Another Embroidery Challenge

This year I ran another Embroidery Challenge within my local SCA group; pre-1600 embroidery with an open theme.

The aim of the Challenge was to provide opportunities to display work in a low anxiety, non-competitive environment and hopefully inspire others to get excited about embroidery, with everyone welcome to participate regardless of experience or skill level.

I like to make tokens to recognise those people who put the work in and take part. These are the tokens for the latest Challenge. We had a fair turn out, given the busy time of year.

Following an informal class I taught in October, I have also announced a Freehand Challenge which will run into next year. The theme of that one is pre-1600 inspired embroidery done without a pattern or markings. It should be interesting to see how everyone finds it and discuss how it all went!

Embroidery Challenge Tokens

 I have been continuing to work on WIPs and UFOs lately.

This week I managed to get some tokens finished for the most recent Embroidery Challenge participants.

This latest Embroidery Challenge has an open theme. It began late last year and finishes very soon. The aim is to encourage all skill levels of embroiderers to get involved, and hopefully inspire others in the Barony.

The tokens are glass beads and date pendants strung on tigertail wire and secured with a couple of jewellery crimps.

I have also been doing some scroll illumination, but of course, I can't share any of that until the scrolls have been presented.

Embroidery Challenge Piece

I recently had the opportunity to present my embroidery challenge piece and it was well received. I thrifted a linen napkin with (what looks like) crochet edging, and used running stitch in silk to embroider a heraldic sea horse. I also added a running stitch around the edge of the napkin.

The theme of the challenge was 'Animals and/or heraldic". I originally planned to do a more elaborately embroidered partlet for the challenge, but this last year has been hectic, so that plan did not come together.

Beaded Challenge Mementoes

Being a keen embroiderer, I try to run a local embroidery challenge every year or so. The themes vary, but the idea is to provide some motivation to create a new embroidery piece and arrange a forum to display the pieces created. Any skill level is welcomed, and the Challenge hopefully encourages people to participate without any of the pressures of a formal competition.

A lot happened in my local SCA group last year, including one of our members winning Crown, and so people were very busy with other things. The Embroidery Challenge extended into 2023 as a result, and people will finally have a chance to display their work this month. 

I made some small beaded tokens to give to participants as a memento of this year's Challenge. (2022 because the Challenge started last year.)

They are just small beads and a date pendant threaded onto tiger tail wire and secured with a metal crimp. Sounds like an easy make, but cold, shaky hands and beading do not mix well. Needless to say, the task took longer than expected, and I spent almost as much time trying to find and pick up all the beads I dropped before the puppy found and ate them!

Tokens for a Challenge

Another little project got ticked off the list last week. I had been running an embroidery challenge in my local group following an introductory embroidery class I ran at a College event. The theme of the Challenge was 'Something New'. Participants could display their embroidered work, whether it was a new item, something in a new embroidery or stitch style, etc. They were encouraged to display their work at an event, and I made little tokens as a memento of the Challenge.

I have made tokens like this for all the embroidery challenges that I have run (in different colours), so several members of the group have quite a collection.

Personal Embroidery Challenge

Something that surprised me recently was that I am as excited now about embroidery and women's fashion accessories as I was all those years ago when I first joined the SCA and picked my garb based on embroidery styles and fashion accessories! Such a wealth of information to explore, and it is only getting easier as more pieces are released into public displays or digitised for viewing online. The to- do list will never end!

Another interesting consideration when looking back over my work in the last fifteen years or so is just how 'stuck' I have been on monochrome non-counted embroidery - particularly the Elizabethan style. I love it so much, but I do think I need to work a bit more on exploring other techniques. I'm going to challenge myself to try it. New skills will enhance existing ones, and it can only enrich my experience. Obviously (as embroidery takes so long,) this will be a long term project, but it is one which I am looking forward to. It might give me confidence to try some of the bigger 'dream' projects I have been thinking about for years.

This thought-thread made me think that I should go back and review some of my very early work so that down the track I can compare it to where I am now.  A lot of the pieces were done pre-digital camera, so there are no photos (or at least no good photos) but it will be nice to do a review in a year or two and see how far I have got with the challenge. I've also noted that I haven't taken pictures of things that are not finished, and there are a lot of those.
(These headings are the categories that the Worshipful of Company of Broiderers of Lochac cover.)

Couching, Laid work

 

Beading, Pearling

Metal thread work, Purl work

Canvas work, including Slips

Applique

Cross stitch, including Voided work (Assisi)

Counted Thread work

Raised work, Padded work

Quilting

Whitework (not Hardanger)

Blackwork/Monochrome

 

 

Other










Construction sewing

Needlemade lace

Filet lace





Non-counted thread embroidery

 

Applique

 


Coptic embroidery and pre 1000 AD work.

Woolwork e.g. Bayeux Tapestry

Opus Anglicanum

Or Nue, Lazurtechnik

German counted work

Heraldic Embroidery

 

   

Elizabethan Embroidery

 















Canvas work, Table carpets, Slips

Polychrome Elizabethan Embroidery

Costume Embroidery

Embroidery for Household Linens

 
 
  
  
 Sooo very many napkins! I won't show them all


Embroidery for Regalia

 

These are only a fraction of previous projects- ones where I had photos easily to hand. You can see the obvious gaps and areas of embroidery that I enjoy.