I did my first embroidery in ...6th or 8th grade. I wanted a jean jacket, but to save money, my mom sewed me one.[1] When she got the pattern for the jacket, she also bought me some iron on patterns in yellow wax outlines for cotton floss embroidery—I recall a bunch of grapes, especially. There was a ladybug too. My early efforts were crude and very ugly: I didn't know, for example, to split the 6 ply floss, so my first attempt was crude and lumpy. But I ramped up pretty quickly, since I could draw: I remember embroidering blackeyed susans with french knots, the flowers growing up the hem of my pants.
Two beaded embroidery projects in process, photographed 28aug15, with the S4. The little cigarillo tin is the perfect sized travel box: deep enough for the minihollow glass or semi-precious stone focals, shallow enough to easily get to seed beads, with a built in, shiny (i.e. light-filling) surface that doubles as an excellent work tray, big enough for a nice assortment, small enough to fit in a travel kit.
I also did beadwork from a very young age, but it didn't occur to me to put the two together until years later, when I took a bead and sequin embroidery class from Chris Reilly, as with these pieces circa 1987. But that got very quickly pushed to the wayside by bead-stringing, which sold much better. The beaded embroidery lay fallow until I took a class with Joanne Laessig. Her ‘bead soup’ and pointillist working methods intrigued me, and I incorporated them into a needlecase in the early to mid ’90s I'm still using. That was twenty or twenty-five years ago, and I've been returning to the process ever since. This page came out of the current spate of work (2015).
Enjoy.
assorted linkies, esp traditional lath and plaster 12feb2024
sea stocking takes an age... 24dec2019
``Quick'' bead embroidered pouch
2016 ladybug applique & beaded embroidery on shirt lapel. 15jan2020
beaded embroidery in the shape of a cicada. 22oct2015
Hand made pencil case—for technical pens and water-handle brushes, of course:) 14oct2015
red wool with malachite green beads a lime (or apple) green zipper. Lots of progress shots. 01oct2015
Lavender, green and beige zippered pouch–started in 2009 16oct2015
4th in a series of red wool embroidered pouches from a boiled wool sweater. 30sep2015
2nd in a series of red wool pouches. 29sep2014
embroidered textile heart, photographed 16apr2006.
More leftovers. Red, black and white bead embroidered pouch. 17sep2015
Leftover beads from the rhyolite/unakite pouch are put to good use. 16sep2015
Bead embroidery in orange and green on dark green—done ``quickly''. 15sep2015
Little purple bead embroidery sold in 2012 14sep2015
Brown and white beaded embroidery, finished sometime around 2011–13. 11sep2015
Beaded embroidery in purples and blues and creams. 10sep2015
One in a series of beaded embroidered pieces made in, um, the mid 2010s? 09sep2015
This pouch features glass beads, embroidery, fabric dying and sewing by me; its semiprecious accent beads co-ordinate with the rosary (restrung by me...) it's designed to hold. 24aug2015
Inspired by stockings, this is the 2nd in a series of abstract wall-hangings/mini-quilts. Originally posted 27apr09. 27apr2009
Inspired by stockings, this is the Ist in a series of abstract wall-hangings/mini-quilts. Originally posted 23apr09. 23apr2009
Embroidered needlecase , probably made in the early to mid-90s. 07oct2008
a piece of black and white bead embroidery photographed over several years with 4 different cameras... 27aug2015
pastel bead embroidery for a hexagonal box. Still in progress 7 years later though the embroidery, at least, was completed in '08. 25aug2015
two very early embroidered and beaded pieces, meant to be pins. 22may2004
Using time to compensate for b-a-a-a-d design 22may2004
Another gift using ombre threads and beads made around 1993. (needs photo update.) 22may2004
Two early beaded embroidery projects 22may2004
[1]The fabric was thin, the wrong color and of course she had no way to replicate the authentic heavy yellow topstitching.
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
