Pre-made Ironing Patterns

By on 11. February 2022   /   blog   /   Leave a comment

My preference is for handicraft, especially embroidery, where I prefer whitework. I concentrated on the Schwalm whitework. So there was little time to practice other techniques intensively. I confess that the noble appearance of Richelieu embroidery has always fascinated me.

Recently I received mail from Poland.

By chance I had heard about Joanna Jakuszewska and her work. she embroiders excellently. She has focused on Richelieu embroidery and designs very diverse beautiful patterns. Drawings for projects of all sizes and shapes make the heart beat faster.

Best of all, she’s found a way to apply these patterns to linen. She offers both ironing pattern sheets and

also kits with cut linen and already ironed patterns.

The fine linen is woven almost evenly and has a cm thread count of 15/16,

as one can clearly see under the thread counter.

It has a pleasant grip. The lines are kept in gray.

Anyone who has ever embroidered a printed pattern appreciates this advantage very much – you save a lot of time with the often cumbersome transfer of the design.

The package also includes an illustrated short description in English.

And when Joanna has a piece of linen left, she likes to include a little pattern to practice.

For all friends of Richelieu embroidery, this is a great option. Joanna’s shop is an interesting source and a huge treasure trove. Just take a look.

The order is uncomplicated, the shipping costs are reasonable and the goods are shipped immediately.

It would be great if such ironing patterns were also available for Schwalm whitework . Of course, I started testing and contacting right away. You will find out more about this later.

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The Arduous Work of Designers

By on 4. February 2022   /   blog, Konturenmuster   /   Leave a comment

Not everyone has the aptitude to come up with and draw their own designs. Usually, when embroidering Schwalm patterns, already existing designs are used. This saves you a lot of work and allows you to choose the right one from the wide range of products that now exists.

But how are such drawings created?

First you need an idea. The typical Schwalm designs should contain larger elements such as areas suitable to embroider with filling patterns and small surrounding and connecting ones such as stems and leaves. Of course, the pattern should also differ from existing designs.

After the idea, a rough sketch is made and then gradually developed into a balanced pattern. What size should the pattern have? What form should it take? In what proportion of size and at what distance should the individual motifs stand from each other?

What kind of leaves should be added – pointed or rounded, divided or undivided? How many should there be? At what angle should branches of stems take place? How often should tendrils twist in? Which enhancing embellishment should the motifs get – half-eyelet scallops, knife points, 2short-2lang? ….. and, and and.

Once the sketch has finally matured and the pattern appears balanced, a thin-line final drawing is usually created by hand with the help of pencil and eraser, drawing board, ruler, triangle, protractor, a pair of compasses and various drawing devices or stencils. (Computer drawing programs have so far only been used extremely rarely by the mostly older designers for Schwalm whitework patterns.)

In order to move from the idea to a coherent, sophisticated and precisely drawn Schwalm outline pattern, a lot of work and time is required to create a design.
In most cases, the designers only charge a very small amount for their services, and many of the designs are only redistributed in very small quantities. So the wage for the hours of painstaking work is rather meagre.

Therefore, it should be self-evident that the copyright of the designers is respected.

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Schwalm Parade Cushion Border (B)

By on 21. January 2022   /   blog, historische Stücke, embroideries   /   2 Comments

One of the cushion designs shown in the previous post has met with great interest among my blog readers. Therefore, I now show this embroidery in detail. It is about a very special and rarely found Schwalm border pattern. It was embroidered on a parade cushion. The pillowcase is about 200 years old. It measures 45 cm X 82 cm. At 24 cm x 80 cm, the border occupies more than half of the cushion plate.

It is essentially early Schwalm whitework.
Coral Knot stitches are hard to find. But in addition to surface filling patterns, there is also a couple of withdrawn-thread patterns.

In addition to heart, tulips and sunflower, there are many other flowers, pomegranates and leaves in various forms. Some stems are kept wide and elaborately decorated. Blanket stitch eyelets are arranged in the shape of grapes. Instead of spirals, there are often intricate tendrils.
Not only the tree of life structure emanating from the basic vessel is interesting, but also the cross formations surrounded by the branches.

The embroidery also includes some very interesting filling patterns, which will be discussed in a separate article.

Schwalm Parade Cushion Border(A)
Transition from Early to Later Schwalm Whitework (1)
Transition from Early to Later Schwalm Whitework (2)
Transition from Early to Later Schwalm Whitework (3)

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Closures of Pillowcases (2)

By on 14. January 2022   /   blog, tips and tricks   /   Leave a comment

A traditional method is tying. I have found this method on many pillowcases, often more than 200 years old.

For this purpose, ribbons of sufficient length are attached in the same position at the lower edge of the front and back part of the pillow and tied in a bow.

The strips were usually made of the same fabric as the pillowcase. Bobbin lace ribbons were also used in some examples. These are thinner, usually smaller and therefore not as bulky. They also have an additional decorative effect.

4_KS_1

Depending on the firmness of the cover fabric and ticking used, as well as the stability and width of the ribbons used, the bows under the put up cushion are more or less visible.

Closures of Pillowcases (1)

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