A busy week end

I will be teaching classes all weekend so have cancelled my Sunday lunch with the family.  I don't know why I didn't realise that it would be weekends that I would be working when I gave up full time classroom teaching?

Toady I have a half day of Kogin embroidery and tomorrow a full day of Machine Finishing for embroiderers.

.

When I made this sample I didn't quite cut my thread long enough and was one stitch short, bugger!  I did not design this little pattern, it is from Phyllis Maurer of Ethnic Fiber Art.  I just designed a different project for it.  When I bought Phyllis's books she says that there was no copyright as she just wants people to keep the stitching of  these Ethic techniques alive.  In this spirit I am not charging for this class, just the materials. 

My biggest problem has been finding the original Kogin Fabric but I finally tracked down a bolt.  This technique comes from the area of Japan that was devastated by the Tsunami earlier this year.  It was developed by peasants to make their cotton fabric warmer in the cold winters.  Being a peasant craft means there are not a lot of examples of this kind of work.  I found some kits on Flikr and Etsy and have been collecting patterns for the past year.  Because these are traditional patterns it is how you put these together that makes the design, much the same as Hardanger.  I have now put together a number of designs and will be offer these as classes in 2012.  Here are some more images.

Comments

[Rachel]

It's certainly a charming design!

[Carolyn Foley]

It made a great short class.