Our August Meeting
A friendly group of stitches gathered for the August meeting. No stitch clubs were running so it gave everyone a chance to progress their own work, to chat to friends and to see what other people were doing. There are so many types of stitching and embroidering and the group certainly encompasses many of them!
A highlight of the morning was being able to see Chris' fabulous dolls. She has made these over a twenty year period and been very generous in sharing her skills and encouraging others to make their own "Dolly Birds". As Chris is downsizing she offered the dolls up for adoption and they are now heading off to be appreciated in new homes. The photograph doesn't really do justice to the humour and construction skill Chris has put into the characterful dolls. The new owners are certainly delighted to have them.
A table full of Chris' fabulous and fun "Dolly Birds"
In June Helen had run two full day workshops so that members could try some 'Scandi' style stitching. She brought along denim background fabrics, felt, threads and embellishments as well as paper templates. Helen had also brought her colourful and beautifully stitched samples and we felt very inspired to have a go at making Dala Horses. In August some members brought in their lovely completed horses.
Helen's felt 'Scandi' style decorations
Members' completed Dala Horses brought to the August meeting
Janet had taken the Travelling book home in July and had created some interesting pages about Shiburi and Gelli printing.
Janet's samples from the travelling book 
Devoré Taster Workshop with Claire Ketteman
Devoré is a technique that was thought to have developed in France as a cheap alternative to lace. A commercial process was developed in the 19th and 20th Centuries and was particularly popular in the 1920s. It uses a chemical burn process to remove some fibres (typically from silk:viscose velvet, satin or georgette) to create a lovely effect. After giving us a demonstration of the whole process Claire let us loose with fabric and chemical paste to make our own samples. This turned out to be more fun and rather less terrifying than might be imagined.
Claire's devoré hanging, design based on floor tiles
One of Claire's lovely devoré scarves
Devoré hanging by Claire Ketteman
Work in progress using chemical paste to create designs on velvet, silk and georgette
After the chemical paste was applied (either freehand with the dispensers or with a brush) we had to be patient and let the paste dry/adhere to the fabric. We then had to iron through paper to 'burn' the fibres out and put the fabric straight into a water bath so that the fibres could be safely removed.
Clare was very knowledgeable and encouraging and we left with a new found appreciation of an unusual technique and a lot of white fabric samples ready for dyeing, embellishing or just adding to the fabric stash!
Our next meeting will be on 7th September. New members and visitors are always welcome.