Lesson #1 – Happel Hearts

Schwalm whitework – Have you been wishing to learn the beautiful and exceedingly interesting embroidery technique, but no opportunity presented itself?
Well, the opportunity is here! With my detailed lesson booklets written for beginners, you can now learn Schwalm whitework easily and comfortably in your own home completely self directed.

Schwalm whitework consists of a variety of specific techniques, and not all techniques can be learned at once. If you like Schwalm whitework, you can learn to love working it! You can thoroughly learn all the basic steps of Schwalm whitework with my lesson #1 booklet.

Schwalm whitework incorporates three different withdrawn-thread patterns:
• simple – every fourth fabric thread is withdrawn in one direction only
• Limet – every fourth fabric thread is withdrawn in both directions
• openwork – pairs of threads are withdrawn between pairs of remaining threads in both directions For each type a wide range of different fillings patterns are available.


In this lesson you will learn to work the simple withdrawn-thread patterns only. But as you can see in the pictures, you will still have many options. Nine patterns are described in great detail; many suggestions for modifying the patterns are given.

Schwalm whitework provides only nine basic stitches for establishing the infinite variety of filling patterns. Lesson #1 imparts already three of them – Honeycomb Darning, Wave, and Satin stitches.


Lesson #1 imparts the most important basic elements in nine steps:

1. Design transfer
2. Thread preparation
3. Coral Knot stitches
4. Blanket stitch half-eyelet scallops
5. Chain stitches
6. Thread withdrawal for a simple drawn thread filling pattern
7. Filling patterns – please choose one of three different patterns
8. Laundering
9. Finishing.

Should you wish to continue your Schwalm whitework studies, the project booklet includes an additional six filling patterns that are a little more difficult.
For your first small project you will work a heart, which can be cut out or framed in the end.


Other finishing possibilities are square or heart-shaped pincushions and bands.


If you are left-handed, no problem! This lesson booklet is available in two different formats – written for left-handers or right-handers.

Another added benefit of the lesson booklets is that you will not be left wondering how to proceed further in your studies. If you are satisfied with your results and want to learn more, other lesson booklets – each introducing new Schwalm whitework techniques – are available.

Because your success depends on your using the right materials, I highly recommend that you order kit #1 along with the Lesson #1 booklet.


Schwalm Whitework
Lesson #1
Happel Hearts
53 pages
more than 140 images
text: English
plastic comb binding
item price: € 25 (including 7% sales tax), 23.36 € for customers outside the EU
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New Lessons for Beginners – An Overview

As I grow older I begin to think of rounding off my publications so to ensure the continued interest in and working of Schwalm whitework.

My book Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework has been well received. Schwalm embroiderers like it and have it always at their fingertips. However, these embroiderers have also told me that the book’s project is much too ambitious for beginners.

And so, I took out small parts, described them in substantially more detail, and added many more step-by-step pictures. I now plan to offer four different lessons for beginners. They will allow one to learn – completely self directed – the extensive techniques of Schwalm whitework step by step. All instructions have been proofed by many students.

The publications are:
Lesson #1 – Happel Hearts
Lesson #2 – Tulip Wreath
Lesson #3 – Openwork Circle Design Ornaments
Lesson #4 – Needle-Weaving Band Sampler

Although the first lesson – Happel Hearts – has already been presented as an online class n, each of the lessons will be discussed in greater detail in future articles.

Lesson #1 will now be offered without my online help. However, for one to succeed it is important to learn about the materials used in Schwalm whitework. For that reason I will offer a kit containing all the needed supplies. (Details of the kit will be included in a future article.) For your convenience, the kit will include all supplies needed for lesson #1 and lesson #3. There will also be a small sample of the linen used in lesson #2.

A newcomer to Schwalm whitework should absolutely start their studies with lesson #1. After completing this lesson, one can choose to continue either with lesson #2 or with lesson #3. Lesson #4 is a stand-alone unit that only requires some basic knowledge of embroidery.

The lesson booklets are also well suited for Schwalm teachers. The step-by-step instructions and many pictures will enhance and support a teacher’s lesson.

A word about the linen, Schwalm whitework is a combination of surface embroidery and drawn thread work. It is worked on densely woven pure linen. The dense weave enables perfect surface embroidery like leaves, stems, small flowers, eyelets, and tendrils. And withdrawing threads facilitates stitching the filling patterns into the shapes.

The most widely used linen for Schwalm whitework is linen with 16 threads per cm (Weddigen article 925). But for beginners it is difficult to withdraw the fabric threads of this linen. So all lessons (#1, #3, and #4) that deal mostly with this subject are worked on linen with a lower thread count – 13.5 threads per cm (Weddigen article 160).

One of the goals of lesson #2 was to learn how to embroider on the finer linen. But in the proofing tests some of the ladies found it difficult to use this linen. So the lesson was redesigned. Now the same design and the same steps can be worked optionally on either the 16 threads per cm or the 13.5 threads per cm linen. As mentioned above, the kit for lesson #1 will also include a small sample piece of linen with16 threads per cm.

Please anticipate more information on the individual lessons soon.

Coming soon:
All booklets and kits are ready for purchase, however they have not yet been added to my online shop. If you would like to purchase or have any questions regarding these items, please email me at leuchtbergverlag@aol.com.

Etoiles – Rebrodes

Now the Stars book is also available in French. Not having a French version of my website, I today use this place to brief my French embroideres.

Etoiles – Rebrodes

Explications détaillées pas à pas et illustrées

Grâce au minutieux travail de traduction de Jacqueline Blanot, cet ouvrage est maintenant disponible en français.
Vous y trouverez 18 motifs différents d’étoiles déclinées en 133 variations. Les rebrodes proposées prennent comme base les rosettes simple, double ou aplatie, et sont accompagnés de nombreuses photos et d’instructions détaillées.
Les étoiles sont brodées principalement en passé plat, combiné avec d’autres points classiques : Point de feston, point de croix, point de bouclette, point carré et de nombreux autres points se combinent pour créer des étoiles sans cesse différentes, le travail de broderie en est d’autant plus intéressant, et n’est donc jamais lassant.
Les petites étoiles peuvent être brodées seules, par exemple pour une décoration évoquant l’hiver.


Mais elles peuvent être aussi être utilisées sur de grandes surfaces, en combinaison avec d’autres points et d’autres motifs, pour un rendu particulièrement riche. Les possibilités de combinaisons sont innombrables, et on pourra inventer à loisir, pour aboutir à un nombre de rebrodes pratiquement illimité. On trouvera dans cet ouvrage des exemples de réalisations. J’ai également inclus quelques motifs à reproduire, ce qui permettra de se lancer sans plus tarder dans le travail de broderie.


On aura ainsi l’occasion de créer ses propres rebrodes, celles que personne n’aura jamais rencontrées auparavant. La complexité et la difficulté du travail de broderie seront surmontées rapidement et facilement grâce aux instructions compréhensibles, précises, claires, bien définies et détaillées.
Les brodeuses qui ont visité mon exposition et ont eu l’occasion d’y admirer ces motifs d’étoiles, me demandaient depuis des années un petit guide de réalisation. Je remettais toujours à plus tard. C’est maintenant chose faite, et je suis heureuse de faire part de la naissance de mon dernier ouvrage

ETOILES
Rebrodes
Avec explications détaillées pas à pas et illustrées
35,00 EUR
(TVA comprise 7.00 %)
(c’est 32,71 pour les personnes en dehors de l’UE)

Ouvrez la page du produit

Stars – All New Filling Patterns

It has been a long-standing goal of mine to create a publication dedicated to these beautiful filling patterns, and now – just in time for Christmas, but adaptable to any purpose – I am happy to announce that it is finally finished. Honestly, I think that this just might be my favorite title.

In this book you will find unique patterns that up to now were unknown. And you will find that I have broken down complex patterns into easily understandable, precise, clear, coherent, and detailed instructions ensuring that you will be able to replicate them perfectly.

This is the publication that many embroiderers, while visiting my exhibitions and viewing the embroidered star pattern projects, have asked for over and over again.

“Stars – Filling Patterns illustrated with step-by-step instructions” includes eighteen different star elements with 133 variations.

Essential elements of the stars are Satin stitches, Blanket stitches, Double Back stitches, Lazy Daisy stitches, Four-Sided stitches, and many others; these make the stars always different and keep the embroidering always interesting.

Solitary small stars are particularly effective on wintry embroideries.
Stitched en masse and combined with other stitches, they become eminently impressive filling patterns. The different possible combinations make the pattern variety nearly limitless – by changing single elements there are always other variations to be discovered.
Fifty-eight especially attractive filling patterns are presented in this new publication. In addition, there are many project examples showing how one might use the patterns. Last but not least, some line-drawn designs are included to facilitate your getting started.

I invite you to discover the beauty and the nearly limitless possibilities of Stars in my latest book.

Stars
Filling Patterns
illustrated with step-by-step instructions

101 pages
616 images
text: English
plastic comb binding
€35.00
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Limetrosen I – Improved German Edition and New English Edition

Every time I stitch a pattern, I consider how to rearrange stitches so that a new pattern is created.
This habit began many years ago and was the impetus behind my big sampler (2.70 m X 1.70 m). I began this project in 1996 creating it pattern by pattern. In 1998, having embroidered nearly every day of the intervening years and when my fabric had no remaining space, I finished the sampler.
1_25.03.2017I embroidered only for my own pleasure; coming up with new patterns motivated and empowered me.
2_25.03.2017During this time I did not harbor any thought of publishing the patterns –this came later. At the time I had very little experience with computer text programs. And programs for editing images were absolutely foreign to me. I had to invest a huge amount of time and energy in learning these programs before tackling such a project and bringing it to fruition.
3_25.03.2017Then I had to organize my thoughts and determine how to best present all that I wanted share.
Because I got to know that many embroiderers were not fully able to transform graphics into steps of working, I mostly avoided writing schematic instructions. I realized that step-by-step pictures were needed. Unfortunately, I had not taken step pictures while stitching my sampler – all these had to be made now. When the end of the project was in sight, I found a printer with an acceptable price/quality ratio. And because I had decided to handle sales myself, I had to store at home lots of boxes of books.
4_25.03.2017Since then more than eighteen years have passed. When, a couple months ago, the 1998 version of the book sold out, I thought to be content and not reprint. But requests and inquiries for a new edition induced me at last to tackle the project again – after all the patterns are beautiful and most are unique not to be found in other publications.
5_25.03.2017Working on this project again, I have come to realize that the first edition was not at all optimal. The stitches shown for illustrative purposes were too small. The patterns stitched with white threads were not always clearly recognizable. Also, the instructions were not always clear enough for the embroiderer to reproduce the pattern.
6_25.03.2017So I sat down and embroidered all steps for working again – this time with blue threads for better clarification. More than 2000 step pictures were taken! At all times I had to keep so much in mind:
After which stitch should I stop to take the next picture? Did the needle tip get cropped out of the photograph?
7_25.03.2017Is the background dark for a good contrast, or did the excess linen inadvertently fold behind the open grid?
8_25.03.2017Is the camera held so that the cut-and-withdrawn-thread grid looks perfectly squared? Is there a dark cloud in the sky or is the sun shining too brightly at this moment?
9_25.03.2017Although I always took the pictures during the daytime and used various image editing programs, I could not get all pictures absolutely uniform. Also I learned that although the edited images looked nice on my screen, they often looked different when they were printed. In the end 1032 pictures found a place in my new book.

When the pictures had to be combined with the text, I stopped short of resigning. Why did the pictures not hold the place I gave them? Why did the line distance change automatically? Why was there all at once a typeface I had not chosen? And then my PC crashed, because the document with so many pictures got too big for the random access memory. And, and, and . . .

10_25.03.2017

Pattern pages in comparison – left: page of the first edition, right: of the new edition

But it is not my nature to give up so quickly. If I accept a challenge, by all means I try to rise to it. So, with frustration reduced by many walks in the fresh air, I went on! After many months and countless hours of hard work, the new edition is finished.
The layout has been changed. Useless text was deleted to make room for many step pictures. The text that was kept was deemed the most necessary.
The introduction has been improved: substantially enhanced with more comprehensive text and all explanations illustrated with pictures.
11.25.03.2017In addition, two overviews were placed at the front of the publication: large thumbnails of the reduced white embroidered patterns,
12_englisch_25.03.2017and large thumbnails of the blue embroidered examples (most in their original size). These overviews are very valuable because these patterns are not only well suited to whitework or Schwalm whitework but also to other embroidery techniques requiring white or coloured threads to attractively fill shapes.
13_englisch_25.03.2017In addition, there is an overview of the specific pattern sections used throughout the book. The referenced samples are enlarged and in blue. This overview helps in understanding how the individual names came about, but it might also motivate the readers to create their own patterns using the individual sections.

Many embroiderers have asked for an English edition of this book. I am now happy to announce that Limetrosen I – a book filled with unique filling patterns based on the Square Eyelet, an abundance of images, and illustrated instructions is now available.
14_englisch_25.03.2017

Limetrosen I
Square Eyelet Filling Patterns
illustrated with step-by-step instructions
81 pages
1032 images
text: English
67 filling patterns
thumbnail overview
plastic comb binding
€35.00
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