Marg Dier Embroidery

Just recently I have been trying out ribbon embroidery. I bought lots of silk ribbons years ago and have never given them ago.
       Well here is my first attempt. I love the look of these ribbons, all silk and beautifully space dyed so the colour changes are really subtle. It does also mean you have no control over where the colour lands. I am also finding that ribbon embroidery does not like to be taken out. This I find really frustrating as sometimes things are not quite as I like them .
       If you live in the UK you can get your ribbons from Sophie Long.

 http://www.freewebstore.org/Sophie-Long-Hand-Embroidery

She also has some beautiful kits for sale so do check her out.

Hollyhock design, this just grew and grew. It was supposed to be just one stem. I just could not stop. I just love the way hollyhocks just get so tall and bend over.I tried to capture this.

Hydrangea, this ribbon had very subtle shading so I brightened it up by using some spacedyed threads with a stronger pink shade.

I loved this ribbon, wine and olive is the best way to describe it. I thought it looked like an Autumn hydrangea when the colours start to fade away. I had some beads which matched perfectly so they just added some more dimension.

So many colours all in this one ribbon. A high Summer sort of flower.

A silver necklace with another hydrangea.

My first attempts all together. I do not think I  will make full size embroideries with ribbon work but they are perfect for brooches. I have just bought another load of ribbon from Sophie so I will have to play some more.

 

Not posted for a while as been very busy, with work luckily. One of my lovely students that I taught last year at The Royal School commissioned me to work a number of brooches for her. A very exciting project . A few of them are shown below. All of them with very tight briefs , which sometimes I think is much better. Exact colours of silk backgrounds were asked for, and as an embroiderer I of course have every imaginable colour in my stash!!! The holly design was the hardest to work as it was so small but needed lots of shading for it to look realistic. So thank you to S , I know you read this blog . I enjoyed every minute of working them for you.

The brief for this one was just, black and white. My vase embroideries are always popular so I thought a black and white one would be interesting to work. I used a black silk thread and tiny glass beads from Prague. 2 inches dia.

Two Autumn leaves in silk shading. Worked on a silk dupion. 2 inch dia.

The tricky one !!! Two inch size again but it needed three leaves to balance the design which meant small stitches.

Pansies are one of the best flowers to silk shade as there is not much of an angle change and lots of dramatic colour changes. 2 inch diam.

Another leaf this time I made it a little more orange. 1 inch dia.

Here is my latest selection of brooches. My needles are hot right now !!
       Before I make any more I am going to decide on my next large embroidery project. Although I would love to do another silk shaded giant embroidery I think it would be good to do a different technique. Either blackwork or appliqué. Watch this space.
      I am also thrilled to see I have had over 10,000 views of my blog. I know this is a very small amount in the world of blogging but it is huge for me. So thank you to everyone who follows me or just checks in every now and then. Also thank you to everyone who comments on my posts. It makes me feel that I am not just writing to myself.

Polka dot pansy. Silk shading long and short with a beaded background.

Beads and sequins.

Another oak and acorn crewel work . I just love doing them.This time on a floral printed background.

Drawing straight onto the silk fabric with my silk thread. No design on there just sketching away with my needle. Try it !!

No traditional colours here for this crewel work. Cerise meets lime and turquoise.

This little ( 5cms) brooch was an opportunity to try out my new wools from the wonderful Hand Weavers Studio based in North London.