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Part 2 Intro to Silk Shading is Out

Friday 2nd April 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

The second part of our introduction to silk shading has been released and is now available on the London Embroidery School website. If you purchased one of our kit and classes bundles then the second part will have been delivered to your email address otherwise it is now purchasable independently.

needle painting, silk shading , thread painting, long and short stitch — Silk shading from below, detail

During this class we will be talking to you more about the technique of silk shading and how it can be tweaked with your directional, material and density choices. As you will have become comfortable with juggling your thread blending using two needles we will offer a little context and examples from the history of silk shading which will hopefully spark ideas of how you can go on to apply your new skills.

If you haven’t already secured your introduction to silk shading kit, don’t delay as these have been selling like hot cakes since the launch of part 1.Find all your options in the online classes section of the London Embroidery School Website.

March’s Student of the Month

Thursday 1st April 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

Feels like Spring is here and with that a new student of the month. So for their lovely works during March the winner is…@rhea_krcmarova

It is so fascinating and inspiring to see what each of you like to do in your spare time and how you manage to work embroidery into your lives. Taking Rhea for example- describing herself as a writer and transmedial text artist, we were delighted to see how our chiffon rose class came out for her and how effective they are when built up in this way.

As a text artist, she also wrote this wonderful poem to go along with the piece which we think is just beautiful:

”my needle

floating

in a field of fingers

my pulse explodes

in silky-spoken strands

my blood is bound

my knots are softly breathing

my thread is rising

where my lashes bend”

Rhea Krcmarova 2021

Do have a look at her instagram page if you would enjoy seeing more of her works and seeing how her other artistic mediums all fit together.

If you would like to be the next #studentofthemonth, use the hashtag #londonembroideryschool or tag us when sharing your photos from your London Embroidery School class or the things you have gone onto make following one of our classes.

All Images courtesy of @rhea_krcmarova

Silk Shading comes to LES

Friday 26th March 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

By popular demand, we bring to you the Introduction to Silk Shading Online Classes. Inspired by the naturalistic flow of art nouveau designs we have developed this kit onto which we will be filling in the traditional silk shading method of long and short stitch, accompanied by split stitch, outline stitch and french knots for the details.

This two part class will take you section by section from creating the fill, to blending the four colours featured, and learning how to get your stitches to flow with the direction of the shape. The first part has been released and is for sale now, with the second part following next week (Friday 2nd April).

The Introduction to silk shading is an entry level class for those who have not tried silk shading before or want to brush up their skills with the basics. We would suggest that it would be ideal if you had done a little general sewing or embroidery before for a good grounding before you attempt this more specialist and unusual skill.So if you’ve completed something like our Introduction to Embroidery Lily and Pomegranate Design, you’re in a great position. As with most of our online classes, there is the option of a mini kit for the materials to accompany the class or the deluxe kit for those who need the equipment too.

For further details and to order your class and kit, pop over to the online classes section.

Last Minute Mother’s Day Ideas

Friday 12th March 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

Are you stuck for a last minute Mother’s Day Gift?

We have lots of online classes which you can gift that dont necessarily need a kits that require postage.Why not consider giving the gift of lettering in the shape of our monogramming online class series, or a practical skill like Darning? Or for the more experienced stitcher, think about the goldwork letters online class. Quite a few of our other classes only require materials that a crafter is likely to have already like the chiffon rose and lace applique classes all available in our Online Classes section.

Failing that, if you don’t feel confident enough to choose which class to get for her, gift certificates are also still available which can come in £10 increments up to £150 so you can pick exactly what suits you best. Find the gift certificates in the Classes of our website or the online classes in the online classes section.

Either way, we’ve got you covered for Mother’s Day from the London Embroidery School.

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Friday 5th March 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

Got a Mum who likes to make? This Mothering Sunday, why not treat her to the gift of a new skill with an embroidery kit and online class from the London Embroidery School?

With classes for a wide variety of stitching interests and levels, we’re sure we’ve got something to make you the golden child and give her hours of entertainment, satisfaction and a beautiful outcome to be proud of at the end of it.

Think about the Introduction to Embroidery Lily and Pomegranate Design if she’s brand new to embroidery, or the Goldwork Online 4 Part Class if she needs a new challenge. Our Flower Classes are great if your looking for a quicker make, achievable within an afternoon. And team up your kit choice with an outcome product to allow her to transform her make into a unique usable item.

Add a Barrette or comb to make the flowers into a hair accessory or a long bar pin to make things into a brooch.

February’s Student of the Month

Monday 1st March 2021 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

February as always flew by as always, but it would seem that you all managed to find time for your stitching with all the submissions we had for student of the month. And so we have a new student of the month to announce…. @chlopargins

Chloe has been working away at her Goldwork Online Class Pear Design over the course of February and has been sharing images of the various stages and techniques she tackles.

As a Costumer, we are excited to see what she does with her new found goldwork skills.

As you can see here, she has really got into the couching and is bricking those stitches wonderfully.

We also love to see our students taking care of their works well, like taping the ends of the god threads before plunging to preserve them.

We can also see from her instagram that this is not her first foray into goldwork, having tried our Introduction to Goldwork Cherry Design at the start of the year. It’s wonderful to see people’s confidence grow from the intro kits onto the more challenging designs.

We also very much appreciate a little bit of geeking out about good working practises- like wrapping one’s embroidery frame. ”10 points to Griffindor!”

Cocktails and Cutwork anyone? It could catch on!

If you would like to be the next #studentofthemonth , use the hashtag #londonembroideryschool or tag us when sharing your photos from your London Embroidery School class or the things you have gone onto make following one of our classes.

All Images courtesy of @chlopargins