Rock carvings: The solar horse

Now I've coloured the elegant solar horse too - using simple satin stitches and broadened chain stitches - the material is darning wool and sock wool.

While working on these little pieces, I'm pondering over how to assemble them in the end. They remind me a lot of comic strips, actually - maybe I can find a way to mount them in that manner, like a pictural collage or so ...



So far, I've preferred the classic tracing and transferring method using sandwich or parchment paper and a soft pencil. I do have an iron-on-transfer pen and dressmakers' carbon paper at home too, but I find the lines which I get from these too dominant for this kind of embroidery - and as I'm not going to wash it, the lines won't wash out either.

How do you transfer your motifs from paper to cloth?



(German summary: Das Sonnenpferd ist jetzt fertig; teilweise bunt bestickt, mit einfachen Spannstichen und breitem Kettenstich - als Material habe ich teils Stopfwolle, teils Sockenwolle verwendet.

Als Paus- und Übertragungstechnik verwende ich das altbewährte Butterbrotpapier und einen weichen Bleistift - Bügelstift und Schneiderkopierpapier machen mir hier zu kräftige Linien, und waschen möchte ich die Stickerei eigentlich auch nicht. Wie macht ihr das in so einem Fall?)

Small Xmas project II: Felt ornament/Weihnachtsprojekt II: Filzhänger

What can you do with some scraps of white felt, bits of ribbons and lace? Well, a Christmas ornament, of course!

The felt I used for this was quite a sturdy one, actually a piece of a table placemat, and so it will hang nicely, no backing needed.

A little bit of ribbon and some handstitching, and it could turn out like this:



For the decoration of the second one I used different bits of lace and sewed them down with free motion machine stitches - but of course you could do it all by hand as well:



I guess there are endless ways of using tablemat felt in various colours for making ornaments - maybe also in combination with paper (what about photos?) or fabric ... could be adapted for a kids' project as well, I think!

(German summary: Ein Stück festen Filz - hier von Tischsets - und Reste von Borten, Bänder und Spitze - und Simsalabim! - hat man einen Christbaumschmuck!)

The return of the Moosepaper Elk /Wiedersehen mit dem Zeitungselch

Before I'm starting with the assembling, I just wanted to show you how the 'Folkloristic Reindeer' and the 'Japanese Moosepaper Elk' turned out when finished (the beginning of it was here and here):






Anke at Wolle/Natur/Farben gave me some nice ideas in her comment on my last posting, Sara mentioned a quilt - and I myself feel that I would like to try some ragged piecing ... maybe combined with some embellishing - well, we will see what there will be when inspiration finally strucks me :-).

(German summary: Ich wollte nur schnell die beiden fertiggestellten Tiere zeigen, bevor ich mich ans Zusammenfügen mache ...)

A lacey deer/Spitzenhirsch

Well, this is definitively a lacey deer - different bits and scraps of lace sewn onto the fabric print ( here is where the deer story began). This time I added a couple of transparent glass beads which I found in my stash as well.

I'm beginning to wonder how I can assemble these experiments to some kind of a unit - in one of the comments, Sara suggested that I'd make a quilt out of them - but as my wall space is very limited, I think I'd rather mount them vertically somehow, like for a long, narrow wall-hanging. But maybe still in a 'quilty' way ... Any ideas?

(German summary: Ja, ein Spitzenhirsch, aus kleinen Spitzenresten, die ich auf dem Stoffdruck (hier hat es angefangen) aufgenäht habe. Jetzt überlege ich hin und her, wie ich diese Serienexperimente zu einer Einheit zusammenfügen kann ... etwas schmales, langes ... irgendwelche Ideen?)

A queer deer/Verfilztes Reh

And: having fun is surely the most important condition above all! Allowing yourself to be playful, curious, experimenting - without intention of achieving anything - helps a lot. I know, not every day gives birth to this kind of mood - but if you feel it coming, give it a chance to prosper.

At first, I just wanted to try punching bits of novelty yarns onto the fabric - and as I saw these awkward colours filling up the cloth, I realized it would never end up looking very natural anyway.

It looked queer, somehow - and when the rhyme struck me, it was obvious that this deer needed a pair - no, two pairs, of course - of red high-heels as well ... and some lipstick ...

I positioned the lengths of yarn and the wool with a hand felting needle, then punched it once more with the embellisher. The material for the antlers is glossy, hand-dyed thread.

(German summary: Und was am allerwichtigsten ist, ist die Freude - daß man einfach Spaß hat, an dem, was man macht! Daß man sich traut, zu spielen, herumzuexperimentieren, auszuprobieren - ohne unbedingt ein Ergebnis als Ziel vor Augen zu haben ... Hier habe ich verschiedene Effektgarne erst mit der Filznadel befestigt, dann mit dem Embellisher gepuncht.)

It's foggy, deer!/Hirsch im Nebel

Having a bit of time is another item needed for attracting the flow of creativity.

As time constantly seems to be scarce, I'm stealing it from household/garden chores in the mornings, when the kids have left for school. And sometimes a bit in the evenings too - if at least one kid happens to go to bed before I do ...

But then, again - sometimes I manage to get a glimpse of new ideas in my mind, while my hands are busy doing everyday duties ... nowadays, however, I have to get hold on a piece of paper and jot down at least a few lines, to ensure I'll remember it later on ...

This deer has a soft surface - almost like fur. It's pencil roving and carded wool which I punched onto the cloth with my embellisher.

(German summary: Ein bißchen Zeit braucht man einfach auch, für die neuen Ideen - ich stehle sie mir frühmorgens, wenn die Kinder außer Haus sind, manchmal auch abends. Und manchmal kommen die Ideen auch so, während die Hände mit irgendeiner anderen Arbeit beschäftigt sind,

Dieser Hirsch ist streichelweich, aus kardierter Wolle im Strang, trockengefilzt mit dem Embellisher direkt auf dem Stoff.)

Red deer crossing/Rotes Kreuzreh

'Not doing it properly' - but bending the rules - is another way of setting creativity free, I think.

Take cross-stitch for example. We've all been taught to sew it neatly row-wise, stitches in one direction only, same size allover. What if you don't?

If you just regard them as stitches, ment for filling a space, covering a background, producing a colour field or even just lighter and darker areas - then it doesn't really matter what size they are, in which direction they're looking, if they're overlapping or not. On the contrary: variety will add further interest.

The yarn I used for this deer is real recycling stuff: I found it when enravelling an old cord and tassel ...

(German summary: Einen Stich nicht akkurat auszuführen kann manchmal sehr belebend sein :-). Wenn man z.B. den Kreuzstich als Flächenfüller, Bodendecker, Farbenmaler sieht, ist die Stichlänge, -größe, -anordnung plötzlich sehr nebensächlich ... Die Fäden, die ich hier verwendet habe, sind übrigens hauptsächlich der spannende Inhalt einer alten Kordel ...)

Fibre sisters fabric brooch/Die Stoffschwesternbrosche

Yesterday I finished the small fabric brooch which I began to stitch at Sara's just before returning home.

It shows us two fibre sisters - and makes me smile and remember this nice week we spent together!



I found a piece of white cloth with one of Sara's b/w pencil drawings in her waste fabric scrap basket, showing two caterpillars, and I asked her if I could use it.

Eager to try out the handdyed threads, I started stitching and embellishing on it - and voilá! The fibre sisters turned up!

Proudly wearing my new brooch, I'm now working on two other fabric recycling and punching projects, of course including a lot of free embroidery, so I can use the threads :-)!



(German summary: Ich habe die Stoffbrosche fertiggemacht, die ich bei Sara begonnen habe: Grundlage war eine s/w Federzeichung von ihr, mit zwei Raupen, die ich aus der Schnipselbox gefischt habe - jetzt ist sie mit Stickereien recht verändert, und zeigt stattdessen passenderweise zwei Stoffschwestern! Und zuletzt noch eine kleine Vorschau auf das, was ich jetzt gerade mache ... auch Stoffrecyclingprojekte!)

A felted hair ribbon - and some embroidery books/Gefilztes Haarband und Bücher

This is a felted hair ribbon which I really needed to do, as my old, red one almost was falling apart from everyday's wear.

I used strips of a green, woolen sweater and punched it with some prefelt, yarn, threads and fabric and finally sew on a couple of beads.

These are some embroidery books I bought in Sweden -



with various aspects of embroidery -

the second picture f.e. is out of the book "Tenntrådsbroderier" ('Tin thread embroidery') by Mona Callenberg, which is a North Scandinavian/Sami technique where spun tin thread is plaited and embroidered on reindeer leather, mostly for jewelry, but also on purses, bags and clothing.

What I find to be quite amusing is the third picture, out of "Med egna stygn" by Lena Lundgren, which shows the traditional wool work, here used with illustrations from childrens' books and comics. This is a modern book on embroidery, inspiring the reader to do all sorts of own experiments with thread on unconventional materials.

The first picture, out of "Yllebroderier" by Ingrid Eggimann-Jonsson, is wool work on wool felt, this one showing mainly corner motifs to build up a composition. The book is filled with colourful photos and sketches on floral and folkloristic Swedish wool work, all designed by the author.

And the last picture is out of the book "Sömmar & stygn" by Anita Gunnars, a very clear and fresh stitch collection, here showing an old Swedish stitch from the early 19th century called "Anundsjösöm".



I'm still a bit stuck in everyday matters at the moment and therefore not so productive on textiles right now - have a look at Paula's blog: she describes exactly what I mean - I just wanted to say that I still very much enjoy your hanging around and commenting!

(German summary: Ein mit dem Embellisher gefilztes Haarband - Wolle, Garne, Stoff auf Strickstoff gepuncht - und einige Stickbücher, die ich aus Schweden mitgebracht habe - meist Wollstickerei, aber auch eines über Zinnstickerei, eine alte nordskandinavische/lappländische Technik, wo der gesponnene Zinnfaden kunstvoll geflochten und danach auf Rentierleder aufgenäht/gestickt wird. Das dritte Bild zeigt Kinderbuchillustrationen/Comics in herkömmlicher Wollstickereitechnik, nett, oder? - Und obwohl ich im Moment für textiles Arbeiten nur schwer Zeit und Muße finde, schätze ich meine kleine Leserschaft sehr ...)

Stitching Sami signs and runes

I'm proceeding with my experiments on stitching - and as I am Swedish, I focus a lot of my interest on the ancient culture of my own country.

These runes and magical signs are taken from an old Sami drum. The Sami population, who are the indigenous people of Northern Europe, totally count some 70.000 persons (20.000 in Sweden). They live in Sápmi, an area around the Polar circle, which stretches over Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. About 10.000 Samis are still involved in reindeer husbandry today.
The Sami religion was based upon the belief that the cosmos was divided into three spheres - the underworld, the real world and the celestial world. Shamans foretold the future and communicated with the gods with the help of sacred drums.

I now used a medium sort of linen punched on woolen cloth for the background, and the horizontal line is embroidered with a split stitch and a very unusual yarn: it's a 3-ply multicoloured recycling package string, which I found in a big construction material/DIY shop and then separated into three strands! I find these many but still muted colours to be really perfect for ancient and 'folkloristic' designs ... (I guess you will see more of this yarn in my future postings!)

The Sami runes and magical signs are made in stem stitch with two different types of thin, variegated knitting yarn. This works fine with a soft material like wool, but not with canvas, as the thread will break very soon being frequently pulled through the rough holes.

"Family" doodle - another stitching experiment ...

This is another stitching experiment, which I've done on linen-punched-wool cloth. I drew some doodles - which, funny enough, made me think of "family". I don't know if I just happen to have a weird imagination, but for me this is a (OK, very) abstract picture of a couple (man = red, woman = black), both curled up close to eachother, the woman holding a child and being hold by the man.

I drew it without intention, but when I had divided the curls into colours, the couple - the family - were absolutely clear to me. Can you see it, too?

The red embroidery is couching stitch, using that red woolen tassle again and some silky black thread - the dark one is grey knitting wool used for the chain stitch, and then couching stitch with a silvery metal wired thread and the silky black one.

Stitching "Munin" - Odin's raven

This is Munin, one of allfather Odin's ravens. Munin means "memory", and together with Hugin ("thought"), he was sent out every morning to investigate what mankind was doing and then report it to Odin. Odin was always worried that his ravens would not return, and that "thought" and "memory" (of the old religion) would then be lost forever. (Old Nordic mythology)

I started with embellishing a piece of fine linen to a woolen cloth, back and front several times, until the two layers were melted together. Then I drew up the outlines with a soft pencil, stitched them with grey wool in chainstitch and worked a couching stitch over the chainstitch with some red strands of wool. I added some quilting stitches with a linen thread at the wings (split-, stem-, satinstitch and french knot for the details).

The runes to the left mean "Munin".

I didn't use real embroidery yarn - the grey one is actually a fine knitting wool, the red one comes from an old woolen tassle. For the stitching background, I like the combination of linen on wool a lot - the wool softens and stiffens the linen (that means you don't need a hoop), and still there is a good linen-feeling in the material.