Monday 27 July 2020

July - Members' Activities During Lockdown


Welcome back  To Grassington Embroiderers' Guild! 

I hope you have all remained safe during this very difficult period and have found plenty of time to put your sewing skills to the test.  The committee are having a meeting today to decide on the new format for activities in the autumn. We will email all members with our future plans and we hope there will be plenty of Stitch to look forward to.

Chris and Marjorie sat outside Chris' house on the National Day of Stitch in June, where usually lots of walkers come past. The weather was not brilliant, but those that passed by were very interested!



This week as I read my Saturday Yorkshire post there was a wonderful article about David Morrish's giant embroidered tapestry documenting Windermere litter louts. David is a Fashion Design teacher and lecturer At Sheffield Hallam University. The embroidery project forms part of his own MA studies at Nottingham Trent University and is a collaboration with the Sheffield branch of the Embroiderers' Guild. Find out more about the project on Instagram@kingflytailoring. 

Over the next few weeks I shall be using the Blog to showcase members' work during this period of Lockdown. It has been a great inspiration to me to see such wonderful work and my waning enthusiasm for stitch has now been revived! 

Chris Mitchell our chairman has sent in the first photographs and details of some of her work these last few months. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have.

One of my Lockdown projects!

 I was inspired by Jackie Martin’s visit to use an old wooden box that once contained a bottle of wine, to produce little samples of different techniques. Each one is backed on to pelmet weight vilene and I wrote methods and materials used on the back.
The wooden box was decorated with pyrography designs.


Another Lockdown project was inspired by Anne Brooke’s blog, of a long stitched strip wrapped around an old bobbin. Now I didn’t have an old bobbin, but I do have a husband who is a wood turner! I have used recycled denim, and fabric which I have “rusted” in other guild meetings.

Another Lockdown project was my book, “What’s the Story?" . Each page has a fabric picture and you make up the questions. Ask a child ...."where is that car going ......guess what happened to the family at no. 3”, etc. Good for home schooling story starters!







I’ve been taking advantage of the time spent in Lockdown to make a start on Christmas presents! I’ve made lots of little felt brooches, key rings and handbag ornaments, embellished with embroidery and little beads.



Thank you Chris for sharing your wonderful work and ideas with the group. I have certainly been inspired by your work and it has filled me with enthusiasm for this autumn term. All my free time in the summer has been spent in the garden but let the weeds grow, I need to get back to Stitch! I hope you will all enjoy seeing the work of our members which I will post throughout August ready for the new  program in September.