Thursday 19 April 2012

Les Brodeuses


Okay, so it`s no masterpiece but I think I`m improving.

Like a good student, I took on board all your positive words, encouragement and advice for which I am very grateful! Aussie Susan thought the floss I was using may be too thick and suggested I buy some stranded DMC and use just a couple of strands and use cotton as opposed to linen.  Weirdly, DMC stranded cotton is available here at a third of the price it is back in England and so yesterday, Zaki and I made a trip to our sad little sewing shop and bought some.


I used my new book Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray to learn the stitches, and used this doodle from the book as my inspiration.


 Having not bought any red DMC, the poppies quickly became fantasy flowers.


The fact that I should have been practicing my letters for the name tag swap has absolutely nothing to do with anything!

I`ll leave you with some real embroiderers from Morocco in 1920, and look it wasn`t just for girls!

Les Brodeuses, Mazagan, 1920 Geraud
...and just because , some Talking Heads for you after I heard this song on a film Zaki was watching - Open Season 2?, and I was immediately transported back to 1985.  Ahhh, the eighties....






21 comments:

Catherine said...

great embroidery. I love doing things like this and have a few projects on the go which I pick up from time to time!

Diane-crewe said...

wow! it looks great and the threads DO work xx

Canadian Abroad said...

I think you are doing wonderfully well with your embroidery - and quick too!

Catherine said...

I like your embroidery! And thanks for throwing in Talking Heads too:-)

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Pretty embroidery!
Oh I saw David Burne with my Dad back in the day!

Jenelle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenelle said...

I love how your embroidery is coming along. The little spikey flower with the orange french knots is lovely. I want to make one! Thanks for the Talking Heads too. :)

Jenelle said...

Oops on the first comment. I must have hit the post button twice. :)

Anonymous said...

brilliant stitching!

Ellie said...

You have done a great job with the embroidery. I tried it a few months ago - mine certainly wasn't as neat and tidy as your is. Maybe I need to practice more!!!

Cherie said...

It looks great! Fantasy flowers are better than the real ones any day =D

Katy Cameron said...

Great job on this! Embarrassingly, I'm yet to actually use my copy...

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

You are multi-tasking as an embroiderer now? Very nicely done. I never could get the hand of it. ALl my stitches always looked the same.

Cindy said...

It's beautiful! Like something out of Dr. Seuss. Stitch on!

Unknown said...

Annabella, thats frigging beautiful! You are so talented!

Dianne Neale said...

Lovely stitching. I used to do quite a bit, but I'm useless at it and I have several unfinished projects including one my mum started 60 or 70 years ago! (and never finished!)

Strawberry Patch said...

Beautiful embroidery! You have to turn that into something, it is too pretty to just be a practice!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Utterly gorgeous!! Love your pretty bright flowers! I've had my eye on that book, totally buying it now!! :)

busybusybeejay said...

I love it.Its good to do something different.

Very Berry Handmade said...

Aww, how lovely! It's look fab now you have the thread to match the cloth - lovely your choice of colours for the design. And yay for Talking Heads and the 80s! My DH has been collecting vinyl (I know! vinyl!!) from the 80s recently so we've been listening to ABC, The Pet Shop Boys and A-Ha, and I'm having flashbacks to doing my O-levels.

leanne said...

cute embroidery and love the photo of the kids doing embroidery as well - aaahh the 80's - you just took me straight to the beach in perth when I just moved there in the summer of '86 :)