And the spring clean has begun! You may have noticed the shop has changed slightly, we are having a bit of a tidy up and a sort out to make way for new items...

 

...so our rough purls are now half price! Get them now here, once this range has gone they won't be returning:
Last chance rough purls

We have some exciting new products in the shop, check out below to see what's new but here's a sneak peak...



We are also rearranging the shop sections to make things a little more easy to find but don't forget you can use the search bar to take you to things quickly:


 

Below you can read about what we got up to on the recent drawing and designing course at The Royal School of Needlework and take a look at some fabulous pieces from the recent Embroiderer's Guild Exhibition at Ely Cathedral including this embroidery made from dyed moose hairs stitched on birch bark!

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We would just like to take this opportunity to wish all the mothers,
Happy (UK) Mothers Day on Sunday!!


Silk ribbon and wood on Linen

Yes, we have even more on the way, lots more! We are excited to be getting a new range of rough purls as well, but until they arrive, why not check out our ever expanding range of smooth, bright check and wire check purls? We have some really interesting colour ranges going on to the shop as I write including an exciting tonal range of black, pewter and white silver!
 

  

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Metal sequins

Try out our new fantastic range of metal sequins; lots of great shapes and sizes for your embroidery/textile projects, and perfect with our steampunk watch parts:

Metal sequin range
 

Gutermann threads
To compliment our new metal purl range, we have some lovely matching Gutermann metallic effect sewing threads. Add some decorative stitching to your goldwork projects (also available in Gold, Silver and Copper)!

Metallic effect threads

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Coloured twists
We have coloured twists too! Green, Blue and Purple now in stock with Red and Pink on the way...




Coloured twists
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Gutermann Sulky Dekor metallic effect thread
Made by Gutermann, this fine thread has a very realistic metallic effect and would compliment goldwork projects beautifully. Available in Gold, Silver, Copper and Turquoise


Sulky Dekor metallic effect thread
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See all our new products here:
Added recently

Drawing and design for embroidery class
Royal School of Needlework
 

I teamed up with Caroline Homfray (check out her website here) in March for a 3 day class in drawing and designing for embroidery. The aim of this class is to give students the skills and the tools to start to design their own pieces of embroidery. This can be a daunting task especially as the fundamentals of being able to do this lie in drawing. We have lots of fun tasks to give those new to drawing a gentle introduction, and to re-inspire or give confidence to those who have some previous experience. As well as drawing, we cover composition, the design process and colour theory and Caroline and I always have fun setting up a still life to work from...

 

...then on day three, we get the students to put into practice what they have learnt and build their own still life! Here they are tweaking it:
 

 

We were lucky this time that the costumes from the film 'The Favourite' were on display in the Queen's Apartments in Hampton Court Palace and we were able to take our sketchbooks in and spend an hour drawing them.
 

This course is great for those wanting to take the next step in creating their own pieces, check out the Royal School of Needlework for more classes on drawing and a new sketchbook class next year!

The Royal School of Needlework

The Beautiful Stitch
Embroiderers Guild exhibition at Ely Cathedral
 

Had the opportunity to visit this wonderful exhibition last month; a selection of treasured items from the Embroiderer's Guild Collection plus some work by contemporary textile/embroidery artists on display in the stunning Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire. For those of you who weren't able to see this, here are some of the pieces on display!

Silk and gold Chinese embroidered rank badge,  Mid-19th Century


Items of clothing on display in the Lady Chapel, Ely Cathedral
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'Animals' Joy Dobbs, 1950's. Felt ground with hand and machine embroidery.


Cigar Case in dyed moose hair on birch bark. Canada, 19th Century

The Embroiderer's Guild Collection is now housed at Bucks County Museum in Aylesbury. Visit their website here:
The Embroiderer's Guild
 

Join me on the social hub to see what's happening right now, you may just grab a bargain too!