TAST (in English)

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19
okt 15

14. Stem Stitch

I have already made a lot of Stem Stitch on my practice cloth, for example outlining uneven edges, stems of flowers and veins of leaves.

The main reason for using Stem Stitch from the very beginning of TAST is the smooth and nice outline. Here are some ”Paradise Flowers” from previous weeks:

This week I have tried Stem Stitch in a new way. I worked them in rows close together as a filling stitch. This flower is Stem stitch only.

A stem with three rows of Stem Stitch.

My ”Paradise flowers” embroidery will become a pillow case when it is finished. I need smooth edges easy to sew with a sewing machine. Stem Stitch is a perfect choice.

Bellow are some pictures of previous embroideries. First whitework inspired by wool embroideries from the province of Skåne in the south of Sweden. Those embroideries are often very colourful naive fantasy flowers but I made them white, using white cotton thread on linen instead of wool.

Stem stitch is outlining the whole motif.

And finally a small linen towel all stitched in Stem stitch except the centre of the flowers, which is Satin Stitch with a Cross Stitch owner.

Links:

Stem Stitch

Google picture search
Google search Swedish
Highlights

Variations of Stem stitch:
Whipped Stem stitch
Portuguese Stem stitch
Cable Stem stitch
Raised Stem stitch
Pekinese Stem Stitch

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12
okt 15

13. Satin Stitch

Sweden has many local traditional embroidery styles. Dala-Floda is one of them, rich in form and colour with lots of different flower motifs. The printed fabric I use for my TAST stitching is inspired by these traditional embroideries.

This week I made a lot of Satin Stitch, an important stitch in Dala-Floda embroidery.

Satin Stitch is often outlined with Stem Stitch, which is the stitch for next week. But as you can see it is almost impossible to wait using them untill next week.

I also tried Padded Satin Stitch.

Satin Stitch is also common in other traditional local embroidery styles. In isolated villages material for embroidery was both expensive and rare and nobody could afford any waste. Therefore they used One Sided Satin Stitch, where almost all thread is on the front side of the facric, on the back side there are only tiny little stitches. Delsbo is such a place, there you can find Delsbo Seam with big red flowers worked with long one sided satin stitch, sometimes coached down by stem stitch.

This kind of Satin Stitch is not as even and delicate as regular Satin Stitch, but I find it far more interesting.

Here is another example where you even can see the back side.

In Blekinge, a province in southwest of Sweden you also can find the one sided satin stitch. Blekinge Seam is distinguished by both colour and certain set of seams.

Here is my own interpretation of a Blekinge flower, with one sided satin stitch, Stem Stitch and Herringbone Stitch.

Links:

How to hand embroider Satin Stitch

Google picture search
Google picture search plattsöm (Swedish for Satin Stitch)
Delsbosöm Google search
Blekingesöm Google search
Highlights

Allmänt småprat / Broderi / TAST (in English) — 3 Comments
07
okt 15

More about flowers from Dala-Floda, Satin stitch

I promised to write more about Dala-Floda embroidery tradition, TAST week 13, Satin stitch week. But instead of writing myself I will link to some blog posts of interest, by a friend, who has written far better texts than I can do.

Embroidery on wool, with loosely spun threads, that makes a soft and textured surface.

His name is Lars and he is a talented knitter, who also has a broad interest in traditional textiles. (The picture above is from his blog.) He has just started to learn embroidery.

Lars writes in English and has published lots of pictures. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Dala-Floda is famous for more than embroideries. Follow the links below, and you will see. (All links are opened in a new window). You can also see the kinship with my ”Flowers of Paradise” print used for my TAST stitching.

Four days in Dala-Foda
Roses and embroidery, crochet and knitting in Dala-Floda, part 2
Roses in embroidery, crochet and knitting in Dala-Floda, part 5
Cources at Dala-Floda
Embroidery sampler – Påsöm
Embroidery in Dala-Floda – Påsöm
Treasures in Dala-Floda

Do you want to see more? Make a Google search for pictures. I suggest some Swedish words to use, that might give you a good search result. You can easily copy and paste, even if you don’t understand the words: Dala-Floda broderier, Floda broderier, Floda Hemslöjd, Påsöm.

There is also a digital museum at http://digitaltmuseum.se. You can try the same words for searching.

Here is a link to a photo book with wonderful pictures: Påsöm från Björbo

I hope you will find pictures of embroideries from Dala-Floda inspiring.

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03
okt 15

12. Barred Chain stitch

I didn’t get Barred chain stitch right from the beginning, but after a few attempts I figured out how to make it. What a nice little stitch. I must say that I do like my mistakes too.

… and here is an old denim swatch.

Links:

How to embroider Barred Chain Stitch

Google picture search 1
Google picture search 2

Allmänt småprat / Broderi / TAST (in English) — Kommentarer inaktiverade
30
sep 15

Paradise Flowers from Dala-Floda

I am learning new stitches every week and I am using the wonderful print, Flowers of Paradise, from Dala-Floda, Dalecarlia, Sweden, by Karin Holmberg, for practicing. Karin has given the old traditional embroidery technique a modern twist. She became well known among embroiderers in Sweden for her traditional embroidery on a simple hoodie.

(These photos are from Karin Holmberg’s blog)

She has made the print I use for my TAST stitches, inspired by Dala-Floda stitching and knitting tradition. I made a visit to Dala-Floda Hemslöjd ( Dala-Floda Art and Craft Assosiation) last summer and found the print in their shop. When all flowers are filled with stitches they I will make a pillow for my red sofa in my country house in Furudal (another village in Dalecarlia also known for rich textile heritage).

Somebody in the TAST Facebook group asked for stitches suitable for letters. That question gave me the idea of stitching even the letters in the selvage with TAST stitches.

I used couching, fly stitch, buttonhole stitch, detatched chain stitch and regular chain stitch.

Karin Holmberg has made other amazing jobs, for example embroidered book covers for the republishing of one of Sweden’s most famous writers Wilhelm Moberg, who has written four novels on the emigration from Sweden to America during the 20th century. I wrote about it here. She has also published three books of her own, among which I like the first one best, Karins broderier. I have written about two of the books, here and here.

You can also follow Karin Holmberg on her blog.

Satin stitch is imporant in in Dala-Floda embroidery tradition. I will show you more from this rich textile tradition TAST week 13, which is Satin Stitch week.

Broderi / TAST (in English) — 2 Comments
27
sep 15

11. Whipped wheel

Paradise Flowers from Dala-Floda with whipped Wheels.

Here is my denim swatch.

… and two felted balls with Whipped Wheels.

… and a dress I wore for my son’s wedding

There are more pictures of this embroidery here.

Links:

How to work Whipped Wheel Stitch

Google picture search
Highlights

Broderi / TAST (in English) — Kommentarer inaktiverade
20
sep 15

Summary 1: 10 weeks of TAST

1. Fly stitch

2. Buttonhole and Blanket stitch

3. Feather stitch

4. Cretan stitch

5. Herringbone stitch

6. Chevron stitch

7. Detached Chain stitch

8. Chain stitch

9. Couching

10. Running stitch

Another blog with an intresting summary.

Next summary ->

Broderi / TAST (in English) — Kommentarer inaktiverade
18
sep 15

10. Running Stitch

Running Stitch and Back Stitch were the first stitches I learned at school when I was seven years old. After all these years I realise that this stitch is The King among stitches. You can use it in many different ways. You will find it in traditional techniques, such as Sashiko, Kantha and hand Quilting.

This week I tried Running Stitch as a filling stitch.

Here are some older samples of Running Stitch: A denim swatch

A linnen curtain with vertical stripes.

Tulle threading

Links:

Running Stitch

Google picture search
Highlights

Broderi / TAST (in English) — 2 Comments
13
sep 15

9. Couching

Couching is not a stitch but rather a method or technique. You can use whatever stitch you like to Couch down almost anything. It’s much fun and there are very few limits.

On my ”Paradise Flower” cloth I started by couching down little bits of tangeled threads, cut off when fastening threads on the back side of the embroidery. The flower is then surrounded by an outline of Chain stitch.