Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Starting Module 3

Chapter one of module 3 is all about Tudor embroidery - I am collecting notes and images about strapwork at the moment and trying out the stitches. Here are my first attempts with a nice thick thread and the help of my trusty Mary Thomas book of stitches and a mirror (don't you just love being left-handed).



Still thinking vague thoughts about the metallic effects piece. I would like to tie in with my industrial theme and wondered about Tudor technology - some connection with printing presses maybe? I came across the expression 'steampunk' recently for the first time - it refers to the aesthetic of making modern technology look as if it comes from another era, eg a laptop with lots of brass and leather that could have been designed for a Victorian gentleman. One of those trends you have seen without realising it had a name. I think it came from fantasy novels in which technology appears before its time. When I did a search, the first article I found was a piece saying how 'over' and unfashionable it is now, but who cares - it may still work for me as a starting point.

4 comments:

Paula Smith said...

Sounds very exciting - hope you enjoy it, I feel I am wading through treacle making paper! Paula

Garnered Stitches said...

I was wondering what the mirror was for until the ( )! Being left handed makes these stitch bibles more complicated than they seem.
best wishes

Karen Hurrell said...

Congratulations on starting module 3.

MeganH said...

Hi, :-)

If you cared to pop across to my blog, you'd see I'm doing a sampler of 16th and 17th C stitches.

I'd like to do knotted detached buttonhole, and up and down buttonhole, but only have Jane Zimmerman's Art of Elizabethan Embroidery single pictures as a guide.

I'm also left handed

Does Mary Thomas' book lay these stitches out any more step by step?
I'd really like to learn them, but my brain just melts looking at Zimmerman.

Megan - Australia