Wanaka School & beyond!

This year I had the opportunity to attend the Wanaka School of embroidery.

It was their 30th anniversary & my mum & I headed over for 2 nights & 2 full days of stitching. I chose to do the Or Nue class or Anne Marie Moorhead. She is also the person who designed my Illuminated letter kit, which is still to be finished.

The Or Nue is a nice technique & possibly the last of the gold work I do for a while, as there is still so much for me to learn else where, but here is my result:

I like the postage stamp effect the ric rac gives this small piece & so have decided to take the satchel we got out information in  & stitch name etc details on the front & attach this as a postage stamp.

In the meantime my mum & I have been organising "Stitch-In Saturdays" at her shop. we stated out in the guild rooms, however there were issues & so now we meet ever 2nd & 4th Saturday in the back room of her shop - which is very handy when you run out of supplies - cause there they are!!
Through this I have met one new embroiderer, of a similar age & her sister is also a crafter - I met her only once & she was talking some impressive bead work.
During one of these Saturdays my mum taught a few of us how to crochet & so I have been working on a few things of the crochet kind including a balaclava for my man & now I'm part way through a doily.
With a few things finished I could finally tackle an idea from my own head & here were the supplies:

 this is for the "Post bag colour challenge". this year's theme is Black, White and Grey in between. I am making a Kindle cover. The embroidery is done, next is probably the more challenging task of putting it all together.

Frustrations & Success

Bit of a delay between posts, but I have been busy! Not all of what I have been doing has been successful however.

Firstly I was attempting to create a costume for my work function in Auckland later this month. The theme is Super-Heros & Villains & so I started to attempt this character:

She is the best character in the movie Kick Ass. & for a super hero - surprisingly well covered.

So I got this material:

& decided to start with the leggings/trousers & just happened to have this pattern lying around

Yes, it is from 1987 :)
then I realised that my purple material has no stretch in it what-so-ever. So off to the shops I went & bought some material that was more suitable.
The pattern was just as advertised - Quick & easy. - sorry no pics of this. Then, i thought I would attempt to get my overlocker to work...

I got this for free through "Freecycle" about 2 years ago, got my Uncle to give it the once over & make sure it was ok to use, then I left it in my spare room.
I think i followed the diagram to make it work & it would cut material (Yah!) but the stitching didn't happen. I gave up in frustration and it is back in my spare room until I give it another go. one day.
Then it was late & I was tired, so I stopped.
Now, I will still make the jacket of the costume, but I realised why I don't make clothes very often - all the cutting out! shesh! it takes so long!! But I WILL complete it on Sunday. promise.

Meanwhile I completed the stitching of the biscournus (pics will come) now they are resting until I decide if I want to put any embellishments on them.
I have completed 3 "Congratulations" cards - it seems there are many lovely ladies I know who are "in the family way"

 

Firstly I did the stitching, each one took about an hour. Then to mark where I wanted the boundary, I pulled a thread. Next, because of how I wanted to present these, I ironed on some interfacing to give them more rigidity. Then cut to the pulled thread lines. (these cards have been sitting in my house for a few years now - good to have a use for them)

My next project is to re-learn to crochet & make a couple of scarves (hopefully before summer) & this Saturday I am going to my first embroidery class since I was at primary school... making a thimble pod.