Rye Stitchers Talk & Workshop

Last weekend I had the privilege of being invited to a talented group of stitchers in Rye for a Stitchscape talk and seaside themed workshop. When asked to do a workshop, I usually offer to create packs, for anyone interested, of themed fabric strips (5 for a 15cm hoop) and backing fabric with hoop. I always take threads, scrap baskets and other bits to workshops so they can swap things out if they want to but sometimes people like just that extra little head start rather than starting at an empty canvas/hoop. 

I tend to layer up the fabrics into different scenes, and try not to make too many of the same combination so everyone's is different, although it can be tricky as I have a limited collection of themed workshop fabrics big enough to be cut up like this. For these ones I've given everyone a sky print fabric as that is the most popular, and then played around with a slightly greener seaside theme (more grasses in the view), more blues for watery focus, or more sandy fabrics for obvious reasons. The above photo was taken before I'd properly layered them up on each hoop so they look a bit odd but, once layered correctly, they are all popped into a paper bag with my usual print out pages of extra information and handy tips. Ready to go!

I take a huge number of examples to workshops and talks - doubled up if it's a combination day! The poor car was groaning all the way to Rye. When I do give a talk I like to give out example pieces as I go so that not everyone is staring at me, but also so that they can more clearly see what I'm referring to as creative stitchers are usually visual learners. One rambling 50 minute spiel later and it was time to re-set the tables after a cup of tea so that they could have a go themselves!

It is always interesting to see which bits of the talk or which parts of example Stitchscapes people pick up on and use in their own projects. The above lady had listened to me saying about experimenting with the back of the fabrics for a more muted tone and went for quite a pale kit, turning most of them over to dull the colours further. I really love what she did with the white trimming (made of Stylecraft Moonbeam yarn) as she knotted it whilst couching it down, creating those fantastic bobbles which look like clouds or foaming waves. 

My collection of random bits and bobs is growing massively, and I love to mix in laces and felt, yarn and cords. I tend to have a handful of stuffing on hand in case anyone wants to attempt a felt rock, although in this case the stuffing has been stitched down into the sky to create fluffy clouds!! This lovely lady had brought along her own fabric (and even gifted me a piece of the wonderful arch pattern fabric at the end - thank you again!!) and, as most people had that sky print I mentioned earlier, she decided to make her own, textured version of it. She also deconstructed a two part lace which was in my box and stitched the preferred side down with beads to create wonderful bubbles breaking on the sand.

We did have a few rocks being created too, and these ones go really nicely with the pebble print fabric I'd brought along in my scrap basket. The rocks are a brilliant way to quickly build up texture and springboard more texture from as you can trap things between them that poke out, or just leave them as they are. 

Some very organised ladies brought along their own shells which were pre-drilled with holes in for easy stitching, combining them with some of the shouldered ones I had picked up and added to my workshop collection of shells. The shininess of the smooth shells works really nicely with the washed white of the ridged shells. 

A little bit of green can go a long way with sandy beaches. You wouldn't necessarily think to add green; when you think of walking along the shingle or sand, you don't notice a lot of green but actually when you look closer at rockpools or washed up seaweed deposits, or those little dry spiky grasses poking out and stabbing your feet - they add just a small touch of contrasting green. 

One of the stitches we were looking at and demonstrating in the class was the wonderfully textured drizzle stitch, which sticks out from the hoop like a wild helter skelter and looks fab in many situations. The green drizzles above work really well against the textures of the hessian and raffia also stitched down with the shells. 

The workshops I run would have to be several days long for anyone to actually finish a piece like this but, I really hope that there is enough inspiration, and take away information, for anyone attending to carry on and just have fun with it in their own time afterwards. It's always slightly daunting to give a talk to a group of accomplished stitchers, they probably know more than me, or have a greater collection of 'stuff' than me, but it is amazing to be able to share knowledge and ideas with them - and there's usually one or two things that they haven't come across or thought about before which is really nice. It soothes my imposter syndrome!

I've had some wonderful feedback from this group too which has been so lovely and muchly appreciated. I even shared a bit of it on my most recent newsletter as it was a real happy dance (around the kitchen) moment when it popped up. 

There were more Stitchscapes started in the workshop than pictured, but some of the ladies packed away too quickly for me to catch them! Hopefully a few finished pictures will float my way and I can share those somewhere for you to see.