Monday 2 December 2013

On Friday, 29.11.13, Linda Patrick brought a number of her Victorian and Edwardian Christening Gowns from her collection to Lincoln Bailgate.





Early gowns were quite tiny as infants were christened very early in life, often at a week old. Mainly white fine cotton lawn was used although well off families chose silk, which perished over time. 'One-size-fitted-all', with cleverly fitted adjustable draw-string ties at the neck and waist. Minute pin-tuck pleats attached a bodice to the long full skirt. Robing of lace echoed an earlier fashion for an over dress, revealing a richly embroidered underskirt. Fine stitching was worked on the bodice with lace or pin tucking forming a V which matched the inverted V formed by the robing with embroidery on the bodice echoing the design on the skirt.

Linda explained how Ayrshire white work embroidery became popular about 1840 and beautifully worked panels for the bodice and front were commissioned for high status robes. As fashions changed, broderie anglaise, lace and pin tucking came in to favour and were hand worked until the introduction of sewing machines in 1880’s.

Living and sewing in Lincolnshire, Linda is a christening gown designer who sells bespoke hand embroidered and reproduction gowns, most recently three of her gowns were featured in the BBC series "The Paradise" She also repairs and restores family gowns and has some original gowns for sale.

For a more detailed look Linda's website http://www.littledoves.co.uk/ is filled with examples of her christening gowns, rompers and accessories.

Judy O'Neill and Mary Paulger 


Sunday 17 November 2013

Lyn Rochester with a daisy lawn: Stitch club 16th November 2013

This was Lyn's example piece
and some were similar

and others went into new directions

We all enjoyed a marvellous day together. 

Sunday 27 October 2013

Felting a landscape with Liz Emery: workshop 26th October 2013


Using techniques described by Liz we built up our landscapes starting with wisps of fleece and building up to more defined images. It was marvelous to see the various views emerging.





Wednesday 23 October 2013

Heart quilt stitch club with Julia Welch 19th Oct 2013

After lots of machining



lots of ironing took place



Here is Julia about to show us how to spray glue the machined pattern onto the wadding and the backing.


and above is some quilting in the gutter


we all had a marvellous day

Wednesday 2 October 2013

change of venue for painting with felt

We have a number of places left on the painting with felt workshop being run by Liz Emery on Saturday 26th October 2013

Venue:  change of venue from North Hykeham to
LINCOLNSHIRE YMCA
ST. RUMBOLD STREET
LINCOLN
LN2 5AR
Time:  10:00 - 16:00.

details below

Monday 30 September 2013

AGM followed by Quilts 27th Sept 2013

We are now returning to the Bailgate Methodist Church Hall for our Friday evening meetings. The new Committee includes Jacqui Armitage as chair, Anne Petch as treasurer, Anne Goodall as secretary and other committee members are Lyn Rochester, Shirley Fuller and Di McCatty.

Andrew McDonald brought a quilt which was probably made in the late 19th century and we all had ideas as to how it had been made. The Linus quilts were on show together with others.







Thursday 12 September 2013

Painting with Felt Workshop with Liz Emery

We have a number of places left on the painting with felt workshop being run by Liz Emery on Saturday 26th October 2013

Venue:  change of venue from North Hykeham to
LINCOLNSHIRE YMCA
ST. RUMBOLD STREET
LINCOLN
LN2 5AR
Time:  10:00 - 16:00.

We will work on pieces roughly 18" square.

There is a charge of  £5 each for wool.  Liz will bring a wide selection of colours.
Liz will bring bubble wrap, soap flakes and 4 rolling pins (wooden broom handle 20 inch long)


Each person will need to bring
1.    3 large bath towels 
2.     A piece of net curtain about 20x20” or larger
3.     A plastic milk bottle with holes punched in the lid. ( Liz will bring some along)
4.     Scissors

5.     Plastic jug
6.     Plastic carrier bag

7.     Wooden rolling pin or bit of broom handle if you have one
It is very important that everyone has a selection of images to work from. 
This will enable you to challenge your skills and learn a wider range of techniques.

Flowers and landscapes work well but a choice would be good as some images work better than others.

Cost of the workshop is £25 for EG members and £30 for non-members.  Please bring a packed lunch with you.  Tea/Coffee/Biscuits will be available throughout the day.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Anne Goodall 
  anne.goodall@esl-lincoln.co.uk
If possible, please can you let her know by Thursday 26th September, so she can let Liz know how many kits will be required.
These are a couple of examples of the type of thing that can be done:


Please feel free to pass this information on.

Saturday 17 August 2013

Embroiderer's Guild travelling collection at Grantham

The Embroiderer's Guild travelling collection will be on show Grantham Museum 15th October 2013 to 4th February 2014.
                                                                                        text from Mary Paulger

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Christine Plummer with a practical evening where we made little books 26th July 2013

At our final meeting of the season on 26 July, Christine Plummer led a mini-workshop on book-making. She managed to give most of us individual tuition! Unfortunately there was a party in the main hall next door and the noise of that drowned out 'speaking to the group' as Chairman Jacqui discovered when she conducted the meeting! We barely heard her shout to introduce Christine Poole, EG Chairman, who had popped over from Yorkshire to chat with us informally. Some members even managed to make their books in spite of the din! There is a saying "Out-of-chaos-comes-beauty". Congratulations to everyone who persevered. Determination won out. It never ceases to amaze everyone how different the finished products turn out to be when everyone uses similar supplies to work with.










 text by Judy O'Neill


Wednesday 24 July 2013

26th July: Friday Meeting - Mini Practical

On Friday 26th July we shall be holding our final meeting before the summer break and we are planning a practical evening:

Christine Plummer will be leading us in making books [kits can be provided at a cost of £5.00] please contact us if you require one.  Below are examples of what we hope to accomplish:


Additional Requirements List [for those who want a kit]

Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
Needles
Old kitchen knife
Corrugated Card
Bulldog clips if you have them [Christine will bring some with her]

Requirements List [for those who do NOT want a kit]

In addition to the list above, you will also need:


Vylene or decovil, approx 7" x 10"
Bondaweb the same size as above
Papers for cover [see photo below]
A4 pages [different textures, colours etc - see photos below]
Thread
Buttons

20th July Stitch club with Di McCatty Appliqué / Collage





Thursday 11 July 2013

Kumi Middleton talk on 28th June and workshop on 29th June 2013

On Friday evening, Kumi told us how she came to "upcycle" worn fabrics into stitched pictures and handbags, almost mosaic-like in their intricacy. Using linen, silk and cotton fabric scraps and kimono cast-offs she combines textures and limits her colour range. Flowers however, appear in her work as they appear in nature, often in brilliant colour! 

Kumi draws on her natural surroundings for inspiration, be it twig or bloom. And of course she likes to depict birds also. 

Her pictures and her bags evoke a calmness and a serenity. But Kumi possesses quite a humourous side and she kept us laughing all through Friday evening. Dressing herself in one of her kimonos, providing little anecdotes as she added layer after layer of clothing, we noticed her Doc Martens peeping out! So definitely: "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts!" It was a truly delightful evening.
                    
                                     

On Saturday Kumi led our workshop making Cylinder Bags. We used Kumi's starched fabric or our own. This was for the bag exterior and for our 'decoration'. We cut, stitched and constructed our bags. We all included flowers in our compositions! Here is one in the process of being created by Vanda. 

Then we used unstarched fabric for lining the bag and stitched the two together. Magic. And here are finished bags by Shirley R, Mary B and Lyn R.

words and photos by Judy O'Neill

Sunday 16 June 2013

Paper making with Janet Taylor, stitch club 15th June 2013

Janet's paper making was great fun. There were about 10 of us in the big hall with a table each. We had our pre-prepared paper pulp which we watered down in our plastic vats and scooped up with our deckle and mortars and drained a bit before laying it down on j-cloths and soaking up excess with sponges. The paper and j cloths were put to dry but none of us managed to dry our papers before going home so we each took soggy piles to dry at home. Hopefully some of us will bring paper to display at the next meeting.



Tutor Janet with deckle, mortar and a paper sheet in the making; plastic vat below.


Ann experimenting - 1. pieces caught between two layers and 2. pieces laid on top.


Suzie going one step beyond with paper art.

Friday 14 June 2013

Lyn Rochester talked on Fine Cell 31st May 2013




At very short notice Lyn Rochester gave us an excellent talk about her teaching needlework to women at Morton Hall Prison. 

Her teaching was part of the Fine Cell Work project which "is a social enterprise that trains prisoners in paid, skilled, creative needlework to foster hope, discipline and self-esteem." The organisation was officially started in 1997 by Lady Anne Tree following decades of lobbying the Home Office to change the law so prison inmates could learn the skill of needlework and be paid for their work.

To illustrate her talk Lyn brought samples of completed work plus many photo notebooks of work which has been completed. She also brought correspondence she's received from women she taught. Her talk was an amazing insight into the good which can be achieved by assisting people to learn needlework skills. Lyn's work and that of others, including Carole Biggin, continued until Morton Hall closed in 2011 and the women chose another prison to finish their sentence. Now Lyn promotes the ongoing Fine Cell Work by giving talks to groups and this helps raise awareness.

Have a look at the website http://www.finecellwork.co.uk/

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Book cover: stitch club with Lyn Rochester 11th May 2013



 A delightful day was had at Heighington in the Thomas Garrett Heritage Rooms with boxes of wool, homemade cake and inspiration - all from Lyn.

Monday 29 April 2013

Vivienne Morpeth and nuno felted scarf workshop 27th April 2013

Monika laying out her design


Robyn rubbing her scarf edge after rolling in bubble wrap


Suzie showing her scarf after fulling (throwing it about)

Julia with her finished piece


three finished scarves


Monika making a felted flower as an additional extra