Embroidery for the masses!

This weekend has been a joyful and inspiring one. My home barony of Styringheim hosted an embroidery event for all interested in historical embroidery. We were 12 people that gathered on saturday morning, shared some breakfast and then the four teachers each gave a short introduction to their embroidery techniques before the actual workshops begun.

First out was Helwigs blackwork, and for the likes of me that hates counted embroidery this was an epiphany! It suddenly got comprehensable and I actually got quite far on a small acorn border on rather coarse linen with easily visible thread count and some lovely orange hand dyed silk that I bought a couple of years ago.

After this I did my bayeux stitch introduction and the ladies seemed to enjoy the fact that it is an easy way to fill surfaces with colour and texture.

Lia got us all to appreciate the fine elisabethan couched embroidery and we saw acorns, seashells and flowers take shape. It reminded a lot of naalbinding but with a very fine needle and silk thread.

We had lunch and dinner as well in splendid company and continued on sunday with patterned darning embroidery that Åsa has made wonders with on pillows after originals now stored at the County Museum of Gotland.

So now I have, on top of all old projects, three new embroidery projects and a bunch of ideas for stuff I want to make for my self.