Kutchwork

The Single Diamond - is the simplest motif used in Kutchwork.



The next motif is the Maltese Cross...



followed by the interlacing stitch in a shade of pink. The motif in red is a combination of 2 lines of interlacing joined together by a Maltese Cross.




The Picture below is a combination of 4 Maltese Cross motifs joining to form a single more intricate and interesting motif.




The design possibilities using these simple motifs are limitless.
The picture below is one such combination of the 4 motifs PLUS a mirror in the center. I could get in only 3/4 th of the embroidered piece as I scanned the embroidery directly instead of photographing it. I am sure you can imagine what the full piece would look like.



Kutchwork – An Introduction
Lesson I Part I
Lesson I Part II
Lesson II Part I
Lesson II Part II
Lesson III
Lesson IV

Irish Crochet

This is an Irish Crochet piece I am trying from the DMC IC book. Will this look ok once I block it? Somehow I am not satisfied with it. Is my tension not right? I'll try redoing it.

Kutchwork- An Introduction

In India with her rich and varied culture and traditions – craft flourished thanks to royal patronage. Embroidery in the different regions of India, is as rich, distinctive, varied and colourful as the people inhabiting it.
The embroidery of Kutch and its neighbouring Saurashta is colourful. It flourished in the late 19th and 20th centuries. It employs simple stitches like the herringbone, buttonhole, chain and open chain stitches. The interlacing stitch (looping around the double herringbone stitch) and the Maltese Cross are predominant. These are embellished with mirrors and sometimes even shells.
Geometric motifs are built using the Maltese Cross and Interlacing stitch. A truly amazing combination patterns are churned out. Once the basic “overs” and “unders” of the interlacing are mastered, even a beginner can execute this embroidery with relative ease.
Now, here is the interesting part – The Maltese cross and the Interlacing stitch are also predominantly used in Armenian Embroidery. Armenia, is a small pocket north east of Turkey.

Check out Armenian Embroidery. It is the first site listed under Google search for Armenian Embroidery. There are very clear instructions for drawing the motifs and interlacing.

Some researchers believe that the interlacing stitch was brought to the Kutch region by Arab traders – that the stitches were characteristic of traditional Sindhi embroidery (Kutchwork) practiced widely by immigrants from Sind and Baluchistan (western Pakistan).
Maybe the stitches originated in the Arab nations of Iraq and Iran, spread upwards to Armenia and downwards to the Sind region and to Kutch region in India.


This is a Sofa-back I embroidered using the interlacing stitch, the Maltese Cross stitch, satin stitch and stem stitch.

I have just completed a small piece in the same style in shades of red and pink as a sampler for my Kutchwork summer class. I have stitched a mirror in the center. I have not decided whether to use a delicate tatted lace as edging to compliment the bright filled in motifs or a crochet lace worked in pearl cotton.

Kutchwork – An Introduction
Lesson I Part I
Lesson I Part II
Lesson II Part I
Lesson II Part II
Lesson III
Lesson IV

Irish Crochet

This is my version of the vintage grapes and leaves free pattern I found in a Crochet site. I stuffed a little batting instead of thread for the grapes. A pity I could not get the exact shades of thread for the grapes and leaves. Anyway I think this would make a wonderful applique.

Jacobean Embroidery

A picture at last. I found this style of embroidery very convenient for learning about colour combinations. I've tried all three styles - monochromatic, analogous and complementry in this piece. Stitches used are jacobean couching, seeding, chain filling, open chain, stem stitch filling and outline stitch, satin stitch, french knots, straight stitch etc.

Jacobean Embroidery

I discovered that colours used in Jacobean embroidery are mostly muted pastels. Check out the site www.accomplishments-shop.com/070303.htm.
This will give you and idea of what typical jacobean embroidery looks like and the colours snd stitches used. I'll post a picture of my Jacobean piece as soon as I get it photographed.

Meanwhile there are a host of interesting links I found educative and interesting.
Sharon B's blog inaminuteago.com is a real treasure house of information. needlecrafter.com has a stitch dictionary and a wonderful desisgn library. The stitch diagrams look exactly like those in Mary Thomas's Stitch dictionary.