Pulled thread workshop

Pulled thread workshop

In May ten of us were treated to a day workshop on pulled thread embroidery by Dorothy Hodgson.

Dorothy started by explaining that in pulled thread work the holes were created by pulling the threads of the fabric together rather than by withdrawing threads in ,eg, hardanger. She then showed us the sampler which we were going to attempt. This drew gasps of amazement at Dorothy’s beautiful work and sharp intakes of breath at the thought of what was going to be required of us!!

                                                                   Dorothy's sampler

Dorothy was as ever a patient and inspiring teacher. We learnt, to name but a few, satin stitch, four-sided stitch, honeycomb stitch, reed border, step stitch, wave stitch and three-sided stitch!! Although there was a fair amount of chatter, most of the day passed in deep concentration punctuated only by whispered counting of threads and anguished cries when the ends of the rows weren't level!!

But despite the challenges everyone was very happy with what they produced, and gladly took their sampler home, along with Dorothy's excellent intructions, to finish it!  Many thanks to Dorothy for an excellent workshop!