Category: Stitchery
My textile projects are tagged here. You will also find a few museum reviews, and some DIY articles on embroidery techniques that I have made available as free pdf downloads.
Stitchery Part V: Applique…
Appliqué can be as simple as applying a leaf to a surface, or as complex as the ‘tablion’ in Byzantium.
Stitchery Part IV: Chinese Symbolism…
The invention of the draw loom and the development of brocades allowed patterns to be woven into the cloth, which was often over-embroidered to augment the woven patterns (a technique I now employ on my hats…)
Stitchery Part III: The Stitches…
There are somewhere around 100 – 150 identifiable embroidery stitches used worldwide. I have only captured here those that are the oldest and most recognizable…
Stitchery Part II: Tools and Techniques…
Bronze needles are the best for embroidery as they have a smooth surface and are more pliable than steel, which reduces finger fatigue…
Stitchery Part I: History and Fibers…
This 5-part series begins with a very brief historical overview and comparison of embroidery between East and West…
Reconstructing an UlaanBaatar boot…
A friend and I stumbled across these boots in a military antiques shop in Seattle, and recognized them as traditional Mongolian footwear from UlaanBaatar.
Making a Tibetan maikhan…
The peaked roof of the 13th century maikhan was supported by a ridgepole, supported in turn by two upright poles. Guy ropes were made of yak hair and adorned with prayer flags, which served to both mark the guy ropes (notorious trip hazards), and to send prayers to heaven for the Buddhist inhabitants.
Something tattered this way comes…
In addition to making my own hats, I have also redesigned hats from other people’s collections. The mail one day in 2014 brought a new challenge…
Replicating a Kingfisher feather hairpin…
“…many beauties take the air by the Ch’ang waterfront… their embroidered silk robes in the spring sun are gleaming… and hanging far down from their temples are blue leaves of delicate kingfisher feathers…”
from “A Song of Fair Women” by Tu Fu