saddest post that I have ever written for our blog. Usually its all oohs and aahs about the stitching but this really touched me emotionally. There is more to the story about what happened to James Henry Hesse after the Great War, that brought tears to my eyes.
Many of us had relatives that fought and lived through the 2nd World War and know the sacrifices they made but so often never spoke of - so I am sure that you will find the WW1 hearts and the meaning of their motifs equally as touching.
So all that remains for me to say regarding all fallen hero and heroines; is

At the going down of the sun and in the morning.

We will remember them.

Landscapes in Thread

The talk for our February meeting was given by Mary Taylor who took us slide by slide through her process to create her beautiful free-machine embroidered landscape, seascape and abstract textiles. 
Until recently Mary has been an artist in residence at Fairfield Mill in Sedbergh, Cumbria and has taken much of her inspiration from the views she enjoyed whilst travelling over the hills to work.
It was a real treat to see slides of the same view photographed at different times of the year. Each season, even a couple of months passing, brought about many changes in the landscape, differences in flowers, trees or snow covering the hills.
Mary always uses a 'real' camera, not just her phone, as this captures all the vital details needed especially if using a computer to alter or combine views.
Here is one such view of the Howgills near Sedbergh - I think this is late summer is after the flowers have gone and the cow parsley has appeared.

Mary uses a closed metal darning foot due to the build up of textures if using Tyvek etc as this will cause scratches on a perspex foot. She also told us that she uses any cheap polyester thread as she uses miles and miles of the stuff! You do need to bear in mind that fluff will quickly build up so regularly cleaning your sewing machine - at least once a week - is a must.
Surprisingly she uses an ordinary number 80 needle (not a Denim needle as this will leave holes in the work) and changes these often when they become blunt.

First step after taking a photo is to crop it to the size of the required piece.
Next a sketch is made on Pelmet Vilene (heavy weight) showing the placement of the various elements. This is placed on top of a piece of calico, as seen in the photograph below.

Step three is to cut out pieces of coloured velvet to correspond to the elements; green for hills and grass, or brown or yellow for sand or earth, for instance.
Fourthly, Mary pins strips of organza over the velvet (or felt can be used instead of velvet). This gives a lovely shimmery look, perfect for the sparkling sea or a river, as shown below.

Next stage is the stitching. Metallic threads need to go on first as they tend to break if stitched over many layers of thread.
Mary says that she usually starts on the horizon and then works up or down the piece as you can see, below.

If you do start at the bottom of your piece, you will need to continue to work upwards toward the top to prevent bubbles and wrinkles in your work.
All the wonderful texture that you can see is made by the layers of different fabrics or silk fibres for trees and real wool for the sheep.
The only stitch you really need is a straight stitch so you can sew on even the really old mechanical sewing machines. Just remember to drop your feed dogs before setting off to allow smooth movement of your work.

Abstract inspiration comes in surprising places such as a rusty car on the beach at Workington, Cumbria or a Eucalyptus tree. Take a look at colourful paintings of artists Kurt Jackson and Joan Eardley if you would like to be further inspired.

This lovely blue piece above, was inspired by an old boat with layers of peeling paint; found on Holy Island, Northumberland. Beautiful.

This atmospheric piece above was inspired by the light playing on the trees near a gallery and cafe in the village of Ellishadder, North East Skye in Scotland. Love it - you can just feel the wild romance of the place, can't you?

It is all free-machine embroidered except for the fence and flowers in the foreground which were hand embroidered. This is quite a feat and requires pliers to pull the needle through all the layers of fabric and thread.

Mary also finds inspiration for her Seascapes during holidays near Sanna Beach with views of the islands of Muck, Eigg and Rum in the distance and the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse on the West Coast of Scotland. 

The photographs of these places were absolutely stunning, the sea an azure turquoise blue - made me feel like booking a holiday cottage right away; but perhaps waiting until the snow melts would be prudent.

Another fave place is Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland.

Mary welcomes visitors to her new 'studio in the garden' at her home in Kendal so if you would like to pop by and say 'hello' or buy an original textile picture, jewellry, a set of cards or have your very own lesson and learn the techniques for yourself, then do get in touch with her via email marytaylor1502@yahoo.co.uk  

You can see more of Mary's work on her website (contact details to be updated as at time of writing this post). 

We really enjoyed seeing the slides and gaining an insight into Mary's way of working, and especially her easy interactive style of speaking, as at times we were a little vocal due to the excitement when viewing pieces up close. 

Thank you Mary, for your generosity in sharing your process and  allowing us to handle your work. We left the hall feeling really inspired.

marytaylorartist.co.uk