Two days at the Royal School of Needlework

Last October I signed up for a two day course at the Royal School of Needlework in July. As the date came closer, I began to get a little bit worried. The Inn where I booked a room, turned out to be quite far from Hampton Court Palace (where the RSN is located). I also wasn't sure whether I was 'good' enough to participate and whether I would fit in. Everything turned out fine though. Yes, the Inn wasn't close, but two busses and a short walk later, I arrived way too early at the Palace on a Thursday morning in July.

Armed with a visitors pass and following, what seemed to me, a maze-like route to the top floor (I'm easily confused) we found our way to the class room. The class room had an amazing view and it was a good thing I couldn't see much while seated, or it would have been quite a distraction.

The course was hosted by Nicola Jarvis and she did a wonderful job. Nicola was very patient (threaded my needle a zillion times) and helpful. And she was also honest when things didn't look fabulous. The whole atmosphere in class was friendly and relaxed which was really nice as well.
I had no experience with Crewelwork or Gold work and I'm glad to say that after the course I'm pretty confident stitching with wool now! I found Gold work a bit trickier so maybe I need to book another course someday to try and master the technique properly.

From the Couture Birds collection I chose the Starling. I think I was the only one in class who did. The other birds (I also bought the Green Woodpecker kit) were possibly more delicate in colour and appearance but I thought the Starling really had character and I liked the dark tones.

After the class ended on Friday I stayed in the UK for another two weeks (Wales and Cornwall) with my family and I continued working on my Starling project. This is the last photo I took of my progress.

I'm very happy that I took the plunge and decided to book the class at the RSN. Although I was already familiar with many of the stitches used for Crewel work, as they are the same in shading and 'regular' embroidery', stitching with wool is really a whole different experience. It also inspired me to think of doing projects on a bigger scale and/or stitching with other materials.

There are many classes available to book for this and next year at the RSN. You can check details here. The Couture Birds and other beautiful kits by Nicole Jarvis are available here.

p.s. a little reminder that the code for free shipping (FREESHADINGSHIPPING) on my Simply Shading Class ends on Wednesday!

Couture Birds

Embroidery & design by Nicola Jarvis. photo used with permission

While I was browsing the website of the Royal School of Needlework I stumbled upon a fabulous looking workshop called Couture Birds (Kings and Queens) hosted by Nicola Jarvis. I first found out about Nicola Jarvis' work last year when I read about her beautiful embroidery work in a William Morris inspired exhibition (read a review here). Besides the Morris' Birds Nicola has done lots of other exquisite highly creative embroidery work in different techniques.

So I needed very little time to think it over and very spontaneously booked my place in the class. Without worrying about details of how to get there and where to stay or that I don't know anyone there. It's next July so I still have some time to figure all that out. :) Incidentally I also forgot to check whether my embroidery skills were good enough to take part. It's Crewel and Gold work, two techniques I haven't tried before. At least not Crewel work with wool, because apparently you can also do Crewel with regular stranded thread which to me sounds much like surface embroidery. And that is something I happen to do quite a lot! I'm not particularly keen on formal gatherings but the RSN says the classes are small and friendly (just like me!) so I should be ok. I'm just incredibly excited to be taking a class with Nicola and I expect to learn lots from the experience!

As I write this I saw there was only one spot left in the Couture Birds class (come join me!) but there are lots and lots of other interesting courses available through the Royal School of Needlework for all skill levels and on different locations as well. The majority is in the UK but there are also classes taught abroad.

Do check out Nicola Jarvis' shop where you can find gorgeous Embroidery kits, including several William Morris inspired Bird kits.

In preparation for my class I will go and explore Crewel Embroidery a bit more. Obviously I will share my findings here on the blog. :) 

Sign up for the new Furry Nice Embroidery Class!

I'm very excited to announce my second Furry Nice Online Embroidery Class! It's basically a repeat of the class I hosted earlier this year but with a few tweaks and improvements, based on my experience with the first Furry Nice Class and the feedback I received from the students. 

Together we'll be stitching the Polar Bear you see pictured above. My aim is not simply to let you replicate the original but to show you what's 'behind' my furry stitching. It's about shades and colours and creating depth in embroidery. To me one of the most striking things of the first Furry Nice course was how well the students were able to absorb and use the information and techniques I provided them with.  As a result some very lovely Polar Bears were stitched during class! 

In addition to the Polar Bear the class includes several exclusive patterns including a Sailor Fox, A wistful looking Bunny and smaller patterns to practice your newly learned shading skills. 

The Online Furry Nice Class starts on the 25th of September 2014 and will run for five weeks. The information and downloads will be available for much longer than that (at least until the end of 2014) so you can follow the lessons in your own pace. You can go directly to my store to secure a place in the class and you will also find more information about the class there. The price is $40 if you sign up before the 9th of August and $45 if you sign up at a later date. Hope to 'see' you in my class!

Furry Nice

I so enjoy making the tiny animal portraits that I just had to start another one! A Hedgehog this time and I have only made the first few of many stitches. At the moment other projects are keeping me busy during the day and by the time I sit down to do some embroidery for myself, it's already dark outside and I really do prefer stitching these small portraits by daylight. I have a daylight lamp but it's not enough. Maybe I should invest in some kind of magnifying device as well…

One of the things I'm working on, although not quite as much right now as I'd like to, is an online Embroidery class. I'm very excited about it and I hope many of you are interested in enrolling in my class. I will let you know more details in the next few months through this blog and my newsletter but the work title is Furry Nice so you may have some clue what it's about!