Botanical Illustrations created by Women

Gardens, flora and fauna have long been a source of inspiration to stitchers. Floral themes run through out the history of textiles and embroidery. Many of the early embroidery designs were adapted from early herbals. Stitchers still delight in floral themes today.

In 2001 an exhibition that explored the relationship of women and natural studies was held in Department of Special Collections at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The site housing associated images is still online.

Themes include nature writing, scientific illustration, and women’s careers and training in the natural sciences. Sections that I think readers will find interesting are Elizabeth Blackwell, the daughter of an Aberdeen merchant, who eloped to London and soon found herself with a husband in prison for debt. Blackwell produced books on plants based on flowers and plants she viewed in Chelsea botanical gardens.

The other section I think readers will enjoy is the section on Illustrators as the botanical drawing is delightful.

The Illustrations of these books housed in the exhibit are well worth browsing as they form an online source for design inspiration that should not be missed by designers or anyone interested in the influences of print on textile design. The site houses larger images so you can take a really good look at the work.

So make a cuppa, settle back and enjoy!

 

Finding inspiration in nature

Ernst Haeckel’s masterpiece, Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature) is available for both low and hi-resolution download. The wonderful thing about this resource is that not only are the original plates inspiring but you can also download files of the outlines too, which are ideal as jumping off spots to developing a design that can be translated to fiber.

Above is a screen shot of the original detail drawing and the line drawing placed side by side so you can see what I mean. As you can see the line drawing is simple enough to start developing a design which can be applied to various textile techniques.

Candida a regular reader kindly emailed me the link to this fantastic resource

 

Decorative art and fine art books online

There is a large library of online art books, free to download at the Onlinebooks housed by the University of Pennsylvania. This resource is not limited to the topic of art as there is a digitised library to explore. Another category that kept me busy browsing is the Decorative Arts. Make a cuppa, settle back and check it out as it is a great resource.

 

Needlework books on Flickr

Linda over on Chloe’s Place had a gem of a find at the local markets on Sunday. A copy of the Melba Needlework book came Lindas way and she is loading it to her Flickr site. So do check out her Melba set and while you are there don’t forget her previous find Craigs Needlework book too!

 

LifeLine Book Fair

Every year Lifeline holds a huge secondhand book sale in order to raise funds for their counselling service. This year since Jerry is on leave we managed to get there on the opening day. The book fair is held in a huge warehouse and is packed with tables of books. As you can see it was pretty crowded yesterday.

I was delighted to discover The Batsford Encyclopaedia of Embroidery Stitches by Anne Butler for only a few dollars. There is a story associated with this book so make a cuppa, settle down and I will share it. This has been a mystery book for me and I hunted for it for 25 years!

I first encountered this book in the early 80’s. It is loaded with some very interesting stitches. I can remember standing on a hot day at an old hot photocopy machine in the public library with my daughter asleep in the pram. It was hot and I raced the job because I wanted to get it done before she woke up.

Because I was in a hurry I made the mistake of not taking a note of the tile and author. Sure enough when I looked for it again on the library shelves I could not find it and because I did not have the details of the book I could not search for it. So I had photocopies of some really different stitch varieties but no source!

As you can see the stitches are illustrated with a black and white photograph of the finished stitch and a line drawing. There are no written instructions on how to do the stitches just the illustrations. For years I have tried to solve this mystery so now I have. Not only have our paths crossed again but I now have an ex-library copy of the book for the cost of a few dollars!

Looking through it last night there are about 30 really unusual varieties of stitches so TAST just got very interesting!

Other bargains picked up were Margaret Swain’s Figures On Fabric, Ann Ladbury A Comprehensive A-Z of Fabrics, a copy of The Sewing Machine: Its invention and Development by Grace Rogers Cooper and a book simply called Burrell. This biography of Sir William Burrell by Richard Marks is the first of the ranks to be read as it is also about the formation and development of the Burrell Collection

So I am totally delighted with my finds and we plan on returning to sale tomorrow as they discount the last of the books. Many of the magazines and ephemera etc are priced right and are fair game for chopping up and using in collage work. So we always make a second trip on the Sunday just before the sale finishes.

Well that’s my news and now since the sun is out I am toddling off to tackle the garden as it’s spring here and the weeds are sprouting along with the flowers!

 

Have a Cuppa

Morning Cuppa

Well it’s been a wonderful week and I thought it was time to pull up chair and share a cuppa so pass the biscuits and settle back. A bit of time off has been fun. It’s spring here, the sun is mild and I have had some relaxing days pottering about the garden. It has needed it as it has not been touched for a long time. Actually I have not done any real work out there since I was sick earlier in the year.

Jerry who was also on leave, in the meanwhile has been in the shed turning pens. This is one he made for me.

There is a new blog on the block Au Fil du Jardin. Some readers and students will know Vero already. She plans to blog about textiles and her garden. Pop over and check it out, leave a comment and make her feel welcome.

The postman bought me lovely surprise too! Not one, not two, but three books by Linn Skinner of The Embroideress

The first I flicked open was Alphabets from a little red book . Regular readers will be aware that I am a bit of a needlework sampler freak. I just love them. If you are not a needlework sampler freak you will not understand the fascination sampler enthusiasts have for charted alphabets. They love them and I include myself in the group.
Next out of the parcel was Another 100 blackwork charts which is another total delight and many of the small motifs I can see being used in crazy quilting. Traditionalists will probably blanch at this but you can use waste canvas on crazy quilting and include small motifs that are normally worked on evenweave fabrics.

The Final book did me in. In Bands from Hans Hoffer’s pattern book Linn has charted many of the designs from a book printed in 1545. Anyone interested in historical embroidery will love this.

Unfortunately it bought on a crisis for me. I have a confession to make. I suffer from an affliction – I can not for the life of me follow a pattern. Technically I can follow a pattern but I always get a little way into a project someone else has designed and invariably have to change it. It’s like this with everything. I was one of those kids that got ‘can’t follow instructions’ written on their report card. It was not can’t but wont. I can’t follow a recipe I have to change it, add something else or substitute this ingredient for another. It has lead to some outrageous successes in the kitchen but also many failures. It’s the same with knitting patterns – I start and then decide that if I try it this way or that way it would be more ‘interesting’. Well I have made some ‘interesting’ garments as a result! Crochet is the same which is why I love freeform crochet.

Now for at least the last decade I have wanted to stitch an reproduction sampler. I have done oodles of test pieces to master various techniques but I know what will happen if I try and work one of these. Within 20% of stitching I will be redesigning it, which defeats the purpose of a reproduction some what! But with Linns books I could piece together my own sampler picking and choosing odd bands and motifs along the way. It would not be a historic sampler as such because it would have a contemporary twist to it but it might satisfy a very bad urge! Perhaps this urge will pass, but I don’t think so, particularly since I have thought of a way to do it that fits my personality… Enough said. Thanks Linn for the crisis!

Sharon waddles away dreaming about sampler sayings, alphabets and blackwork bands … shakes head and says no I have too many projects on the go … a little voice says but you LOVE samplers … shakes head again, and says to self, NO you have too much on right now … but … you love samplers the little voice whispers… stamps foot and states quite categorically no you are working too many things now … but … but… but!

 

Make your own notebook.

Have you have ever wanted to try your hand at basic book binding? If so this tutorial on how to Make Your Own Moleskine-Like-Notebook illustrates clearly how do so. Photographs are clear and instructions are concise – just like a tutorial should be!

 

Rare Manuscript Pages online

BibliOdyssey has recently highlighted some wonderful manuscript pages from part of the Digital Scriptorium. The Plimpton MS 296 from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University is a Spanish parchment manual for calligraphers/copyists was made between 1500 and 1515.

These pages are just delicious take some time out and browse them if you are interested in the paper and book arts or calligraphy.

 

Free antique embroidery pattern book online

I have been downloading files for the last hour and the printer is going to be running hot as soon as I finish writing.

An 1886 catalogue of embroidery designs from the New Sample Book of Our Artistic Perforated Parchment Stamping Patterns , has been put online. The catalogue is from J. F. Ingalls of Lynn, Massachusetts who established a mail order business. The patterns are in the public domain so stitchers are free to use them. Although they are large files don’t miss them if you are interested in vintage embroidery design, crazy quilting, or redwork. They are large scans but it makes them all the more useful to stitchers!

For anyone who has looked at American antique crazy quilts many of the motifs are instantly recognisable. So much so, we really could play “hunt for the missing classic” in this collection. If you are a crazy quilter and collect motifs to embroider download them and see if you can find any “classic” missing. Motifs include all the traditional motifs used in crazy quilting embroidery such as lettering, flowers, fruit, vegetables, wheat, birds, including storks and owls. Kate greenway motifs also feature along side other nursery rhyme figures. Also you will find oriental and art Nouveau motifs and a number of different types of peacock feathers. Motifs of knives, forks, spoons, crockery, vases of flowers, baskets of flowers, fans, hands, musical instruments, cats and kittens, dogs, horses, boots, anchors, horseshoes, mice, roosters, spiders, spider webs, butterflies, bugs, dragonflies, and bees. There are even a page or so of stitch diagrams used on crazy quilts. There was not a “classic” I could not find.

I thought I had found two motifs not represented until I realised that there are three links to listed graphics. Just the make it clear (and so no body misses out) there are 254 pages of motifs in the pattern book. Each page consists of between 10 and 20 motifs per page, so it is a huge collection Part 1 is here and part 2 , followed by Part 3 . If you are stitcher of course you will find these free patterns useful. If you are interested in the history of crazy quilting and the motifs or antique needlework, and the history of embroidery patterns you will find this resource invaluable.

If you are a crazy quilter please spread the word about this resource on blogs and discussion lists as this really is a fabulous resource. While you are at it is there anyone who can think of a traditional crazy quilt motif that is not represented in this collection? I think there are few hats but that is all I can think of. Leave a comment if you notice any missing classics.

Thanks goes to Exceedingly Curious for hosting the patterns and thanks for the link goes to Dawn of On the banks of Bay Creek who dropped me an email to give me the heads up on this.

 

Ribbons and Trims a review

I opened the inside flap of Ribbons and Trims to read Refresh. Restore. Reinvent. OK I thought I could do with a bit of that! Then I realised Annabel Lewis was actually using ribbons, trims and cords, to revamp common items in the home which is possibly easier than revamping me. Since I am quite a greenie I settled back with a cuppa and read the book.

This is not the run of the mill book on recycling but if you want some contemporary DIY ideas Annabel Lewis, illustrates how curtains, blinds, bedcovers, cushions, throws, lampshades, and furniture can be given a fresh new look with a bit of imagination and the addition of ribbons and trims.

This book offers 25 projects with clear instructions. Regular readers will know I am not a great fan of project based books, or the fad for quick and easy projects that dominate the market. In fact I often simply don’t bother to reach for them on the book shelves as usually a book of projects means there is very little real information to be gleaned from between the covers. However, Annabel Lewis is the founder of Europe’s the ribbons and trimmings company, V. V. Rouleaux and her experience with passementerie shows and the reader gains as a result.

When it comes to actual information that can be applied to other projects the book is well balanced. About a third of the content contains useful information. This is much higher than most books that are project based. For instance there are clear illustrations of various ribbon types from your bulk standard satin to the more exotic like woven jacquard are listed beside their possible uses. Ribbon techniques such as fraying and ruching are covered as well as illustrated examples of making ribbon roses and rosettes. But that is not all you can do with ribbon as techniques for sewing, layering, and weaving ribbons are covered too.

In the cords and trims section reading became very interesting for I can now identify different trims and cords that I have often used but never knew the name of! Techniques in this section include wiring cord, knotting, creating decorative tufts and tassels. I think the techniques illustrated here is where the book comes into its own. If you have ever wanted to know how to create a turban style knot clear step by step instructions will take you through the process. Frogging and other knotting techniques are also covered clearly as well as a number of different tassels. Wiring Beads, you may be familiar with but have you ever thought of wiring shells, buttons and feathers!

As far as the eye candy goes it is beautiful. Ideas abound and imagination is stimulated. The ideas for revamping furniture and creating soft furnishings are the strongest part of the projects book. Ribbons and Trims is a paperback of 160 pages that unlike many project based books the information between its covers means it has a shelf life, as when the projects go out of fashion there is still content enough for me to refer to it again.