Rain and Embroidery

This is about Rain, but not the wet watery kind you may be thinking of. Its about the store called Rain. My niece Genae spent some time in Cape Town recently and while she was here I visited her at work one day at the Rain store at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

Rain produces handmade, eco-friendly bath products and accessories.  It provides work for many local women in South Africa who both gather the natural ingredients for the products and also hand manufacture the products and packaging. There are lovely naturally fragranced soaps, hand creams, bath salts and so on to choose from, but what caught my attention were the hand stitched and hand embroidered items.

Much of what is on offer in stores these days is mass produced and imported from other countries. It was particularly heart-warming to see these handmade items and know that they were stitched locally in South Africa.

Bath mittens, blankets and slippers are hand knitted or crotched.

The woollen slippers are then felted.

Sachets and other bathroom accessories are decorated with hand embroidery.

 

I saw the simple embroidered daisy motif you can see in the photo below on a few items in the store. Its a double lazy daisy stitch worked in a soft white thread and it looks really stylish. It was very nice to see hand embroidery on high end products like these.

I'd forgotten my camera at home the day I visited the store, so Genae specially took these photos and sent them to me so I could share them with you here. Thanks Genae!

You can find out more about Rain and its products here.

Cross Stitch bibs

Two bibs for two grandchildren, one of them due to arrive any day now. I hope to be visiting them soon.

The train pattern is from Cross Stitcher August 1997. The rocking horse is adapted from a Cross Stitch Ideas pattern - the pages that I have don't have a date on them.

 

I have always wanted to embroider a bib for a grandchild but the bibs are hard to find. These came from Joann's in Portland, Oregon.

Embroidery calendars

The Cape Embroiderers' Guild celebrate their 30th anniversary next year. To mark the occasion they have published two lovely calendars that are not only good to look at, but are also sure to inspire you to take out your needle and thread and start stitching. If you are beginning to think about Christmas these would make a nice gift for a stitching friend. The first is a calendar for 2014.

 

There is a page for each month of the year with a photograph of a different type of embroidery. The embroideries included range from counted thread techniques like canvas work and pulled thread to goldwork, needlepainting and freestyle embroidery like this one:

 

The second calendar is a perpetual birthday calendar that you can keep for years to come.

 

There is a page for each month with a photograph of a different type of embroidery.  There is also plenty of space next to each day of the month for writing in the names of family and friends with birthdays or anniversaries on that day.

If you are interested in either of these two calendars you contact the Cape Embroiderers' Guild through their website here.

Till next time, happy stitching!

Washington visit

A few weeks ago I spent a couple of wonderful days sightseeing in Washington. On the way to our hotel we passed this beautiful old house near DuPont Circle.

 

And then this one too.

 

 

Lafayette Park opposite the Whitehouse was a good spot to watch the passing tourists and hopefully catch a glimpse of the President or some visiting VIP's, but no such luck on the day I was there.

 

I was surprised at how close the house is to the street. The road is closed off just here and we watched a TV news crew filming a reporter against the backdrop of the Whitehouse for their broadcast. When after a while they decided to step up onto the pavement close to the fence for filming, several security guards materialized from nowhere and moved them back onto the roadway where they finished off their news report.



 

It was pouring with rain during our visit but that didn't deter us. There is so much to see. We crossed the Mall in the pouring rain to the Air and Space Museum and stopped briefly for a look at the imposing Capitol. There were rows of tents being set up along each side of the Mall, perhaps for the Saturday market the following day. I didn't envy them out in the rain.

 

I find the Air and Space museum quite awe-inspiring especially when I think of the brave men who set out in the aeroplanes and spacecraft on display. My photos of Bleriot's wood and canvas plane that he flew across the English Channel unfortunately didn't come out.

What a feat for the Russians and Americans to build their respective spacecraft and successfully link them up in space during the Apollo-Soyuz space mission. The green capsule is the Soyuz.

Nearby a collection of deadly missiles tower overhead.

 

The display of the aft end of the Saturn rockets that boosted the Apollo spacecraft into orbit is fascinating because there are only one and a quarter boosters in the room. A clever staging of mirrors makes it possible to see reflections showing all five as they would have been arranged for an Apollo lift off. It was difficult to capture all five in the mirrors but you do get an idea of how three would look in the photo below.

 

The leader of Mission Control Gene Kranz wore a white vest for each space mission, each vest made by his wife. It rang such a bell when I saw this vest and reading the information board vividly recalled seeing Ed Harris wearing such a white vest in the movie Apollo 13.

 

Although the display is dimly lit, I couldn't resist trying to capture a photo of the moon buggy.  It looks something like a beach buggy but the wheels are filigree-like and you can see right through them. Imagine this fragile vehicle driving across the surface of our moon.

 

Then later, making our way through the sculpture garden it was amusing to see real birds using the branches of this full-size stainless steel tree as perches, though I wasn't quick enough to photograph them.

 

 

I wanted to visit the Natural History Museum to see two things.

 

The first was the Hope Diamond, a large deep blue stone, measuring approximately 2.5cm (1inch)across. I found the white diamonds surrounding it quite dazzlingly beautiful. The Hope Diamond itself was so dark that I felt it lost some of its beauty.

 

Walking through the gemmology section I learned that beryl is a mineral and that both emeralds and aquamarines are simply different colours of beryl. The world's largest aquamarine crystal weighs around 60 pounds and is 14 inches tall. It has been cut and faceted in an usual way and the way it captures and reflects the light is stunning. I could have stood there for ages just looking at it.

 

The museum was about to close for the day but I just had to go and have a peep at the dinosaur exhibit, the second reason I had for wanting to visit the museum. The head on the left is of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and the skeleton on the right is of an unbelievably long 22m herbivore. Standing here I could just picture the dinosaurs in the movie Jurassic Park.

 

A last glimpse of Washington from the steps of the Jefferson Memorial and we were on our way.

 

 

And for me, from a water-poor country like South Africa where rivers are few and far between, crossing the wide expanse of Potomac River was amazing.

 

Embroidery? Yes, I have been stitching recently and I will post some photos soon of what I have been doing. I'll also sort through more photos of my US trip for a future post.

 

Till then, happy stitching!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Embroidery Network South Africa

This week saw the launch of a new website aimed at bringing together some of the activities of the embroidery guilds in South Africa.  Titled Embroidery Network - South Africa, it lists contact information about some the guilds that are scattered throughout the country. But there is more too.

It also provides a forum for embroiderers to ask questions and share information, and it is a centralised place for advertising upcoming embroidery events. Its always disappointing to arrive somewhere and find that you have just missed a super stitching event. Now you can check here and see what's on before you plan your trip. I hope that anyone planning an exhibition will post the details well before the time so we can make sure we are there at the time of the event.

If you would like to see what embroidery is being done in the various areas around the country, click on the Gallery button on the ENSA website and you will find lots of beautiful embroidery to see. What a wonderful collection there is! Some prize winning pieces among them. You can go directly to the Embroidery Network homepage if you click here.

Happy browsing!

Nursery quilt

This is the post I wrote just before I went away - it even had the photos in place. I just didn't get around to giving it a final look and posting it!

Inspired by the wonderful nursery quilts made by Lorraine Bode, a Cape Town quilter and teacher, I collected nursery print fabrics to make my 2 year old grandsons each a quilt. Each boy has associations with South Africa, America and Australia. so in among the other blocks they will find elephants, giraffe, cowboys, kangaroos and koalas.

Once all the blocks were cut, it was time to audition the sashing fabric. The grey blue I wanted to use turned out to be a bit dull.  Instead I chose a navy because it made the colourful blocks pop out in contrast.

 

Chain piecing - fun and quick to do.

 

Getting there..

 

 And sometime later ... two quilt tops which I hope will give the boys hours of enjoyment.

 

 

 

The tops are now folded up and in the cupboard, waiting for their backing. I am also rethinking just how big to make them. My first idea was something small, but now I'm wondering if bed size is more useful...

Clip-on magnifiers and clip-on readers

I had an interesting morning yesterday trying out clip-on readers at my local optometrist. I have been using a pair of clip-on magnifiers and can see clearly to do fine embroidery with them. The problem was they don't fit my specs very well. They snap themselves off every now and then and have resulted in more than a few pricked fingers as suddenly without any warning they clatter down onto my embroidery!

Clip-on magnifiers

As a comparison I took along the clip-on magnifiers that I'd bought some time ago from Cape Watch. The only way to compare them was to take along my embroidery, sit down and try first the readers (+1), then my magnifiers (x2), then the readers (+1.5), then my magnifiers again, then the readers (+2.0) and so on.

To my surprise there was no comparison. My magnifiers worked better for me than the readers. I have been doing pulled work on 60-70 count fabric and I couldn't have done it without magnifiers. The magnifiers actually make the tiny threads and holes a bit bigger and I can see exactly where the needle has to go in.

I know several embroiderers who use readers quite successfully with their specs. Perhaps I am past the stage already where clip-on readers will improve the vision I have with my specs.

The optometrist acknowledged that they couldn't improve my vision with their readers and graciously made some adjustments to my magnifiers so that they don't flip themselves off my specs when I least expect it.

I asked about the difference between magnifiers and readers, but all I learned is that a "2x" magnifier does not relate in any way to a "+2" reader!? They are different. Perhaps it has to do with the magnifiers being situated a little distance from the spec lenses while readers fit right next to the lenses?

But then I don't really need to know the answer to this to do my embroidery, do I? All I can say is its important to try out various options and see what works best for you.

Goldwork and Bayeux Stitch at Embroidery Exhibition

  

As I mentioned in my last post, there is currently a wonderful embroidery exhibition on in Cape Town. Titled 'Threads of Gold', it showcases the work of Penny Cornell and it is showing at the Irma Stern Museum. The work encompasses a variety of embroidery techniques including goldwork, stumpwork, beading, canvaswork and freestyle embroidery and is both beautifully executed and displayed. Someone emailed me to say that I hadn't shown much detail of the embroideries. With Penny's permission here are a few photos of individual pieces that are on display.

 

 

Notice how the flower is bordered by canvaswork in this piece. Flower detail is below.

 

I kept finding myself looking at the goldwork flowers to make sure that they were actually stitched. And they are - mostly with row by tiny row of precisely couched gold thread. 

The background of this splendid one is couched too.

 

 

Also on display are: An eye-catching combination of canvaswork and patchwork:

 

 

 

 Textured freestyle hangings:

 

 

 

And this charming piece, embroidered with Bayeux stitch and gold thread:

 

 

 

It is one of a series of  Bayeux birds and I could really appreciate them after trying out Bayeux stitch myself. You can see my wobbly effort in this previous post. 

 

There is lots more beautiful embroidery to see at the exhibition and there are photos too in the Gallery on the website of Penny Cornell. You can also read more about Penny and the exhibition here.

 

Gentle caution: If you are visiting the exhibition and stairs pose a difficulty for you, do note that the exhibition is upstairs and there is no lift.

 

 

Threads of Gold Embroidery Exhibition

If you are in Cape Town between now and 3 August give yourself a real treat and visit the Threads of Gold embroidery exhibition which on at the Irma Stern Museum in Rosebank. Penny Cornell has mounted a solo exhibition of the work she has done over the last 10 years and it is well worth a visit.

There is a wide range of work on display in the three rooms, but for me the highlights of the exhibition were firstly, the exquisitely executed gold work pieces:

Secondly, a series birds embroidered in Bayeux stitch - all the same but all surprisingly different:

And then, the fascinating books Penny has covered and filled with notes and stitched samples of some of her creative ideas:

(All the photos here are used with Penny's permission.)

There is lots more to see but if you can't get to the exhibition, visit Penny's gallery on her website to see some of her beautiful work.

Home again

Its been some weeks since my last post. I have just returned from my first visit to the US in 25 years to see family and do a little sight seeing. It was a whirlwind trip and quite wonderful to see the family again but the post I intended to complete while I was away is still waiting for the photos.

Back in wintry Cape Town this week I did visit a superb embroidery exhibition and I will let you know more about it soon, together with lots of lovely photos of the embroidery on show.

Till then happy stitching and if you're in Cape Town keep warm.