Challenged by embroidery with Portuguese soul - Margarida

Olá! As love is in the air, today I bring you very beautiful images that I was saving for a special occasion... And that day has come...

As you may know I write on a weekly basis showing "stitches with Portuguese soul". Usually discovering the history and tradition of embroidery in my country or showing the work of Portuguese embroiderers.

But this year I decided to try something different, too. Although embroidery is deeply rooted in our culture, it is not so present in recent craft trends... so I decided to challenge some of my favorite Portuguese crafters that usually don't use embroidery in their works, to change that at least for a day. And I'll be showing their embroidery stitches.

Pastel palette instead of traditional colors

And I definitely have to begin with Margarida. Some years ago, when I was starting my project, she was the first that gently decided to present it to the "blogosphere"... I can say that I debuted in her blog pano pra mangas...

Her blog is very popular among Portuguese crafters (but not only...) and as we would say in Portugal: she is a mulher dos sete ofícios - something like "jack of all trades". In her blog everything looks beautiful and charming... and her words are always kind and inspiring.

I'm very happy that Margarida accepted my challenge and what I like the most about her embroidery is that it says a lot about her... the colors, the motifs, inspiring words and everything planned to detail...

I asked Margarida if she could create something inspired by Portuguese embroidery but doing it "her own way"... She says that she was inspired by the hearts from Viana do Castelo and by the tradition of using words in Lenços dos namorados. But no doubt she has done it her own way...

This is my turn to present Margarida... and I leave you with her own words...

Sweet stitches

"When I think about myself and who I am, I always end up with a question mark. Not that I am a question without an answer, it's the other way around - I AM too many answers. Lately, the best way I find to describe me is by comparing me to a department store!

I'm a happy person. I'm happy wherever I am, as long as my family and friends are at a two hours flight distance and I'm surrounded by hundreds of crafty materials that can ignite my imagination.

I learned to knit when I was 6. My first embroideries are dated from when I was 7. And I made my first crochet chain when I was about 8. Yarns, fabrics, embroideries, hoops or anything else imaginable are part of my life just like carrots or peas... I'm a very lucky person to have a very talented mother and grandmothers who taught me what they know.

Many details

I love everything crafty! And as I'm also a very curious person I'm always jumping from one thing to other, trying new techniques and bringing to life what I dream of when I'm sleeping.

And then, my blog... I've been blogging for nearly 9 years. My blog is where I love to share my crafts, other talented crafters, places I visit, books I read, beautiful tutorials and some of my personal achievements. In 2011 I gave up my long term job. In January 2012 I moved to London and last August I decided to return to Portugal in order to begin another project: to be a Life Coach! Oh, and I cannot forget my plans of growing rhubarb in the hot sunny Algarve...

When Gabi challenged me to do embroidery there was one thing I knew: it had to have a heart (I've got a crush on hearts and I find them everywhere). First I thought I couldn't do it because it had been a long time since I had embroidered anything, but then I sketched directly in the fabric, chose the colors and started doing it. It was easy. I loved it and I'm thinking about repeating this experience as soon as possible."

Inspired words

Maybe Margarida forgot to say that she is romantic, too... Her embroidered words don't lie:

Amo-te no silêncio do teu sorriso... 

This time I won't translate... try by yourself to find the meaning of these words...

Have a happy Valentine's Day, inspired by stitches with Portuguese soul.

Cross stitch kit celebrating love

Olá! Today I bring you a very simple idea to touch the heart of someone you love in a very special day... Sometime ago I was invited to the wedding of one of my goddaughters. I wanted to give her something special, so I decided to make the favors that she offered her guests.

I confess I loved the final result and they were a success... These were the favors received by the ladies, I prepared something different to the gentlemen... But they were also asked to craft :)

At some point, during the reception, men and women were crafting and that was very funny!!

Cross stitch kit, my photo

Portuguese poem, my photo

Cross stitch kit celebrating love, my photo

Ladies and Gentlemen's favors, my photo

The decoration at the reception, my photo

Embroidered hearts during the reception, my photo

At the end of the reception there were some hearts already stitched!!!

Do you know which is the popular expression, in Portuguese, for "Wedding reception"? It's copo de água... And the literal translation would be "glass of water"...
 

New Sitches with Portuguese Soul - part V

Olá! This week I bring you embroidered hearts with Portuguese Soul... From three very different embroiderers I've found very beautiful pieces paying a tribute to the importance of the heart pattern in Portuguese traditional embroidery. Today love is in the air...

Of course linen has been the traditional support for Portuguese embroidery. But as times changed new materials were used and Vânia, from The spotless loop, uses a very original one... Wood!!! She loves to draw using thread as the pencil and wood as the paper, resulting in a very "textured" and appealing "drawing", a true tactile experience (sometimes a Zen experience, too).

And she went further with that tactile experience with an original collection of braille jewelry. In her words: "creating jewelry for whom can't see but can feel incredible well, was a great experience. "  Follow the links, I can assure you'll also like her work on wall decor and handmade jewelry.

Would you like to know how Vânia embroiders on wood? See here and you'll become aware of what might happen if you try doing the same...

Embroidery on wood inspired by Viana's hearts, by Vânia

I have to admit that the most difficult job so far was to choose one photo from Joana's work. I'm a profound admirer of her stitches... Maybe because it's so easy to identify the influence of Portuguese traditional embroidery and culture but still her embroidery is completely different from anything we have already seen.  No doubt her stitches have a Portuguese soul...

Joana uses embroidery, buttons, and crochet to make necklaces, brooches, and headbands.
I love how she can be as great in simplicity as with profuse stitching, in blue, in red or using both. She is a great photographer and an inspired designer, too. 

Once again I don't know how to explain why I've chosen this photo to illustrate Joana's work, but I believe my heart was touched by that heart and the fiancé kerchief, both so typically Portuguese.

What else can I say? No words would be enough... I know you will not resist to browse her blog- Jubela, follow the link!

Embroidered heart and fiancé kerchief, by Jubela

We can't trust Felizarda's word when she says she isn't a great embroiderer. I believe she is a very inspired stitcher. All her hearts are so charming that each one is more beautiful than the next. That's the reason why I've chosen this photo with so many of them... Could you choose only one? 

They are inspired by different types of regional Portuguese embroidery and even when she uses different techniques, love seems to be her primary inspiration.

Sometimes she mixes her passions: embroidery and patchwork and the final result is beautiful, especially when she uses it to tell a story: do you know "Little Red Riding Hood"?

Felizarda's hearts, in her blog

And "with love in the air" I've finished this series of New Stitches with Portuguese Soul... And I'm so proud of all the great embroiderers I've found!!!

Learning how to embroider...

Olá! In the past few weeks we've been traveling around Portugal following the inspirations and History of regional embroiderers... But this week and the next, I decided to take a small break! Yes, I'll be talking about embroiderers, too and these are very special to me...

Two years ago I created the project "agulha não pica". My intention was to make embroidery kits for kids and grown-up beginners. As I learned how to embroider by myself I wanted to promote that same idea... But as time went by, I received many requests to organize workshops. The idea of bringing together groups sharing the desire to learn how to embroider and to recreate the spirit that has been present in all embroidery History was a challenge. So I decided to launch the agulha não pica club and promote beginner (and other) workshops.

The patterns used during the workshops

Trying to remain faithful to my initial convictions, I decided that no one could belong to the club without making a piece of embroidery by herself... The participants work on a Portuguese traditional heart in the workshop, during 3 hours, learning five different basic stitches. They take home a sampler designed by me and they are asked to recall what they've learned and to embroider the sampler using those stitches. Only after the heart and the sampler are finished do they officially become members of the agulha não pica club!!

I'm happy with this workshop's "format". It proved to have good results!!

The homework for the new embroiderers - my design

It's so great to see all the hearts already embroidered and the samplers, and although they are working from the same patterns, they all seem so different from one another... Creativity has incredible results!

I leave you with some of the hearts and samplers that the new embroiderers have sent me...

Maria Joao

Andreia

Isabel

Cláudia

Margarida

Dora

Clara

Filomena

Clara

Luísa

I'm so grateful to all of them and to the others that don't have their works published too... Obrigada!!
Next week, I'll show you how they managed when they were on their own!! Believe me you'll like it!

Now... For our Portuguese lesson... I'm feeling so proud... I would have to say: "Sinto-me tão orgulhosa"!!