New Year.....New Project Goals

 What is Your 2025 Goal?

Today I sat and wrote out a list of goals for 2025. No resolutions...just a list of things that I want to accomplish, aside from living through the entire year, thats a given. I have close to a dozen things on my list, I put it up on the board by my desk so that I can be reminded every day of what I should be doing.  Some things are new endeavors...some things are things that have been nagging at me to get done for a while...and by a while, I mean, some of them nagging at me for YEARS now. One of the most persistent ones is this beautiful c1850s wool challis. Those who know me know my stance on cutting up early clothing for dollmaking or anything really....there are so few original garments out there~ don't get me started (you can search the blog for my post "Be Ye a Cutter" from several years ago that angered many a folk)...anyways...a few years ago I was searching for some wool challis and I happened on the above. Isn't it just gorgeous?

It was being sold as a loom width, and upon looking at the photos closer, I could see that the bottom had been hemmed, and the top of the panel had been gathered.....

I asked the seller if they had any more 'panels', to which they replied quite confidentially, yes they did...they had just finished unpicking a dress how many did I want? I want them ALL I said.

 She said, I have the hem lining as well, do you want that? I said Yes. Seller then said, Well if you buy all the panels and the hem facing, I will throw in the bodice, maybe you can do something with it....

:::enter HUGE sigh here::::

I just don't understand folks....really I don't. I would have gladly, happily paid TWICE as much, even three times as much, for the whole gown than I did for it in pieces, and seller wouldn't have had to waste her time unpicking it. Though I have to say, she UNPICKED it....she did NOT cut it apart, thankfully! The whalebone stays are still inside the bodice lining....the hammered brass hooks and eyes are all present, and the piping is even still attached to the waist of the bodice!

So, one of my goals for 2025 is to reassemble this humble wool challis house gown into its former self. It has survived this long, its the least I can do. I will share my progress here on the blog, sprinkled in amongst other things.

Cheers to a Happy & Healthy 2025 full of Peace & Love for EVERYONE

XOXOXOXO

Merry Christmas

  I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you have taken a class from me or made a purchase, THANKYOU from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it & hope it brings you joy  XOXOXOXO

Detroit Institute of Arts Sampler Exhibit

 Painted With Silk

The Art of Early American Embroidery

Dec 13, 2024~ June 15, 2025

If you are in the Detroit Michigan area, I hope you will take a moment to visit the Detroit Institute of Arts' current exhibit of early American samplers. It runs through June 15th 2025. The above photo is a link to their website~

Earlier this year, Megan DiRienzo asked me to make a set of Touchable Embroideries to

accompany the exhibit. The main reason was that they wanted people with sight impairments who may not be able to see the embroideries clearly to be able to have something they could touch instead. Many of you know that I have macular degeneration myself, so this was super special to me. 

If you are a stitcher,  you realize how much the sensation of touch is involved in our own appreciation of stitching, no matter how perfect our vision is.....as well as how soothing and relaxing the repetitive sound of the needle passing through the fabric is~ but those that don't may not, so it is super exciting to have something available for anyone to touch!

I worked two identical sets of embroideries so that they may be switched out halfway through the exhibit. 

The curator specifically asked for a house motif. I chose a low-count linen in a neutral tone as a ground fabric in hopes that the cream colour of the ground would not show dirt as quickly as a white one would, and a lower count so that the larger spaces in the weave would allow dirt to pass through instead of collecting on the surface.

The house is worked in DMC cotton thread. 

  You may recognize this weeping willow motif~ The Clarke family's 1795 memorial embroidery for Isabella Clarke, shown in the first photo, was my inspiration. It is worked in stem stitch with black perle cotton and really feels wonderful. It was my favorite to pet with my own fingers!

The stitch sampler, seen on the far right in the exhibit grouping above, demonstrates two stitches, satin stitch, and stem stitch. Each stitch is worked (from the top down) in silk, wool, and cotton thread so that the difference in the fibers can be appreciated. 

You can learn more about the exhibit on the Detroit Institute of Arts website~ just click the Isabella Clarke memorial pic to follow the link. 

So after how many years of being told...NO TOUCHING.....and myself telling other folks to NOT TOUCH...

Finally! WE GET TO TOUCH! 

**I hope they keep the samples afterward as a good example and illustration of the importance of not touching embroideries, as I fully expect them to get quite grubby!