Review: Colour Confident Stitching by Karen Barbé

It is a pleasure to review this fabulous new book, Colour Confident Stitching: How to Create Beautiful Colour Palettes by textile artist Karen Barbé. If you are at all curious about expanding your use of color and texture in your embroidery, this is the book for you!

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When I received this book from the publisher I was in the middle of planning some of my own projects, and I found reading this book and taking in the way Karen approaches color to be very inspiring. I had already started making little color cards of my own to keep track of my embroidery threads from project to project - Karen's approach of lining up colors as inspiration before you begin stitching is marvelous, too!

I find Karen's stitching within the book very inspiring - I am reminded of the loveliness of designers like Yumiko Higuchi, Irona Happa, and one of my favorite embroidery books ever, Handbook of Lettering for Stitchers by Elsie Svennas (read a wonderful overview of it on Pintangle).

Color Theory - The majority of the book is about color theory - and I love the way Karen writes about color. Her analysis of different color palettes, and how to develop them, is very inspiring. In particular, I love that she talks about how having a different color background can change the entire mood of the piece.

Color Palettes - I really enjoyed this section - there are 9 example color palettes drawn from a variety of different sources - fabric, collections, images, home, and places, just to name a few. They are all quite beautiful and could be a wonderful springboard for anyone who is intimidated by choosing a palette of colors for a new project.

Patterns - there are 5 projects in this book, so it is light on patterns. But I will say the patterns are versatile and they inspire you to think deeply about color.

Here are the patterns included and the stitch you will learn / practice with it:

• Sleeping Mask: Laid stitch, couched cross stitch, sewing, embroidery floss
• Embellished Knitted Sleeves: Duplicate stitch, crewel or tapestry wool
• Tea Towel with Woven Patches: Weave stitch, pearl cotton
• Framed Embroidery: Chain stitch, satin stitch, embroidery floss
• Cross Stitch Tea Party: Cross stitch on cardboard, embroidery floss

My favorite project was the framed embroidery, because it included 2 types of stitching I've been wanting to practice: densely packed chain stitches as outlines and geometric satin stitches.

Following along with the pattern was tricky for me since the pattern is quite small and thus requires for absolute precision in drawing and stitching.

Beginners, take note that you will feel less frustration if you enlarge the pattern on a copier and practice the intricate chain stitch. Tiny details are key in this project.

I broke up the large design into two parts, first a few chain-stitched motifs:

I would have loved to have a larger image of the stitching so I could decide how to tackle the project.

Second, I tried the satin-stitched circle, and practiced making woven patches:

My satin stitching is very far from perfect - but this small project was a great way to practice it! I used 4 strands of floss for the woven patches. You can see more of my process photos on my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nyfloresita/)

One of my takeaways after reading through this book and trying out the projects is just how detailed, meditative, and slow Karen's creative process is - it makes sense that she is a textile artist, because you can see how she is willing to take a time-consuming task and make it into an art piece.

Crafters who would love to add new stitches to their repertoire, learn to think about color in a new way, and appreciate detailed patterns and projects will love this book.

I highly recommend this book for all levels of stitchers, with a caveat for beginners - the stitches and processes in this book are not simple, but if you approach your work slowly and meditatively, you will be rewarded for your time.

To see more of the inside of this glorious book - visit Karen's blog for some lovely images:
http://www.karenbarbe.com/blog/colour-confident-stitching-book-is-here/

I also highly recommend a visit to Karen's blog - I spent hours happily scrolling through her gorgeous posts: http://www.karenbarbe.com/blog/. You can also find Karen on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/karenbarbe/

Stitchy Snippets - Thread is A Thought

Cos Ahmet's art practice combines woven tapestry, collage, printmaking and sculpture. I find his tapestry collages to have an ethereal quality that is mesmerising. In Ahmet's words 'The constant thread in the works becomes my words, thoughts, a path of ideas'.

The human body is a constant reference in his work, Ahmet chooses to explore themes of the self, sexuality, identity and the human form.

Through the medium of textiles he creates metaphors for the human form such as: ‘thread as the thought’, ‘warp as the skeleton’, ‘weft as flesh or skin’, and ‘weave’ as the soul. Cos Ahmet explains: 'These ‘gestures’ take on their own symbolism and appearance, but are implicit presences, traces or imprints of identity and self.'

You can see more of his work, which will be exhibited under the title Thread is A Thought at the upcoming Knitting and Stitching Shows in the U.K. and Ireland this Fall.

MooshieStitch Monday: Needle Weaving Plaid

In my ongoing quest to find different needle weaving tips and techniques, I came across a post by the amazing Mary Corbet on the Common Thread blog.

In this post, Mary shares tips on how to add texture and patterns to your needle weaving. What caught my eye was the technique to create a plaid-like pattern.

So, I decided to give it a try by needle weaving a red plaid - because it's the fall season and red plaid reminds me of cozy flannel shirts.

For my plaid pattern, I stitched 2 rows red, 1 row black, 1 row white, and repeat.

DMC Floss used:

• Red #817
• Black #310
• White ECRU

I chose a circle because originally I was going to put the finished work in a small round frame I have for an ornament (more on that later). So I traced the frame - which is a 3 inch diameter circle.

Here are the finished vertical stitches (warp threads).

Now time to weave my horizontal stitches (weft threads).

I weaved over and under each vertical stitch - but I wasn't perfect. I sometimes missed a row or weaved over/under two rows by accident. But it doesn't seem too noticeable...

What do you think? Does it look plaid to you!?!

I didn't like how it looked in the round ornament frame - it didn't quite fit right either - so I think I will keep it in a small hoop.

Overall, I like how the plaid pattern looks. This is my first needle weaving using multiple colors and I will definitely keep experimenting.

Seriously, check out this needle weaving post by Mary Corbet to see her step-by-step tutorial and her awesome needle weaving sampler.

See you next time!