Dragonfly embroidery

I was so happy when a dear friend of mine asked me to embroider on a dress she was making for her friend (she also came up with the dragonflies) for the Estonian Independence Day reception. I love embroidering and don’t mind getting paid for it as well (:
I’d have to say that the most time-consuming part of this embroidery was to transfer the picture of the dragonflies onto the dress as it was going to be made from dark blue wool crêpe.
I have embroidered on a dark fabric before (coffee cozy II) but these dragonflies needed to be detailed, look and be positioned the same on both shoulders. After searching for different techniques I decided to go with the most safe one (without having to wet the fabric or iron other materials on the fabric). I just traced the dragonflies on the dress with bright coloured threads and removed them afterwards.

Olin nii rõõmus kui sõbranna palus mul tikkida pärlitest tikand kleidile, mille ta pidi Eesti Vabariigi iseseisvuspäeva vastuvõtule minevale sõbrannale õmblema. Tikkimine on mu salapahe, mis viga kui selle eest ka tasutakse (:
Kõige ajamahukamaks osutus tikandi kandmine tumesinisele villakrepile. Peale pikalt erinevate tehnikatega tutvumist, otsustasin minna kõige turvalisemat teed ja kanda joonis värviliste niitidega otse kangale. Oleks saanud ka kiiremini, kuid sel juhul oleksin pidanud mingil etapil kanga märjaks tegema, midagi kangale triikima või ostma mõne (kalli ja suure) seadeldise.

photo by Liis Treimann

Coffee cozy “Rowans”

Coffee cozy II

Coffee cosy

Meie kodune ärkamine kipub juhtuma erinevatel kellaaegadel, vahel suurema, vahel väiksema vahega, kohv aga kulub meile mõlemale hommikul ära. Vanasti meeldis mulle seda lõhna pärast teha, nüüd valan endale ka tassi. Noh, ja siis ongi hea presskannule müts pähe tõmmata, et hilisemal ärkajal mõnus oleks. Sooja hoidmiseks panin kohvikannu soojendajale vahele ülerõivastel kasutatava nö tuuletõkke, tänu millele jätkub sooja kohvi pikemaltki.

Mornings at our home tend to start at different times but coffee is usually a must. At first I just liked the smell but now I tend to pour myself a cup as well. To keep coffee warm for the late risers too I used sewn through wadding with a bit of wool in it between the linen and cotton.

Ja siis erinevaid kõrsikuid, mida suvel maal üles pildistasin, et kohvikannu soojendajale tikkida. Tikkimine ise võttis aega peaaegu kümme tundi. Käsi jäi küll kiiresti kangeks, aga muidu ülinauditav tegevus.

Here are some pictures I took for inspiration during the summer. The embroidery took me about 10 hours. A bit painful but completely relaxing.

wedding present

Jõulud on ammu unustatud ja aastagi on juba viis kuud vana. Siinse postitustiheduse järgi võiks arvata, et olen pool aastat käed rüpes istunud või hoopis õmblemise ja käsitööga lõpparve teinud (nagu seda tegin oma igapäeva tööga). Võin kinnitada, et seda ei ole juhtunud, hoopis vastupidi.. Töö voolab ustest-akendest sisse ja sai isegi sõbrannaga kahasse ettevõte loodud. Aga kõik mu isiklikumad tööd on ikka endiselt pooleli.. Mõni ootab pildistamist, mõnele on vaja varrukad külge õmmelda..

Well, a lot of time has passed.. The smell of Christmas has gone with snow and New Year has been here for over five months. I haven’t quitted sewing (like my job), quite the opposite. I started a firm with my friend and work has been pouring in. But all the projects close to me are sort of on hold. Some blouses need sleeves, others need hemming and photographing.

Need padjad paluti mul tikkida pulmakingiks. Viimati tikkisin mõned aastad tagasi ühe krae nurkadele. Kuigi aega nappis, siis sellisest mõnusast nokitsemisest on raske ära öelda, eriti veel nii ilusa sündmuse tarvis. Kuna eelmainitud krae tikkimine oli ühe kooliülesande osa, siis selle raames erinevaid tikandeid uurides jõudis White Work ehk valge tikand mulle eriti südamelähedaseks saada. Tegemist on tikandiga, kus tikkimisniit ja kangas, millele tikitakse (üldjuhul siis valge linane), on sama värvi. Esimene teadaolev selles tehnikas ese on Taanist pärit punutud juuksevõrk, mis leitud 3000 aasta vanusest hauast. Läbi ajaloo on kuningannad ja daamid, väikesed tüdrukud, teenijannad ja naiste kirikus valge tikandiga kaunistanud erinevaid asju erinevatel põhjustel. Näiteks paljudes riikides peeti noori tüdrukuid harimatuteks kui nad ei suutnud oma kümnendaks eluaastaks imeilusat valge tikandi pistetega proovilappi tikkida.
Pärast esimesi pisteid olin sõltuvuses.

I was asked to make embroidered pillowcases as a wedding present. My last embroidery was in the corner of a collar and that was years ago. The collar was a school assignment and as I looked more closely into different embroideries I was really drawn to White Work. White Work embroidery refers to any embroidery technique in which the stitching is the same color as the foundation fabric (traditionally white linen). Whether the embroidery is composed of a few simple stitches or look like an elegant lace, the techniques are basically the same. Styles of White Work embroidery include most drawn thread work, broderie anglaise, Hardanger embroidery, Mountmellick embroidery and reticella. The oldest known piece that could be called White Work is a Danish braided hairnet taken from a 3000-year-old grave. Throughout history queens and ladies, little girls, servants and women of the church executed their White Work embroidery on a variety of things and for a variety of reasons. Little girls in many countries and of most social classes were considered uneducated if they could not do a beautiful sampler of stitches by the time they were ten years old.
After first stitches I couldn’t stop, it’s so addictive.

See oli teine pulm minu elus. Hoopis teistsugune kui oleksin osanud aimata, tagasihoidlik ja äärmiselt südamlik. Selline, mis keskenduski kahe inimese abiellu astumisele, mitte polnud pidu sugulastele-sõpradele ja mõjus hoopis õigemini.. Paari kohtumislugu on äärmiselt tänapäevane, poiss on Eestist, tüdruk Austriast. Poiss vajas arvutimängu mängimisel abi, moderaatoriks olev tüdruk andis oma abikäe.

It was the second wedding I attended. And it was quite different from what I had heard or gotten used to. It was small, sweet and modest. The focus was on the couple and not a big party for all relatives and friends. They met through internet – the boy from Estonia needed help with a new computer game and the girl, as the moderator from Austria, lent a helping hand.

kuidagi rahvariietest inspireeritud krae