25th August 2019 ~ THE EVOLUTION OF BEAUTY 1

There is a special way in which a piece of embroidery in the working takes on a evolved beauty as it progresses.  One can start with the backbones of a design or a particular element.  As colour or detail are added, there is a genuine maturation of a design as it approaches its fullness.  Seeing the change to a piece as each progressive element of a design is added is one of the things that gives me real pleasure in embroidery.

Here I would like to share such a progressive development of a beautiful and majestic embroidered piece, from start to completion.  The piece on which I’m working currently is a servetka, and quite a large one.

It begins with an idea, usually with a design that has caught my eye, which I would like to see actualised, or otherwise with a fabric I want to decorate, or with a colour I want to celebrate.  In this case, it was something of all three.

There is a fabric on which I have worked before and which I really love.

A red colour I adore is a little faded, a little pink, a little vintage.

And a design of which I’ve long thought, found in a book called Invincible Spirit, Art and Poetry of Ukrainian Women Political Prisoners in the USSR (more detail here: INSPIRATIONS).

It is graphed out, as per my usual habit.

And embroidery begins.

So far, it looks quite unexciting, but the size and scale can be appreciated.  This looks straightforward, but I actually made a lot of mistakes inserting a diamond of crosses in amongst the teeth periodically.

Adding these strange, exotic flower-like shapes was substantial.

Here, they are completed.  There is some form, a major element in the design is added, but the composition itself is looking still a little plain and unexciting.

The next step will be to begin adding some detail to these exotic poppies and that means choosing additional colours.  The design, like many Ukrainian designs, uses a combination of red, black, yellow and green, a well-used combination.  I was really conflicted about the use of black on this particular piece.  When I’ve laid down black cross-stitch in the past, it has sometimes looked heavy and abrupt.  And here I have such a soft flecked fabric colour and slightly faded, gentle red.  Black didn’t sit with me at all.

I’ve seen embroideries in people’s homes, my Baba’s embroideries included, on a grey/brown fabric, looking very vintage in oranges and browns… so why not a very dark brown as an alternative to black?  I pulled out from my drawers the darkest brown available from the thread range, after which it made no sense to use a pure green or definitive yellow, or any yellow at all.

So after some fiddling and shuffling of colours I settled on a golden, pale green and coppery orange.

I’ve embarked on the trimmings and details that will made this design spectacular.  I look forward to seeing it evolve and sharing more of its detail and beauty as it comes along.

~oOo~

16th February 2020 ~ THE EVOLUTION OF BEAUTY 2

I previously had left this piece when it was so far all in red and ready to have some more additions.

Like dark chocolate to a Cherry Ripe, adding some rows of deep brown.

Here it has further rows of cross stitch and back stitch in both brown and red.  This is what Uki embroidery can do really well sometimes and one of the things I love about this design – using very, very simple elements to create visual complexity.

All red and brown completed!  (This took a little while.)  The design is now at its full width and a lot of the detail is there.  In my opinion, it is starting to look special.  But there is so much gorgeousness yet to come!

What to do next – orange or green?

~oOo~

23rd September 2022 ~ THE EVOLUTION OF BEAUTY 3

Well, it’s been a long time since Big Red #1 got any love and attention. In fact, Big Red #2 (WORK IN PROGRESS – BIG RED #2) has been started and completed since then. I’ve written a post on reds before (Red) and my interest in choosing different shades for different moods. Hence the two Big Reds – imagining things, trying things, finding out they work, at least for my taste – it’s all part of the, I’ll admit it, excitement of Uki embroidery for me.

The last time I left this gorgeous thing, it was done up in red and deep brown, which I substituted in for black to create a gentler look and as a nod to embroideries I’ve seen long ago, where the raw linen colour of the fabric and the choice of brown or orange or other burnt shades made something that as a kid I thought of as very 70s! Funny how these reminiscences return!

Having decided to go off-piste with the secondary and detailing colours to work in with this delicious almost pastel red, a yellow and a green, as asked for in the original design, just didn’t seem to work here. So, it became a shuffle through the Draws of All Threads

to find suitable friends for this pairing. I’ve shown the outcome of this funnest of fun processes before. I landed on this combination:

Maybe it’s the time spent with these four colours, doing the next parts of the embroidery, or maybe it’s just my own impression of a good choice – the fact that over 3 years later, I’m still happy with the combination bears out for me!

Here is Big Red #1 in her current state, with the copper and green added and completed:

I have always especially loved how such simple details as a row or two of cross stitch or some back stitch, as shown here, can add such complexity. To me, this sort of addition to a design is genius.

There’s not much left to do now – backstitching the entire design in dark dark brown will add the final details that make this design so grand and so beautiful. The next episode will be the last.

(To view previous posts on this piece of work, click on the Work in Progress link in the menu at the top.)

~oOo~