Friday, January 16, 2009

Sublime Stitching

Many of you know that my first love is counted thread embroidery. I don't do a lot of it these days as my eyes and hands just can't take long periods of such close work any more, however I still enjoy an hour or so a month working on a stitch sampler that has been on the 'to do' pile for a couple of years now. At this rate, it probably won't be done until the next century and then by someone else. Here is a link to the actual pattern I have been working ... my progress is at the letter J.

For a while now I have been intrigued by a company called 'Sublime Sttching' that has been promoting hand embroidery of a more free-form style than I usually enjoy. For one thing they promote the use of a hoop to hold your cloth while I prefer holding my fabric in my hand. The owner also likes embroidering along lines.. many of us grew up knowing this style as Crewel Work, others as Redwork. This style does not meet my need for more precision in my work. The best part of Sublime Stitching are their great designs that are a little funky, a little wierd and definitely stylish.

They have a contest going right now for people to create miniature monograms on teeny tiny pillows. I thought it was a little nuts but then I remembered that I still have examples my own work done on 40 count silk. That means the base fabric was worked at the rate of 40 stitches per square inch. I used one ply of silk embroidery floss to create this brooch quite a few years ago.
The whole design is smaller than a penny! I can't believe I used to love doing this kind of work. I even have some more blank fabric like this just waiting for me to take up my needle and thread again on another intricate design. I have one other piece done on this scale but I can't lay my hand on it right now.
I think I will load this picture onto the contest page understanding that it does not meet the requirements but just to show a different approach to embroidery.
I hope you have warm plans for this weekend. It is a three day weekend for us here in the U.S. and I intend to get a lot of sewing done... and maybe some vaccuming as well. One can hope!

2 comments:

Lisa said...

Wow - that is crazy small!!! One of my first loves is also counted cross stitch. I have lots of pieces I've done for myself or given as gifts. I used to do lots of it. Now-a-days I don't have the time that it takes to accomplish a piece. I actually have a couple of half-finished projects that I started when I was pregnant... maybe one of these days I'll finish them!

Patty said...

That's incredibly small! I can't imagine stitching on 40ct. I do all my cross stitch on 18ct because my eyes are not that good anymore, plus I use a magnifier. This is my first visit to your blog and I see you like Dachshunds. Did you see the Sublime Stitching pattern with the Doxies? It's really cute.