A real Portuguese Treasure!

Arnold’s Attic

This unique booklet of embroidery and drawnwork, was created in Portugal in the early 17th century. Size 8 inches x 6 inches.

The techniques include cross stitch, reticello, drawnwork, satin stitch, knots and bullion stitch.

At some point fairly early in its history, the many small pieces of fabric included in this booklet were seamed together and loosely bound, to create a kind of glossary of colored and monochrome openwork patterns. Scraps of silk, glove leather and writing paper with Portuguese text were employed to stabilize the pages. The recycling of materials and the compact nature of the booklet all suggest that this was a purely practical reference work for a professional seamstress, and was not meant for display. Some of the patterns are worked in double running stitch, also referred to as “Spanish stitch,” reflecting its possible origin on the Iberian peninsula in the sixteenth century.

Made from linen, silk, leather and paper.

Image courtesy: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/221650

Luzine Happel – Don’t miss this, please | Luzine Happel – por favor não percam!

Não percam esta oportunidade! Don’t miss this opportunity

For 21 days in September there will be various attractive discount promotions. It all begins on 7 September. Look forward to next week’s blog post announcing the first promotion.

In September 1998 I started publishing my own books. Now I look back on 21 successful years – 21 years of self-published books –
EMBROIDERY BOOKS !

The only way to print in small quantities and maintain affordable prices was to do almost everything myself. After coming up with the concept of an embroidery project, I had to divide the embroidery into easy-to-understand steps, photograph it and then edit the images, write short but precise descriptive texts, create print layouts, bind the text, and, finally, send the books all around the world.

Schwalm whitework, which still inspires me and which I have specialized in in the meantime, is so incredibly versatile that one cannot negotiate all the possibilities in one publication. In order to be able to present the individual techniques in a comprehensible way, detailed descriptions with good images are needed. Over time, twenty-six different titles have emerged – some of them also designed for left-handers. Almost all of them have now been translated into English; the most important ones have also been translated into French. Some publications have been printed less than 100 times; this doesn’t bother me because I believe it is important to pass on all the components worth knowing. Now there are only two topics missing; once these are written about, I believe I will have described everything on the subject.

Last year I was so busy completing my lessons for beginners that I didn’t even think about the anniversary. The 21st anniversary is now to be duly celebrated. Please celebrate with me!

For 21 days in September there will be various attractive discount promotions. It all begins on 7 September. Look forward to next week’s blog post announcing the first promotion.

And please, forward this and the promotional posts on to your interested embroidery friends.

Novo ponto para mim| New stitch for me

 

A new stitch for me!

 

Feito! | Done!

Edited 16/07/2018: After several years without doing needlepainting i was too daring to join this Trish Burr drawing (I’m in need some jerks/challanges)
Some of my dificulties
1 transfering the drawing
2 variety of colours and tons – not being color blind I confuse a lot of tons
3 my left hand not colaborate at first but gave it no choice
4 starting the stems they look bad – decided not to undo and see the evolution
5 the smallest green leaves are very ugly ( decided to undo and redo the uglest one)
6 – the upside-down part of third rust-colored leaf is ugly as well
I’ve used the seat frame from Crewel Work Company – very good indeed
Training training and training is needed!

1 junho 2018 magnolia stitch along

12 de Julho 2018 (2)

Por fim acabei o projeto magnólia stitch along, com a Amina do Stitch Floral . foi difícil, demasiados erros, mas está feito. Obrigada Amina e Trish Burr
At last I’ve finished magnolia stitch along with Amina from Stitch Floral – It was hard, too much errors, but it’s done. Thanks Amina and Trish Burr
Now washing and ironing.

After this I deserve a slow stitching with Sue Stone!

Crewel work Embroidery

my very first Crewelwork
o meu primeiro bordado Crewel

my first Crewelwork
o meu primeiro bordado Crewel

Crewel 2

desafios | challenges

estes novos desafios são comigo mesmo
fiz no  instagram uma descoberta sensacional, aqui mesmo no Porto, que não encontrei quando, há meses, procurei trabalhos de crochet com arame:
Patrícia Franco  vão lá ver o trabalho maravilhoso que faz, andava desejosa de saber o que era o fingerknitting – vão lá espreitar o que a Patrícia faz, o que ensina e os materiais que disponibiliza, que não se arrependem – vejam as oficinas já para 2018
já me inscrevi na de Março, em Braga, na Casa do Professor.
these new challenges are to myself
in Instagram I did a sensational discovery, right here in Porto not found when, months ago, I tried wire crochet work:
Patrícia Franco go there to see the wonderful work she does, I was anxious to know what fingerknitting was – go there peek at what Patricia does, she teaches and the materials she has available, it’s worth it – look for 2018 workshops (I’m in in the March one in Braga)

apresentação impecável     – flawless presentation

the essential for knitting with fingers

ansiosa por aprender esta técnica  | eager to learn finger knitting

o segundo desafio é o crewel embroidery
já no ano passado, comprei, seguindo uma dica da Mary Corbet (sempre ela!), um kit da Phippa Turnbull da The Crewel Work Company
comprei este ( a compra dá acesso a vários videos tutoriais de pontos)
the second challenge is the crewel embroidery
last year, following a tip from Mary Corbet (always her!), I bought a kit from Phillippa Turnbull from The Crewel Work Company
I bought this kit (the order gives access to several video tutorials stitches)

The Elizabethan Oakapple Tree

naquela altura este kit vinha a Jacobean Sampler.
encomendei e houve uma confusão com o endereço e todo o serviço e contacto com a empresa foi impecável e fiquei muito grata e agradada com toda a preocupação com a chegada da encomenda,
verifico que o crewel stem não é o mesmo que o stem stitch é o que a Mary Corbet  chama outline stitch, comecei pela Jacobean Sampler e estou mesmo a gostar
at that time the kit came with Jacobean Sampler.
I ordered and there was a confusion with my address and all the service and contact with the company was flawless and I was very grateful and pleased with all the concern with the arrival of the order,
I notice that the crewel stem is not the same as the stem stitch – is what Mary Corbet calls outline stitch, I started with the Jacobean Sampler and I’m really loving it

The Crewel Work Company

Jacobean Sampler

Tenham um bom fim de semana
Have a happy weekend

projeto de Outubro| October project

para o air – embroidery club

Outubro

decidi experimentar pontos que raramente (ou nunca) fiz – e o resultado foi este um bordado nada tradicional – utilizei vários fios principalmente algodão mas também sedas
I decided to try out embroidery stitches that I rarely (or never) did – and the result was an unconventional embroidery – I used several threads mainly cotton but also silks

Out. pormenor

Outubro cópia

1 – pontos canutilho longos/ long bullion knots
2 – nós + nós chineses/ French Knots + Chinese Knots
3 – ponto tecido pequeno/ little woven picot
4 – longo ponto tecido/ long woven picot
       (usar um alfinete longo e linha mais grossa, se possível)
(use a longer pin and if possible a thicker thread)
5 – ponto recorte (variante) ou ponto Veneza/detached buttonhole filling
(há muitas variantes é um ponto muito antigo; em Itália chama-se Merletto ad ago
= renda de agulha; aparece também  no Crewel Work e Jacobean Embroidery)
(there are many variants it is a very old stitch, in Italy is called Merletto ad ago
= lace needle, also appears in Crewel Work and Jacobean Embroidery)
6 – ponto canutilho normal/ usual bullion knot
7 – ponto lançado/straight stitch
8 – variante do ponto de Castelo Branco/ Laid stitch?
9 – ponto grilhão/ palestrina stitch
10 – ponto de Bolonha/ couching

espero que gostem e não sejam demasiadas ligações – tenham uma boa semana
hope you enjoy and don’t be too many links – have a great week

Adenda | Addendum

Adenda ao post anterior  | Addendum to previous post

Ando muito trapalhona a escrever quer no blogue quer no grupo do Facebook do Air Embroidery Club. Desaparecem-me fotos e texto, ou parte deles, como hoje verifiquei. Quando vim para fazer um novo post vi que uma parte do texto da primeira foto tinha desaparecido. Aqui vai.
I’m a bit of clumsy writing on both the blog and the Air Embroidery Club Facebook group. Photos and text or part of them disappear as I checked today. When I came for a new post I saw that part of the text of the first photo had disappeared. Here goes.

esqueleto da árvore
tree skeleton

usei Mouliné Madeira (6 fios) cor 2711 09 + Moulinée DMC 3860 – alternado 2 fios +1 fio ou 1+2  de cada cor,para ramos mais grossos, para os mais finos 1+1 – Este tipo de alternância, se feito em folhas (vários tons de verdes) ou água, mar ou rio (vários tons de azuis e verdes) e etc. pode fazer um efeito matiz/ pintura. 
I’ve used Mouliné Madeira (6 threads) colour 2711 09 + Mouliné DMC 3860 – alternating 2 threads + 1 thread or 1 + 2 of each colour for thicker branches, to thinner ones 1+1 – this kind of changes if done in  leaves (several shades of greens) or water, sea or river ( several shades of blues and greens) and other colours, can do a  long and short stitches or painting effect.
A parte que falta | Missing part
O tronco mais grosso foi feito com um ponto italiano  Punto Bizantino, que tanto quanto percebo, do que tenho lido sobre ele é uma técnica (recente sec.XX) inspirada nos mosaicos em relevo da Duomo di Ravenna  e que consiste em contornar os desenhos com ponto pé de flor e encher os espaços maiores com o dito ponto bizantino que é, na explicação final, o Punto Stuoia – feito com fio (2) Mouliné na diagonal, da esquerda para a direita e de baixo para cima, não muito longo, fazendo um ponto lançado um pouco solto (frouxo, como o nosso ponto de Castelo Branco) fechando-o com pontos oblíquos da esquerda para a direita, na direção do centro do trabalho. Confuso?
The  thickest trunk was done with an Italian stitch Punto Bizantino , which as far as I can see of what I’ve read about it, is a technique (recent sec.XX) inspired by the embossed mosaics of the Duomo di Ravenna and  consists of edging the drawings with Stem Stitch and fill the larger spaces with the said Byzantine Stitch which is in the final explanation the Punto Stuoia – done with 2 threads Mouliné diagonally, from left to right and from the bottom up, not too long, doing a released stitch a bit loose (frouxo, like our Castelo Branco Stitch), closing it = couching it  with oblique stitches from left to right, towards the center of the work. Confused?
Imagens daqui  | Pictures from here.

Punto stuoia

Punto stuoia/ Punto Bisantino

Punto stuoia / Punto Bisantino

WIP muito muito antigo

Há muitos, muitos anos que me debato com este ponto, mas agora sei muito mais sobre este ponto, acho eu.
For many, many years I’m struggling with this stitch but now I know much more about this stitch, methinks.

works in progress pormenor/detail

Bom fim de semana. Happy weekend.

air embroidery Junho | Jacarandá

Como prometi aqui está o projeto de Junho – tema o jacarandá.
As promised here is in the June project – jacaranda tree theme.
o esqueleto da árvore fiz bastante cedo, mas só mesmo no final de Junho acabei todo o projeto.
The skeleton of the tree was done quite early, but only at the end of June the whole project was finished.

esqueleto da árvore
Tree skeleton

usei Mouliné Madeira (6 fios) cor 2711 09 + Moulinée DMC 3860 – alternado 2 fios +1 fio ou 1+2  de cada cor,para ramos mais grossos, para os mais finos 1+1 – Este tipo de alternância, se feito em folhas (vários tons de verdes) ou água, mar ou rio (vários tons de azuis e verdes) e etc. pode fazer um efeito matiz/ pintura. Confuso?
I’ve used Mouliné Madeira (6 threads) colour 2711 09 + Mouliné DMC 3860 – alternating 2 threads + 1 thread or 1 + 2 of each colour for thicker branches, to thiner ones 1+1 – this kind of changes if done in  leaves (several shades of greens) or water, sea or river ( several shades of blues and greens) and other colours, can do a  long and short stitches or painting effect. Confused?

jacarandá
jacaranda tree

e aqui o projeto terminado, com muitos nós ou nozinhos, que adoro fazer.
Usei Mouliné Madeira  (6 fios) cor 2710 08, 2711 09 que entretanto acabou e tive que substitui pela DMC Mouliné 159, juntando sempre dois fios, um de cada cor, e fazendo uma ou duas voltas nos nós.
Quando acabou o 2711 09 socorri-me de um fio extra (que é mais fino que o Perlé 8 e mais grosso que dois ou três fios Mouliné) Cotton à Broder DMC (há nos nº 12, 16, 20 e 25, suponho) que está usado maioritariamente, na periferia da árvore e aqui e ali onde foi necessário, sempre fazendo duas voltas nos nós.
here the finished project with lots of French knots, love them.
I’ve used Mouliné Madeira (6 threads) collour 2710 08, 271109, which meanwhile ended and changed to DMC Mouliné 159, adding always two threads one of each colour and doing one or two twists in each knot.
When 2711 09 thread finished I’ve used an extra thread (thiner than Perlé 8 and thicker than two or three threads Mouliné) Cotton à Broder DMC which is mostly used in the outer edge of the tree and here and there where necessary, always doing two twists to knots.

cores
colours

jacarandá pormenor 2
jacaranda detail 2

jacarandá lateral
jacaranda lateral view

vista lateral
lateral view

Se tiverem alguma dúvida, digam por favor. Uma boa semana para todos.
If you have any questions, please tell.Have a good week.

air embroidery Maio

Como vos falei há dias aderi ao ao Clube do Bordado da Ana.
O desafio de Maio está feito.
As I told you before aderi to Ana’s Air Embroidery Club.
May challenge is complete

folhas

Esta imagem não está mal.  This picture is not bad.

vista geral | general view

Aqui já não tão agradável | Not so nice here.
Better this one | Melhor esta

general view masked
vista geral disfarçada

1º erro – foi utilizar um algodão DMC nº 6, muito grosso;
2º erro – bordar à noite, luz artificial e distrações.
1st mistake – was using a cotton DMC # 6, very thick;
2nd mistake – embroidery at night, artificial light and distractions.

p. pé de galo, muito mal feito
herringbone stitch, badly made

não devia mostrar, mas não sou nem nunca quis ou quero ser perfeita.
I should not show, but I’m not and never wanted or want to be perfect.

ponto cheio raso e grilhão
satin stitch and palestrina stitch

o ponto grilhão – que fica tão bonito com fio grosso – ficou mal feito.
The palestrina stitch – which looks so pretty with thick thread – got poorly done

pontos: areia, nó, pé de flor, cadeia
stitches: seed s., French knot s. stem s., chain s.

menos mal   |    less bad :)

pontos lançado e canutilho
straight stitches and bullion knots

pontos lançado, espinha e nó, caseado/recorte
staight s., feather s.and French knots, blankets./buttonhole s.

o ponto espinha tem vários nomes, em Portugal conforme as regiões, como acontece com outros pontos como o ponto pé de galo, p.ex.
feather stitch has several names, in Portugal according to the regions, the same happens to several other stitches such as herringbone stitch

pontos nó, canutilho e lançado
French and bullion knots and straight stitch

e é tudo por hoje, só quero acrescentar que adoro esta cor de linha.
and that’s all for today, I just want to add that I love this thread color.
O desafio de Junho também está acabado. Até breve, portanto.
The June challenge is also finished. See you soon, then.

Tenham um bom fim de semana.
Have a nice weekend.