Spannyshwork Continued

Some while back I had written a bit about Spannyshwork also known as Blackwork. I have to say what I had started with being just a couple of designs turned into quite a huge collection. That seems to be quite a problem with me. Nothing wrong with it but when does one stop….LOL. I have to admit that the creation of the designs was what was most fascinating. Pushing myself to create my own motifs in Embird Studio via user editor I developed quite a bit of stitches that just screamed at me to use them and use them I did. Most of these projects are almost at the verge of finishing and yes that means the collection will soon be available. Due to the variety of stitches and the various types of artwork I had to split the collection in three parts. Even though they can be used together yet in my  eyes they seem to blend well by themselves. Taking a bit of the Jacobean look in the wall hanging that I am working on the single color blended well with all the different types of motifs. I did have a distinct worry when creating the motifs. If the motifs created by you are not open enough or do not have a distinct flow there can be a lot of jumps. This is extremely true in Embird Studio, not so much in any of the other softwares that I have seen so far. But the variety of stitches that one can create so easily in Embird studio is far better than the ones that are self created in other softwares. Embird Studio allows one a lot of personal power in respect of the lenght, width etc of the motif. This is definitely one of my wish lists for Dusan…to create some sort of a connectivity in the stitch generator so one does not have surprises like…jumps.

As I worked with the different motifs, I found that one could very easily convert these designs into much larger area designs therefore creating the look of the Elizabethan age. Taking only two motifs that I had created I stitched out a rectangle cushion. The effect of black on tan color linen was startling. However, not everyone cares for black so I had to think of other colors and what their effects would look like. An interesting thread introduced to me some while back by a friend is the Madeira Polyneon variegated threads. These threads are unlike the other variegated threads in that their degree of change is quite long therefore one does not get the zebra effect when embroidering. I say that but a word of caution…any satin embroidery will give the zebra effect when using the variegated threads unless the digitizer has specifically created the satin embroidery in such a way to avoid that look. As these designs are basically created using the outline tools, I had a sneaky suspicion that their stitchout would be interesting.  True enough, the look was indeed amazing.

Not ready to just yet stop at using black, I decided a simple linen jacket would be a great area for me to embellish. Also as the designs are openwork, I realised that one could embellish with Swarovski crystals…so while I wait for my crystals to arrive I decided to at least finish with the embroideries.

The jacket is not yet completed as I’m only showcasing the embroideries at the moment…who knows I may yet embellish with more, not sure yet, will know more when I apply the crystals. But the ground work is laid out already. Linen is not the best to photograph so I will ask to be excused for the photographs please.

As for the collection(s) they are almost there as soon as I have everything well sorted. I am rather pleased with the looks of the designs and the various ways one can use them. Another type of heirloom…blackwork. .. Oh and the name that I finally decided upon is Marrakesh, pertaining to Morroco where incidentally a lot of the Muslim artisans’ inspiration was adopted by the Spaniards and then later carried onto England hence Blackwork.