Tambour Projects

As I was first learning how to tambour with beads, I started several test patterns - doodles, really.  Some of them were just that doodles but some of them became things.  This is one of those projects.  I initially laid the large glass pearls.  Then I started thinking of sand swirling around the pearls so I started swirling the seed beads around.  I really liked the look of it so I decided to use the sample as a project and marked out the outside border and marked another piece of silk organza for the back and worked it in a circular pattern.  The handle was just a beaded tube.  It needed to be sturdy enough to handle the weight of the body of the purse and this worked a treat.  

About 2017, I took a trip to the Cleveland, OH, area.  It was only a long weekend but I specifically wanted to get away to work on designing some projects.  A visit to the art museum there was hugely inspiring.  By the end of the trip, I had 2 purse designs I was happy with.  One, an art deco-inspired design, is still waiting to come to life but this one, art nouveau-inspired came together just like I'd envisioned it.  The back is black velvet and it has a pretty turquoise-colored lining.  The part that took the longest, oddly, is the beaded fringe! It was completely hand-beaded by a beader that had no idea how long it would take.  But it was the only way to get the gradation I needed to look right with the curves of the design.  So worth the time and effort, I have to say (although I haven't jumped into doing another one since!!). 

See what I mean about purses being the perfect palette?  Here's another one that came together bit by bit.  This one has a bit of tambour on the top section but I was also able to incorporate some bobbin lace that I was working for another project.  The bottom section is laid embroidery thread held by little fresh-water pearls.  The tone on tone was so interesting.  This final project is actually my second effort.  The original effort worked fine for most of it but I had cut the bottom to have scallops but they didn't really work in practice.  So I redid the whole thing and used the lace to create the scallops.  Much better!

My BIG tambour project was a purse that I envisioned to have 8 narrow sides, each with a different pattern.  I put together 4 different patterns with the thought that I would repeat them in order.  Straight line, curly line, straight, curly, etc.  The initial inspiration for this project was some Victorian/Edwardian-era beads that I recovered from a disintegrating mourning vest.  I've had them for a couple of years but never found the right project for them.  Until now.  This was truly a process of discovery as I developed the pattern and it became my favorite thing I've ever made.  Ever.  Nothing compares to this little purse.  

This was a classic example of designing it then tweaking the design as I went, then filling in the missing pieces as I went along.  How to do the lining, how to finish the top and bottom edge (I ended up making some black bobbin lace edging for this purpose).  When I finished, it still didn't look quite finished.  I needed some sort of fringe at the bottom and it needed a way to hold the handle at the top.  I didn't really want to go full fringe at the bottom (reference the trauma of full fringe mentioned above :-)) but this toned down version worked very well and fitted the look. For the handle, I beaded 8 straps, one for each section of the purse, a did it that way.  I could have done a better job with them but it worked so I was basically happy. The purse became a gift for my lovely niece, which made me happy.  Every maker will tell you, there's no better feeling that something you've made going to someone who will appreciate and treasure it.

And finally, a project that didn't quite come off, despite all the effort.  I think I know where it fell down and I'll go into that later.  This project had its roots in the purchase of about 20 times more drop beads than I needed for my garden quilt project.  I ended up with all of these clear glass beads with a touch of color at the end.  What to do?  What to do?  The beads reminded me of droplets of water on a flower bud so I started thinking along those lines.  Tulips are my favorite flower so why not make a tulip purse?  

I designed the petals, made sure the inside and outside petals would fit together then started stitching.  I loved how they looked on the frame and how the beads were working.  I knew the purse was going to be heavy with all the drop beads I was using and, I have to say, I wasn't wrong!

Once I had all the petals done, I had to figure out how to get them all put together with the internal support that would help them keep their shape under the weight of the beads.  It took a while but with some medium-weight interfacing, I was finally happy(ish) with the shape.  It was at this point that I realized the circumference of the purse was larger than I'd expected, which makes it just a bit more chunky than I'm happy with.  If I were to make it again, and I suspect I will, I will cut down the width of the petals by about 30% and I will make the darts that shape the petals just a wee bit wider to give a little better shape.  I think those 2 things will make it work much better.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted a ruched lining and I was super happy with how it came out.  I was reading a book at the time called "The Art of Manipulating Fabric" by Colette Wolff (an excellent book that I highly recommend), so I used her instructions for it with great results.

The other part I had to figure out is the stem.  I'll be honest, I didn't completely finish the bottom.  The plan was to have the green beads at the bottom and the fringe as the stem, which all worked, but I was also going to do a beaded section that came up onto the petals, like flowers usually have.  I just didn't have the heart to do that final piece when I knew I wasn't happy with the piece.  Next time...

So there are other tambour projects in process that I'll show in their own posts but these are the big projects from the break time that I wanted to share.

I will also mention that I did a tambour class from the London School of Embroidery that I highly recommend. I knew how to tambour but was completely self taught and there were several things I'd never tried before.  I love the format of their classes.  You can purchase kits and then you have perpetual access to the teaching videos.  I could do them at my own pace and rewatch the videos as often as I needed to so them became a great resource.  I also did their goldwork pear, monogramming, whitework embroidery and silk shading classes.  Highly recommend.
 

I’ve got a couple of things to post about today

One is to say, I’m writing this from the wonderful land of Texas! Home to let my mother spoil me for my birthday!! It was so comforting to see all the Texas license plates and Whataburgers and wild flowers on the side of the road. It’ll always feel like home and for some weird reason I’ve been so homesick lately.

Another is about a dvd and a couple of movies I watched this weekend.

Several months ago, I heard about Portuguese style knitting. Being the lover of any new piece of information, I started poking around to see what I could find about it. There were a couple of videos on YouTube but not great quality. In my research I found a Yahoo Group called knitting with crochet hook. The description talked about knitting with “the amazing needle” and “Portuguese knitting.” Sounded interesting so I joined up and began reading the input of some very creative folks and learned a little bit more. I believe it was on this group that I heard about Andrea Wong who is a Portuguese lady living in Ohio who does a lot of teaching and teaches how to knit in the Portuguese style with regular needles. Oh yeah, the Portuguese needles, the best I can understand, are pointed at one end and have a crochet-type hook at the other end (please forgive me if this isn’t correct).

On Andrea’s web site she has an instructional dvd as well as the shoulder pin used to help tension the yarn in this style. I ordered the dvd but never had time to watch it until this weekend. What a wonderful resource – every new knitter should have this video. I thought it would just be about the knit/purl stitches for the Portuguese style. It’s so much more than that. She also covers increases, decreases, a variety of cast ons and bind offs. She has different techniques and tips. Wonderful! The explanations she gives are very simple and clear and the video shots of her working the stitches is very clear and she actually repeats the movements enough that you really get a sense of what she’s doing and lets you follow along.

With her instructions, I found it extremely easy to pick up how to work the stitches and how to combine them for ribbing, etc. The purl stitch is the easiest you’ll ever come across. If you have any wrist problems, you definitely want to check this style out because there’s no throwing, there’s not twisting. It’s all done with a flick of the thumb! For anyone who has seen Donna Druchunas’ book, Ethnic Knits, this is very, very similar to the Andean style Donna talks about. Must have been a conquistadorian export. Donna’s got a great bag pattern in her book using the Andean style along with a very cool bind off edging.

I found fascinating (and she’s not paying me to say any of this!!) her demonstration of how easy it is to knit with beads in this style AND how much easier to do color work. She’s actually combined the Portuguese and the Continental styles to make color work a breeze. One strand is tensioned off the pin on your shoulder (or yarn around your neck – although this can be a little uncomfortable unless you’ve got some material under the strand) and is knit in the Portuguese style. The other color is held in the left hand and is worked as for Continental knitting. How clever is that! I’m totally going to use that next time I do my Danish Skrå-Trøyer sweater (ha!!).

Speaking of Danish, let me just mention two movies I saw this weekend that I highly recommend – both great for a good cry:
Danish movie called Kinamand. After a man’s wife leaves him, he begins eating each night at the Chinese Restaurant across the road (on first night he orders a Number 1, second night a Number 2, etc. through the whole movie). It’s through the friendships he makes here that he finds things happening to him and in him that he never could have imagined.

French moved called Sequins. A young girl who’s found herself pregnant, decides to follow her passion – embroidery (but what I know as Tambour embroidery). She begins working with a lady in her village that had at one time worked with the large fashion houses in Paris. Her son has recently been killed in a motorcycle accident and the two of them find reasons for life in their journey together. (Sounds really saccharine, I know but it’s the most succinct way I could think to describe it.)

I'm back

Time’s gotten away from me a bit. Not sure why – some say it’s having fun that does it. Hummmm….

I have been busy with multiple projects. I went into my local Hancock fabrics shop the other day, as you do, to buy some needles for a bead embroidery project I want to try. I got my needles and asked the clerk a question. Now, to get to the clerk, I had to pass by a sample dress. I’m a sucker for a sample. The pattern looked lovely (although the sample was made with the ugliest material on the planet) so I buckled. I found a beautiful chocolate brown material and a brown and blue edging that looks great with it. I was able to get the bodice part done the other day and now just need to get the skirt part done, attached to the bodice and bung in the zipper. I’m a little bit apprehensive about the zipper because it’s not my strongest point but I think, if I just take plenty of time, I’ll be alright.

Skrå-trøyer progress: I don’t have a photo because it’s really just more of the same but I’ve started on the top back and am getting on fairly quickly, even though it’s a bit more awkward working it back and forth. I’m working it knitting across and then knitting backwards so I can easily keep the strands running along the back of the work and I’m having to be careful to not let the gauge get too different from the round knitting section. I think it’s okay right now but it’s kind of hard to tell before it’s all done.

Speaking of hard to tell, when I got to the point of being ready to split the back and front, I realized that, math idiot that I am, I had got it wrong…AGAIN! It felt huge. I’ve actually now cut it down yet again by one whole motif on the front and one on the back. Now I think it’s finally at a reasonable size. It’s just so hard to tell while it’s on the circular needles if it needs adjusting. If I ever make this pattern again (of course now I have some concept of how it goes) – and I’m not promising that I ever shall – I will run it onto several circs from time to time just to check it out. So at the end of the day, I’m going to have a bit of steeking to do. But to be honest, I don’t really care because I’m as in love with it now as I was before I started. I love it, love it, love it. I’m hoping to have the back finished this weekend and then get the front done next week and the sleeves the following week (since I’m off that week of Christmas).


Tambour work: I was really happy that this photo picked up the pattern drawn on the fabric as well as the stitching because the pattern is drawn very lightly and is being actually a little difficult to work from. I’ve discovered that if you turn it a certain way in the light, the pattern shows up better on this fabric. I haven’t gotten so far yet but I’ve done a little and you can see in the upper corner that I’ve just started doing the little swags around the outside. It takes a little to get used to stitching on this material but I think I’m getting the hang of it now. In case you missed the previous post, this is a type of crochet that done on fabric and was popular in the 1700-1800's.

Lace Shawl: I lived for quite a few years in the UK but I’ve now been away for a whopping 10 years. It feels like forever. Most of my time was spent in Scotland and I loved living there and had some wonderful friends. I’ve finally made the decision
to take a trip back so in February I’ll be heading off. Not the most auspicious time, I know, with regards to weather, but it is before all the prices go up. As I was thinking about the trip, I got an idea to do a Saltire & Thistle Shawl. That’s what this little blob is. I’m doing it in the style of the Shetland shawl where you have the center panel, surrounded by a wide border and an edging around. Usually you would work the border 1 side at a time but I’ve decided to experiment with that part. I cast on 1 stitch, increased to about 120 and then decreased back down to 1 for the middle section which is worked in the style of the Saltire (also known as St. Andrew’s Cross) – the Scottish flag. I’ve just picked up stitches all the way around and will be starting on a Thistle pattern out of one of Barbara Walker’s wonderful books and then I’ll have to decide on an edging. I’m going to let that be a surprise, like writing a book and having to finish it so you know what happens. That’s the sort of thing. For those interested in such things, I'm using Skacel Merino Lace Yarn in a sort of pinkish tan color - the only color the yarn shop had 2 skeins of. I love knitting with this yarn. In fact, if you don't have a lot of experience with lace knitting, this is a great yarn to start with - soft handle, doesn't split easily.

I’m not too stressed about getting it all done because I’m thinking it might be cool to take it as a travel project. With it on the circs now, it’ll be easy to carry. Don’t know if I can wait that long – I’ll just see how it goes.

Baby Sailor Suit – This was a pattern that I originally wrote when a colleague was having a baby. I wasn’t happy with the original version sleeves and I can’t say I’m too much happier with these sleeves. At least with this one I have it in front of me to look at and figure out what I want to do differently. The other, alas, did go to the baby and I no longer have access. I love
the little pattern. I don’t know if you can see but it’s a onesy type construction and will have snaps at the legs and cute white anchor buttons along each shoulder so that it opens wide for the giant baby head! I have the pattern finished except for whatever I decide to do with the sleeves and to get the finishing touches on the various sizes. This is another project I’m hoping to get finished this year. If you would be interested in knitting it as a tester for me, I would be willing to provide the pattern for free to you. That would just basically mean make it up and let me know if I’ve made any errors in the pattern. If you would be interested, just let me know either in the comments or by email at dks@wandagraysondesigns.com.

Like I said, it’s been a little busy.

Best Laid Plans

I was off from my day job last week. I had a whole list of things I wanted to accomplish during the week. Maybe you’ve guessed where I’m going with this.

I got absolutely nothing done that was on my list other than working on my Skrå-trøyer sweater. Now I did get quite a lot done on that and I did get quite a few other projects finished and things done. Unfortunately, none of them were on my list. I used to add things to my list after I’d done them so I could say they were on the list but I didn’t think in this case that that was quite in the spirit of the whole list thing.

One of the things I had on my list was to clear my desk and finish organizing the piles that were stacked on it. I have to be honest and say that after sitting at a desk on the computer for 8 hours a day, when I go home I usually have very little desire to sit at a desk or work on the computer.

But I was tired and couldn’t really get into any of my projects. Somehow projects seem to conspire and make sure that they all get to “thinking” points at the same time – not helpful when you are brain-challenged. You know how it is when it’s no longer just mindless knitting and you actually have to pay attention to the pattern.

I had a new Dr. Who audio book from Audible (David Tennant has such a great voice – and variety of voices - for this type of reading) so I got that playing and got right to it. Not only did I get my desk cleared and organized but I also hung 6 framed tambour projects. I had done a set of 4 tambour pictures using ecru colored tatting thread on a natural colored linen and then I’d done a set of 2 – one was a sort of free style and the other was a celtic knot pattern, both on a filmy fabric. I’ve had them laying around so I’m quite pleased to finally see them hanging.

One of the piles on my desk was a new tambour project that I’d gotten materials for a while ago and never started. I had the idea to do a purse using a silky brick red material and then over it I would layer a very filmy gold color material which would have a tambour design worked on it. To me it is a very Victorian combination of colors. I’m not sure exactly what shape it will be or whether it will be mounted over a frame but I’m fairly excited to see how it will come out. Anyway, I got the pattern drawn on the fabric and this morning before work I tried out a couple of different threads to see what I will use to work the design. I think I’m going to go with a yellow tatting thread as it blends nicely into the gold of the fabric but will still stand up against the darker underlayer. I also think it will allow me to do a finer stitch which is what I had originally envisioned for the project.

I’ll post pics as I get going.

Ah, it’s so nice to look over and see a clean desk and a new project just waiting to be worked. I left Rose in between time and space trying to find the Doctor so tonight I’ll have get the project started so the Doctor and Rose can get out of this predicament they’ve found themselves in!