Stitching a seascape
The latest workshop is with Bethany Duffy. Her workshop is about using seashells (or other found objects) and incorporating them into an embroidery. I really love her work (see Related links below).
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| By the sea |
I started with two pieces of light blue hand-dyed fabric and a 4" embroidery hoop. The shells that we use need to have a hole in them to stitch through. That was actually difficult to find! I searched through all of my shells and found two since we generally collect unbroken shells.
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| My collection of shells in my hand-made bag. |
After finding the perfect shell, I added three layers of padding using left-over batting. This helps give it a cascading effect. Then I started stitching, and stitching! There are a lot of long and short stitches. I ended up using two dark blue embroidery floss, then two light blue and finally a very light blue-green for the edge.
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| Adding padding to the shell |
Once I finished stitching the first shell with short and long stitches, I added loopy French knots at the edge, like sea foam.
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| Finished stitching on the shell |
Since there was still a lot of space left in the loop, I thought of adding another shell but then remembered the small bag of sea treasures that my niece and sister-in-law brought back from Prince-Edward Island this summer. There was a perfect little piece of driftwood that would be a great addition.
I added the padding in front of the driftwood but only attached the driftwood once the stitching was completed. You can faintly see the brown silk thread that I used to attach it. I was going to add glue under it, but it seems secure enough.
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| Driftwood attached with brown silk thread |
What I learned
- It was so enjoyable stitching the sea through the shell.
- I'm really glad that the driftwood seems to be quite secure.
- I learned that adding padding in embroidery is called stumpwork. It gives it a 3D look.
- I want to learn shisha mirror embroidery since my sea treasures were mostly pieces of sea glass. I would love to add this to my next piece....yes, I really hope to make many more of these 😊
- I was hoping to give this first piece to my niece who is now studying in Denmark. I didn't get it done on time, so maybe she'll have many to choose from when she's back at Christmas.
Related links
- More hand-stitching fun: Making a seashell container, June 8, 2020
- Bethany Duffy website and Instagram
- Article about Bethany Duffy on TextileArtist.org, Making Waves
Linking parties
Project details
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Beautiful work and so interesting to use bits of nature combined with stitching. So many fun aspects to textile arts! Have a great week, and thanks for joining the Put Your Foot Down Linky Party :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Andi. There are so many wonderful things to add to textile arts. It's great to learn the techniques :-) Thanks for hosting for Denise. Have a great week.
DeleteHello Andrée, The stitched sea water is brilliant! I am always collecting shells and never know what to do with them. Using them for embroidery is a stroke of genius.
ReplyDeleteThanks Muv, I wish that it was my idea :-) and it's great to share. I'm working on my second one and having lots of fun! Take care.
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