London Embroidery School

an embroidery school for all abilities and budgets.

Embroidery Equipment

Christmas UK Postage Deadline Fast Approaches

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All our embroidery online class kits, whether Chrismas gift wrapped or not, come presented beautifully in a recyclable box so that you get a fun unboxing experience when you receive your parcel. In this year when we might not be able to see one another as we usually would, sending someone the gift of a skill or something you have made with your new skills has an enhanced meaning.

As the final postage date before Christmas creeps ever closer (15th Dec for UK) , get your order into us to avoid disappointment as we can’t wait to see what you will go on to stitch.

We will continue to be working and post items out until the 20th Dec, but cant say for sure they will arrived before Christmas. After that all new orders will be despatched by the 6th Jan 2021.

Make your own Lace Jewellery

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Today’s Class launch is aimed at our novice embroiderers where together we will be working to make a pair of embellished lace earrings. Using basic techniques we will guide you towards good practises as we add the beads and sequins to the lace, whilst considering the piece as a whole for a 3D outcome. If you are fairly new to embroidery then this one is great for you as we share some of our tips that will help you on your way. Oh and did we mention, the class itself is free so you can enjoy the techniques taught and apply them to your own projects if you like.

This approach is more of a challenge on how to be delicate and tension your work as it is a bit fiddly, so could be a great one to get kids involved with as they have the advantage of smaller hands.

It’s also a lovely thing to make and gift to someone special as the outcomes are so pretty and will post well if you aren’t able to see one another. 

This leaves design kit will be the first design in this style, though there will be more kits to come which you can apply the same techniques to, or freestyle it to really make them your own.  Kits are available to purchase in the online classes section of our website so head there now to grab your class and choice of kit today. 

New: Chiffon Roses Online Class

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Following the success of the Valentino Roses Online Class (still available) , we have a new class to bring you today, Chiffon Roses Online Class!

These 3-D flowers are very soft and sit high from the base so they have real impact when applied. In this video we will talk you through manipulating the fabric, adapting the draft and stitching your rose in real time with us.

As you may not have the right bits at home already for this one, there are two kits available to go along side the class, the Deluxe kit (£20) for those who need all the equipment and materials, and the Mini kit (£5) if you just need the materials. Kits will be delivered by post both UK and worldwide.

Image from Deluxe Kit

 

Check out the taster video to see what it is all about…

All these roses need now to bloom, is you!

 

 

An Update regarding Covid-19 (coronavirus)

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There is no doubt about it, these are uncertain times for all of us.

To protect our staff and customers during Covid 19, we have postponed all classes from this Monday 23rd March until the end of May. We will contact you all individually if you have a booking to find dates that suit you, once it is safe to do so.   This may take a little while so please bear with us.

London Embroidery School web shop will remain open.

Here at the London Embroidery School we will continue to innovate and we will hopefully bring you some rays of stitching sunshine over the next few weeks.  We appreciate the outpouring of support from our embroidery community, friends, loved ones and newly met neighbours and are looking forward to making a positive contribution back to our local and stitching communities.

We are also excited to see what our amazing crafting team are getting up to during their social distancing and will be sharing it all via our Instagram and Facebook, so follow to stay up to date.  We would love to see what you’re up to, tag us with your stitching achievements on instagram, facebook or email us.

Stay safe, keep creative let’s make the best of this!

Pro Tips: Framing up a Round Frame

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Framing up a frame might seem like one of the most basic things you could possibly do in embroidery, and in truth, it is. But here are a few little tips that might help to bring your embroidery up a knotch just in the preparation of your stitching:

1. Ironing your Fabric

For embroidery, you want a nice, flat, even surface on which to embroider as this will help to create consistent tension. Any creases in the fabric represent an area of fabric that has already been distorted before you begin. A crease will have lesser tension than the rest of the fabric and therefore has the potential to become a gather or pucker whilst you work therefore if you give it an iron before you begin you should be able to illiminate this risk. (Always test your fabric somewhere inconspicuous first before ironing all over and follow the ironing instructions for that fabric if provided)

2. Wrapping your Frame

Within the frame, whilst you work, you put pressure on the fabric which can change the tension. Wrapping your frame in calico or a similar fabric provides a bit more of a grippy surface for the fabric to pull against and maintain your tension (see our previous blog on this for more details).  You may also find for some fabrics that the calico provides the extra bonus of a little padding which can decrease your chances of having frame marks on your fabric when you finish.

3. Pressing on the Frame

You’ve ironed your fabric beautifully flat, and your frame is wrapped to perfection. All that is left is to put the fabric in the hoop, how you do that can also makes a difference, particulally if you have a seat or clamp frame. Put the top side of your hoop face down on a table, lie the fabric centrally over the hoop then place the inside of the frame within in. You are looking for the part of the outer hoop that has the bolt in it to be smoothly within the hoop first. This is because it is the area of highest pressure due to the bolt and the ends of the hoop being there so if this goes in first, the pressure created when we push the frame into place is displaced equally around the hole curve of the hoop rather than condensed onto these corners.

4. Respect your Frame

This last one is more of a bug bear for us, but getting into this good habit will increase the lifespan of your frame. Anytime you want to look at the underside of your embroidery, loosen the screw that attached the frame to the stick so that it can move easily. When this screw is tight, is it what is holding your frame at your desired angle to work on, so when you force it up and down, inevitabley over time the screw will loosen and no longer be able to support the weight of the frame at your prefered angle (plus it makes a horrible screech). Loosening it will give it a much better chance of serving you long and well.

Other blogs you might find useful on the subject are ‘How to pick your embroidery frame‘ and ‘Stitching with both hands‘ for a little further reading.

 

Hope you found this helpful!

Out of the Blue: 50 Years of the Designers Guild at the FTM

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The Designers Guild is a renowned design studio that has played a key role in the world of interiors. Established in 1970 by Tricia Guild OBE, the Designers Guild has since reinvented interior design within our homes. From furnishing fabrics,wallcovering and upholstery to bed and bath collections, it has grown from its humble beginnings in London to becoming an influential global successful brand.

Out of the Blue: Fifty Years of Designers Guild is the exhibition currently being held in celebration of its long history and influential power at the Fashion and Textiles Museum in London. It explores the creative approach of Designers Guild’s founder, Tricia Guild OBE, looking at her inspiration, design methodology and the techniques, processes and materials that go into each and every collection.

The museum first leads into a sitting space that showcases the beautiful wallpaper that was specially designed to celebrate the Out of the Blue exhibition in all its majestic beauty and detail. It is here that you can witness the evolution of the initial hand painted imagery into its finished high quality digitally printed wallpaper as well as a chance to sit down to flick through fabric samples and the accompanying exhibition book, ‘Out of the Blue: Fifty Years of Designers Guild’.

The early years

This leads onto the main exhibition space that gives us an insight to the unique collections that the studio has created over the years. This includes the Village Collection, created within the early years, rich with colours and a unique style, as well as a look into Tricia Guild’s love for floral designs that has played a key role throughout Designers Guild’s history through the Flower Power space.

Travellers’ Tales: Indian Summer       Travellers’ Tales: Venetian

In contrast, the collections for Travellers’ tales brand shows the impact of different cultures within the Designers Guild’s collections. The Venetian collection draws inspiration from the elegant ornate designs of the Italian Renaissance and the Indian Summer collection is cleverly draped to invoke the feeling of summer and rich culture alongside its beautiful colours.

The Shape of Modernity

The Designers Guild has also looked towards Modernism through The Shape of Modernity which combines many products both current and in the past, often as a result of working in collaboration with many designers, resulting in a stunning space that is full of geometric patterns and ombre patterns that are digitally printed today at a large scale.

        Silks                         Embroidery and crewel work

The upstairs exhibition space explores the design process that goes into each collection. With displays looking at silk and embroidery it looks at the fabrics, colours to techniques and the target audience. These aspects that are carefully considered and laid out alongside their finished products, giving us the insight into the inspiration and the carefully thought out properties of each object.

There is also a particular emphasis towards the importance of moodboards and hand painting techniques. With every collection, Tricia Guild always starts with mood boards that draw inspiration from numerous sources such as architecture and fashion. Using these moodboards the design studio experiment with hand painted imagery before getting developed and refined digitally. While the use of rotary screen printing used in the beginning has been replaced by digital printing in 2010, each design starts of life by being hand drawn before being developed into the highest quality products and designs.

 

Overall, this exhibition is a great celebration of the fifty years of Designers Guild with a fantastic insight into the history and the collections. A fantastic source of inspiration for those that are passionate about the home and interiors and I can’t wait to see what the next fifty years will bring.

 

Words and photos by Jenny Li

Out of the Blue: Fifty Years of Designers Guild

14 February – 14 June 2020

Fashion and Textile Museum,

83 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3XF

Opening Hours:

Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm

Thursdays until 8pm

Sundays until 5pm

Ticket Pricing: £9.90 Adults / £8.80 concessions / £7 Students / Free entry for under 12s