Category Archives: Blackwork

Essence of Blackwork

The LOVELY ladies from up north worked really hard on their machine stitching to produce simple panels in black thread on white to resemble blackwork. The day went so quickly but that’s because a considerable amount of it is taken up with eating the absolutely scrummy food that Alston Hall keeps feeding us. The classes and class rooms are great, the views are wonderful, the food is awesome and the staff marvellous. What more could you need for a residential weekend of complete stitching



Esssence of Black Work by Machine

Yesterday I spent a very enjoyable day at Patchwork Corner Hemel Hempstead teaching a lovely group of eager ladies how to achieve this lovely dramatic collaged panel of black and white flowers.

The technique appears to be very simple but it needs to be executed with a fair amount of control to get the neat and clean effect that suggests black work. All of the ladies worked very hard and many realised it wasn’t as easy as it first appeared to be but they all went home with loads of ideas and eager to get to grips with it. I like working at patchwork corner as it has very good amenities and is very well stocked both with fabrics and inspirational ideas and up to date projects.

An essence of black work worked on pelmet vilene bonded with white cotton and stitched with satin stitch in black rayon thread. Flowers cut out once stitched and beaded and sequined to help give the depth and tones that appear in hand stitched black work. The panel is made up of three blocks which have been collaged together on to white mounting board with narrow black ribbons forming a grid behind them bringing the whole piece together as one
Close up showing the added detail of free motion stitching to infill and give texture to inner shapes
Close up showing the beads and sequins worked on to the cut out flowers