Blackwork Sampler Project

For the program portion of our meeting on November 16, 2022, and as  part of the overall House and Garden Programme Theme, members were invited to work on a small blackwork sampler project that will be in the form of a house. For those members who had never done blackwork before, this was an introduction to a wonderful traditional technique. If members had done blackwork before, this was be an opportunity to extend their skills and apply them in a piece of architectural embroidery. 

Before the meeting, members were directed to the following websites if they wanted to do some preparation work beforehand:

For beginners and for review: a good intro to blackwork, how to create the double running stitch outline, and some sample stitches: https://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/blackwork-embroidery-tutorial/

For experienced blackworkers:  this shows an artist who has been using blackwork stitches to create different values, from light to very dark, and creating images using them: https://www.elaraembroidery.com/choosing-blackwork-stitches/

During the meeting  one of the members (Wenda) showed how she does the design, using grid paper as a way to plan the pattern and the direction of the stitches. Fiona did an Internet search to find out more details to share with us, and who else but our favourite Mary Corbett had an explanation of the design process – Blackwork Design Development: Variation on a Theme: https://www.needlenthread.com/2010/10/blackwork-design-development-1.html

A number of projects from Norah were shown as samples of Blackwork. And yes Blackwork can be red or any other colour as long as the Blackwork technique is used.