Embroidery with a twist

Regular readers of the blog may remember our post about Monsieur Sardon's stamps - you know, the entry with the warning about his particular sense of humour?

Recently, I began to think about embroidering one of his stamped designs onto a grey suit - 1950's styling with pointed lapels, bought in a charity shop for £3. And to my surprise and utter delight, the stamp worked brilliantly. Stitching around the outlines of the stamped image, I can now fill in the whole picture to create an effect that can only be achieved with embroidery silks - lustrous and rich. It is fascinating to learn all about the embroidery stitches to make different effects, and to watch how people from around the world embroider. How about the Senegalese decorating shirts and dresses? Or Indian colours? Portuguese anyone? I blame this recent craze of mine on The Tudors televison series with their magnificent costumes!

This winter Shona Skinner and I are running a class in printing and embellishing on textiles. Methinks embroidery may feature...