mandrake

I started on a little mandrake as a demo piece, not sure when I’ll have the chance to finish him but I think he’s adorable.

this one is from a herbal. it was beleived that the mandrake would only grow beneath a gallows tree, because it’s seed was the ejaculate of a hanged man. The plant was believed to cry when uprooted, and the cry was deadly to the first creature to hear it, so the herbal reccomend tying a dog to the plant before retiing to a safe distance and calling the dog – so in other words that’s an imminently dead dog.

underside couching

Sorry I didn’t post last week, I was a bit busy dealing with the fact that the police had broken into my empty house without a search warrant, aparently seven dead flies on a windowsill is a good reason to saw someone’s front door in two.

I think not, but am dealing with it, and I don’t wanna talk about it except to say that the only time I’ve been victim of a crime in the last 30 years has been at the hands of the Police!

I am still going to run the rabbit maiden as an online course, but she is a big commitment and I need more prep time, as well as needing time to finish another major project, so I’ve decided to do a shorter course that I’ve been toying with for a while first, so….

https://www.opusanglicanumembroidery.com/shop/online-courses/2?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=created_date&sort_order=desc

A comprehensive masterclass in underside couching.


Session one – basic underside couching in both silk and metal, a look at the direction of stitch.


Session two – troubleshooting common problems, diagonal stitching, triple brick.


Session three – working around irregular shapes, working in narrow channels, interacting with split stitch.


Session four – basketweave pattern, spirals


Session five – counterpoint couching part one


Session six – counterpoint couching part two, another look at stitch direction.


Class will begin in February with videos and pdfs sent out at fortnightly intervals. Kits will be sent out mid-January.


Each student can request a thirty minute private tutoring session at their convenience.

If you want to buy the class as a Christmas present please let me know and I’ll try to send your kit out early.


Kit includes-


marked canvas
needles
silk filament
heavy silk
two colours of metal thread
beeswax (please note Australian students will need to provide their own beeswax due to import restrictions)


students will also need a slate or standing frame.(please note that hoops aren’t suitable) and scissors.

siren

the siren has revealed that her name is Imelda, or more properly “Imelda who dances on waves and lures many sailors to death, sharp of claw, hungry for flesh” but you may call her Imelda. Unless you are a sailor, in which case you may address her as “Aaaaargh, stop eating my leg you fishy tart!”

I’m trying to sort out a few new kits in the run up to Harrogate

https://www.opusanglicanumembroidery.com/shop/laid-and-couched-work-embroidery-bayeux-stitch-kits/3?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc

dronfield course

I’ve got a one day laid and couched work workshop coming up at dronfield barn on 16th NOvember

laid and couched embroidery workshop

ashmolean course

In the new year I have a course starting, a three day one, at the ashmolean. the theme is zodiac signs and it’s open to all skill levels to work in either opus or laid and couched work

https://www.ashmolean.org/event/medieval-embroidery-zodiac-course

There are also a couple of spaces available on the longer opus course if you contact Jude Barrett directly at the museum

green man

ok, so I actaully finished this about a month ago but I only just got round to posting it.

I like that he still has a hint of the angry drag queen around the eyes. copper is definietely my current favourite flavour of passing thread though.

he completes my four seasons set, and is listed on the shop, plus I’ve done a discount for all four kits in case you need to drop hints to your friendly nieghbourhood santa’s deputy

https://www.opusanglicanumembroidery.com/shop/opus-anglicanum-kits/4?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc

all father christmas

proto-santa is rightly suspicious of mistletoe

lady gardener

the pilgrim always looks she is weraing a gardening hat to me, so this happened

if you happen to have appalingly bad taste and a very childish sense of humour she is now available as a kit on my shop

https://www.opusanglicanumembroidery.com/shop/nsfw-naughty-kits/8?page=1&limit=60&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc

queenie.

THe original title was going to be something along the lines of finished or done, but that seems somehow ghoulish now. I think my stepdad, who is 83, is the only person I know who can remember anyone else on the throne, and then only just.

I made this image for a needlework class last week, but sadly after the queen passed I’ve been getting requests for her as a kit.

The intention was affectionate, because you have to love someone so fond of thier pets. I think she works because the corgi si just derpy enough

I only have enough coloured passing for a few, or I can do a more sombre flag in black, silver and very dark blue, but I can’t make many kits up as I’d only intended her for the class, so she will be limited to six more.

she is listed on my shop and I will make kits up at the weekend should anyone want one

queenie with red

I do like coloured passings