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London Embroidery School

Central London based Embroidery School

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beads

Bring on the Beads!

Friday 18th September 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter Leave a Comment

Tambour, Tambour Beading, Online Class, Beads, Beading, Design Outcome

We’ve built the base, it’s time to bring the beads. Part 2 of the Tambour Online class series is now available. Working with the most popular use of the tambour skills, adding beading into the equation ups the difficulty level as we navigate the additional weight, changeable stitch length, shrinkage and working that underneath hand. Starting off with a pack of practise beads we will work on the techniques before we apply the skills to our landscape design, incorporating round beads, seed beads and bugle beads, straights, corners, curves and fills.

If you haven’t got any idea what those things mean, start off the tambour 1 to fill in the gaps and catch us up. Those who got in fast and purchased the whole series as a bundle will have the class waiting for you in your inbox. Kits are going quickly so if you haven’t managed to bag one or have plenty of beads of your own, you can purchase the online class on its own. This comes with a downloadable version of the design template to use your own materials with and start stitching at home right away. 

Check out all the options so you can just buy what you need. All the variations are explained on our website, follow any of the links for more info. Begin couture beading like a pro with the Tambour Online Class Series from the London Embroidery School.

Filed Under: Classes, Embroidery, News from London Embroidery School, Stock Updates Tagged With: beading, beads, beginners, classes, courses, couture beading, embellishment, embroidery, embroidery class, hand embroidery, handmade, learning, london, luneville, online class, stitching

In other news… We have a new Beads and Sequins section

Tuesday 24th March 2020 by Natasha Searls-Punter

crystal, bead, button, sequins, gem, square crystal, claw edge,

We have added a new group to the Equipment and Materials section where you will find lots of pretty shiny beads, crystals and sequins for sale like the ones in the examples (as if you needed any inspiration)

More items will be added to make this section even more fabulous.

Also, there are still freebie needle packs to be scored with your purchase of any goods from us (Pony Sharps No.9, 20 needles while stocks last)

Filed Under: Embroidery, News from London Embroidery School, Stock Updates Tagged With: beads, crystals, embellishment, embroidery, embroidery materials, sequins

Day 2 of our 10k Celebrations

Tuesday 6th August 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

10k, giveaway, social media,

So you’ve put your name into the hat to win one of our copies of ‘Threads of Life’ by Clare Hunter from Day 1, of course you have, who wouldn’t want to win one!

‘How are you going to follow this up?’ I hear you ask.

Well, let me tell you, on Day 2 of the 10k celebrations, the tab in menu bar will reveal the 100g Aqua Blue Bugle Beads which you can have for FREE in our Giveaway.

Simply add the item from the ‘Thank you for 10k Instagram Followers’ tab to your basket and process your order as normal.

View this post on Instagram

Day 2 of our 10k celebrations is now live! Today we are giving away 100g Aqua Blue Beads for FREE. Click the THANK YOU FOR 10K INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS in the menu bar and select Day 2's offering to add them to your basket and enjoy them on us. T's and C's One packet per customer please, we want to spread the love around 😉 . Only while stocks last, once they are gone, they are gone. Postage and packaging is not included so there will be a delivery charge #beads #giveaway #freebies

A post shared by London Embroidery School (@londonembschool) on Aug 6, 2019 at 4:41am PDT

T’s and C’s:

The offer will stay live whilst stock lasts only.

Postage and packaging is not included so there will be a delivery cost.

One per customer please, let’s spread the love around.

 

Check in again soon for Day 3’s reveal…

 

Filed Under: Embroidery, Stock Updates Tagged With: 10000, 10k, aqua, beads, blue, bugle, day 2, freebie, giveaway, long beads, promotion, thank you, winners

June’s Student of the Month

Tuesday 2nd July 2019 by Natasha Searls-Punter

student of the month, tambour, stitch, embroidery

With June now finished, we can announce that our student of the month is @artecarova_bordacarova who shared this wonderful close up shot of her work from her Tambour Intermediate Evening Course. Email us for your discount code so we can see again soon at another class we hope!

Carola’s instagram is a real celebraation of embrodidery techniques as she is a University Professor who rediscovered her passion for embroidery a few years ago and has been working towards building up her own skills ever since.

During her most recent trip to London, she also took the tambour with feathers course and some goldwork classes to add to her extensive repetoire.

We don’t know about you, but we cant wait to see what this talented Lady will produce next!

If you would like to be July’s #studentofthemonth, use the hashtag #londonembroideryschool when sharing your photos from your London Embroidery School class or the things you have gone onto make following the class.

All Images courtesy of @artecarova_bordacarova

Filed Under: Embroidery Tagged With: beading, beads, competition, feathers, goldwork, intermediate, learning, london, student of the month, students, tambour, voucher, winning

Night & Day:1930’s Fashion and Photography Exhibition

Tuesday 18th December 2018 by Natasha Searls-Punter

Beautiful sequined gown, early to mid-1930s. Sequins became popular in the 1920s, inspired by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. (1922)

The 1930s followed the decade of the roaring 20’s, with the Wall Street crash in 1929, the years that followed saw a great deal of change for Britain and America. With the 1930s, came the beginning of WWII, the end of the Jazz Age and a dramatic change in fashion in accordance with the economic and political transformations of Western society.

Evening Gown and Capelet, early to mid 1930s, satin. Black and white was considered a very chic colour combination in the 1930s, promoted by designer Elsa Schiaparelli. (1890-1973

This exquisite exhibition is based around a single collection (courtesy of Cleo and Mark Butterfield) consisting of 1930s daywear and eveningwear. The exhibition began with an array of classic dresses, would have been at the height of fashion in the 30s. The impact of the Art Deco movement (which took its name from the international Arts Décoratif et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925) on fashion in the 30s was profound; it was characterised by highly stylised natural and geometric forms. Something that struck us as soon as we walked in was how much the fabrics used to construct the garments were angled towards the act of wearing; specific fabrics such as satin and crepe were used to glisten in the lights of a nightclub – the wonderful art of using materials for their glamorous properties!

Evening Gown, early 1930s, Satin. Wonderful ruffled open back gown with gathered bow motif.

Glamorous. Chic. Timeless. Three words that instantly spring to mind when a vision of floor length satin and crepe gowns appeared like a mirage through the walls of the fashion and textile museum. These liquid satin, bias cut gowns – pioneered by Madeleine Vionnet – ooze sophistication and sensual night-time glamour. On the dance floor of the 1930s, everyone was equal; all class, economic and racial differences were left on the side lines.

Evening gown, early to mid-1930s, satin. A salmon-pink bias cut gown with beaded swirl motif. The caplet sleeves emphesise the feminine fluidity of the gown.

Cinema became part of everyday life in the interwar years; Cinema buildings popped up all over the country; housewives would be able to view a matinee screening and still be home in time for the children! The silver screen was an immense factor in the glamorisation of evening wear fashion in the 1930s and the rise of ready to wear garments; cheaper fabrics such as lamé were favoured over traditional embroidery, which was not quite as decadent but almost as lustrous.

Evening gown, early 1930s, satin. The glamorous style was reinforced by Hollywood during a decade of luxurious films that provided the much needed escapism from the realities of daily life.

In the room called ‘Whistle! While you work’ it was clear that the major shift in working class women becoming mass consumers was aided by media outlets such as magazines, it was explained how this shift has been an important factor in how we shop today. The popularisation of department stores and the philosophy of ‘make do and mend’ in the austerity of The Depression also led to a much more accessible ‘Ready To Wear’ trend rising. This revolution in ready to wear clothing could be seen of as a factor in our current fast-fashion crisis.

Evening gown and jacket, mid 1930s. Heavy embroidery of the previous decade were discarded and replaced with cheaper fabrics such as lamé.

The 1930s gave way to the act of shopping (usually in department stores) and window-shopping becoming part of popular culture. The advancement of technology and women in the workplace (pre marriage, of course, due to the ‘marriage bar’ forcing women to resign from their jobs when wed) meant that fabrics could now be produced on a much larger and therefore cheaper scale.

The 1930s were a golden age for the art of the portrait photograph. On show was a vast selection of portraits from 3 leading studio photographers; Dorothy Wilding, Madame Yevonde and Paul Tanqueray.

The finale of the exhibition wowed us with a patriotic display of all things red, white and blue to commemorate the coronation of George VI. An interesting note which helped us imagine the atmosphere of the day was added in the exhibition guide: ‘Hotels were full to the seams and many people who wanted to catch a glimpse of the royal coach resorted to sleeping on pavements and in the parks, creating camps and latrines, which author Virginia Woolf likened to scenes of the Crimea.’

Some Day My Prince … Will Come! A section of the exhibition celebrating the coronation of King George VI on 12 May 1937; all things blue, red and white lined the streets of Britain.

The exhibition was a delightful insight in to all things 30s, from the glitzy gowns of the dancehall floors to the realities of women being barred from the workplace: a truly comprehensive experience!


Dress, late 1930s, crepe. Blue was a popular colour of 1937 as it was considered patriotic. ‘Marlborough blue’, in particular featured heavily in this year and was named after the royal palace.

By Jessica Strain, All images by Jessica Strain

 

Exhibition details:

Night & Day: 1930’s Fashhion and Photography

Fashion and Textile Museum

83 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3XF

Open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11am–6pm

Thursdays until 8pm

Sundays, 11am–5pm

12 October 2018 – 20 January 2019

£9.90 adults / £8.80 concessions / £7 students

Children under 12 are free

 

Filed Under: Embroidery, Things to do in London Tagged With: beads, embroidery, eveningwear, exhibition, fashion and textiles museum, glamour, london, night and day: 1930's fashion and photographs, photography, sequins, things to do

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams

Thursday 10th May 2018 by claire

View this post on Instagram

Runway through the years #Dior #runway #couture

A post shared by Tasha Searls-Punter (@tashasearlspunter) on Dec 21, 2017 at 3:44am PST

Every now and then, there is an exhibition that we feel we just have to see, and usually one holds out until it (hopefully) comes to London. However the risk of missing out on ‘Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams’ at Musee Des ArtsDecoratifs was one that was too great and we felt compelled to go. So, Natasha made the trip to Paris to see the much hyped display.

 

The exhibition begins with some history of Christian Dior’s family and his life before setting up the house as an art gallery owner and fashion illustrator. A brief introduction to the facets of the house is followed by the first main gallery. In this room, each section is divided by colour, each cabinet displaying a palette with a variety of dresses, 12” miniatures and accessories.

 

As an embroiderer, one of the most outstanding aspects of this exhibition was the level of detail you could see in the gowns and the emphasis that was placed on showing off the incredible textures. These were reflected in the papercut flowers and foliage that hung from the ceiling in a few of the rooms which were inspired by the fragrances that make up Dior’s famous perfumes.

 

 

Some of the textiles could be described as traditional beading, whilst others would be considered to be more experimental, playing with feathers and layering but all were undeniably beautiful.

 

 

They also had an in-house embroiderer demonstrating some tambour beading onto a panel of one of the gown and chatting with the public about what she was doing. The piece was framed up in a large slate frame, with one end complete and, the other drafted on. The drafts and drawings for the piece were hanging to one side of her with a partially completed gown on display behind her. The finished gown was part of the final gallery to put the whole process into context.

 

View this post on Instagram

Tambour beading demonstration #Dior #tambour #embroidery

A post shared by Tasha Searls-Punter (@tashasearlspunter) on Dec 21, 2017 at 3:28am PST

 

The white gallery was reminiscent of the layout of the Savage Beauty exhibition at the V&A museum in London where you were dwarfed by the pieces, however here the emphasis was placed purely on the cut of the garments. Each one is the toile of a gown we had already seen in the body of the exhibition to explain the development of each piece and the alterations process it has been through to get to the final design

 

 

Final last gallery was all the real show-stopping gowns, the space itself adds to the gravity of the items on display. They enhanced the experience with moving light displays across the walls which gave the impression of gold snow, unashamedly playing up to the couture fairytale.

 

 

 

 

It would be fair to say this exhibition was excellent, going around it all took at least 2 and a half hours going through it all but one could have stayed much longer. The number of pieces on display and the generous space that was given to each one made it a very leisurely experience. I really enjoyed the way they played with scale in the layout, starting off the with miniatures gallery, then allowing you to get up close with the real sized pieces and then immersing you in the white and final galleries.

If you would like to read another perspective on the exhibition, have a read of Tina Isaac-Goizé’s thoughts for Vogue here.

Filed Under: Embroidery Tagged With: beading, beads, couture, craft, embellishment, embrodiery, embroidery, fashion, flowers, inspiration, sequins, specialist, tambour, tambour beading, techniques, textiles

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