Inspirations Issue 86

Everyone has heard of the Bayeux Tapestry; some of you are probably lucky enough to have seen it. It is, undoubtedly, the most famous piece of embroidery on the planet and not a tapestry at all but a piece of surface stitching. But did you know that it is incomplete? It is thought that the last panel, approximately 3 metres (10 feet) long and depicting the coronation of William 1 after the Battle of Hastings has gone missing sometime during its more than 900 year history. Kate Russell lives on Alderney, the most northern of the Channel Islands and she has been fascinated with this amazing piece of embroidery since she first saw it in 1976. At the end of a long, tiring day at the London Knitting and Stitching Show…

wonder CLIPS HAVE YOU EVER BEEN WORKING ON A PROJECT AND NEEDED A HELPING HAND – something useful when pinning is unsuitable to hold some fabric, wires or threads in place; perhaps something similar to a clothes peg but on a smaller scale, with a flat base and greater holding power? If your answer is yes the clever people at Clover have come up with the perfect product for you. Wonder Clips are a fabulous alternative to pins and come in several sizes to meet your every need. Designed with a flat base so they can be used with a sewing machine, they can hold many layers of fabric and even feature measurement lines on the back so that you can tell exactly how far the clip is biting into the fabric.…

TASMANIA STITCHING AND BEYOND’S next biennial exhibition, ‘Out of Hand’ 2015 will be held during October at The Long Gallery and Sidespace, Tasmanian Arts Centre, Salamanca Place, Hobart. Stitching and Beyond was founded by Wendy Koolhof and Mahdi Chandler after a 2005 quilting exhibition. They invited interested people to join a group which explored and promoted every aspect of traditional and contemporary textiles. The membership has now grown to more than 100 textile artists from all regions of Tasmania and beyond. New members are most welcome. Further information is available from www.stitchingandbeyond.com NORTHERN TERRITORY The 19th Alice Springs Beanie Festival will be held from Friday 19–Monday 22, June 2015 and the theme is ‘Opposites Attract’. From contrast and reconciliation to difference and distance, the festival and exhibition will celebrate how these forces balance and…

BIBILLA KNOTTED LACE FLOWERS Elena Dickson Milner Craft Series 2013 Soft Cover 152 pg ISBN 9781863514507 RRP $29.95 There is something fascinating about watching someone take just a needle and thread and create a beautiful three-dimensional flower. It is like a little bit of needlework magic! In this book, her third, Elena creates a wonderful bouquet of flowers including many garden favourites such as daffodils, fuchsias and daisies plus a collection of delightful Australian natives including the royal bluebell, Cooktown orchid and dwarf buttercup. Using a form of knotted lace believed to have originated in the eastern Mediterranean centuries ago, small flowers were traditionally worked along the edges of scarves and other pieces of clothing. These can be found to this day in Turkey where they are known as oya or igne…

In November 2014 Hazel Blomkamp, Fiona Fagan and I headed off to Cambodia to begin our first Masterclass on the Mekong. None of us had travelled to Cambodia or Vietnam before or been on a river cruise so we had no idea what to expect. After landing in Siem Reap we passed through the required formalities, applying for a visa and moving through immigration before collecting our luggage. We were then met by our guide and as most of our group had flown in at the same time, we all boarded our bus to travel to our hotel. What unfolded from here was the most memorable and amazing journey through this fascinating part of Asia. Our hotel was the beautiful Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra, set in magnificent grounds and only a short…

Can you give us some idea of the stitch techniques that you use, plus the types and variety of threads and other embellishments? After many years employed in textile conservation, working on many different textiles from around the world and different periods in time, I have had to use different stitches, techniques and materials. This has been invaluable training for my work in costume embroidery, not only for inspiration, technique and execution but to build up speed in my stitching and I have gained the skill and knowledge of how to estimate how long the work may take me to do. If I am asked to recreate something historical then I will look at paintings, historical costume books, any textiles or clothing that may still exist and I may be bound by…