HOW TO EMBROIDER A DIPPER. an illustrated step by step guide RUTH NORBURY

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1 HOW TO EMBROIDER A DIPPER an illustrated step by step guide RUTH NORBURY

2 Introduction I was commissioned to make a dipper by one of my clients who kindly agreed to let me show you how I made it. It is an appliqué piece really, but it was a lot of fun and quick to make. Equipment 2 pieces of cotton background fabric. Watercolours grey, blue and green. Medium weight vilene. Fabric Paints white, black, brown and blue. Tracing Paper. Thread. Hoop. Design I started by making a stylised design from a photograph. I drew around the important colour changes and added small gaps in-between the colours so it would look like a stencil. The larger you make the dipper, the more detail you will have to add to the appliqué unless you want him to look simplistic. The design can be seen opposite and can be photocopied and made whatever size you like. The dipper I made is about 45cm high. 1

3 Background Start by painting the background fabric. I use cotton fabric painted with watercolours in grey, blue and green. Wet the whole section of fabric you want painted ideally in a frame large enough to contain the painted section. (If the drying paint touches the frame, it will make marks.) The piece I made was too big for the frame and so I had to paint it while it was hanging on the washing line. Add grey and then touches of blue at the top and green at the bottom, this gives the illusion of background sky and foliage. The paint will get paler when it dries, so make it a little darker than you would like, but if you need to darken the fabric, wet the whole painted area first or it will make marks as it dries. Painting the Vilene I used medium weight vilene to make the appliqué sections; it takes paint very well and also does not fray. If you would like to use space dyed fabrics, just back them with fusible vilene and then cut out the shapes, this will give them some fray resistance, but do be careful when you stitch them down. Start by painting a piece of vilene with black fabric paints. This will make the beak. Paint the background colour first, then when it has been cut out you can add the details The background may look a little patchy at first (as shown on the next page) but you can add more colour so do not worry. I have painted the shapes shown to save paint, they are all about a centimetre larger all around than the actual shapes I want to use. 2

4 Tracing the Design Trace the shapes from your photocopy and mark on each what they are and which way up they go. Cut each shape out roughly (with a small boarder) and pin to the vilene. Cut out the shapes, cut through the tracing paper to the exact line otherwise you get slight inaccuracies in the design. Make sure that there are no white patches of vilene showing on the sides of the shapes. If they do, just paint around the very edge of the vilene. Stitching the Design Do this with all the shapes as follows: Beak black with white/grey highlights and a line to show the inside of the mouth in white/grey. Eye black. Head brown with lighter brown speckles. Chest white with grey shading. Wing black with blue/grey patches. Back black with blue/grey patches. Tummy brown with lighter brown speckles and dark brown shading. Small piece above tail black with blue/grey speckles. Leg black with brown shading. Tail black, left side blue/grey right side light grey with dark grey stripes. Foot black with brown speckles. When the shapes are dry you can place them on the fabric. Take your time here to make sure they are in the right position by pinning all the pieces on before you start to sew. I use buttonhole stitch as it helps to make the shapes look integrated with the background and not just stuck on. I use a thin thread, something like machine embroidery thread or one strand of stranded cotton. It adds interesting features if the threads are space dyed but this is not necessary. Make the buttonhole stitches quite small and accurate especially if you are making a small Dipper. (I removed the other pinned pieces for clarity) The colour listed first is a base coat and the others are added details. 3

5 Finished Design 4

6 About the Author Ruth has been embroidering since she was a child, starting with kits and slowly making the work she produces today. Ruth has completed one year of a City and Guilds Embroidery course but felt it was stifling the work she wanted to produce. She then moved to Southern Ireland to pursue a career as an embroiderer for four years before moving to Swansea in South Wales. She has been a professional embroiderer for over 10 years now and lives with her husband James and her two dogs and five cats. Dedication To Betty and Ian "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." JFK Ruth is very interested in environmental issues and does not use animal based fibres in her work. 5

7 Gallery Other work by Ruth can be seen on her website 6

8 I hope you enjoyed this book, please feel free to contact me and leave feedback, it is all appreciated. Keep an eye out on my website for further books. If you need any help or would like to send me pictures of your finished piece you can contact me in the following ways: Ruth Norbury 50 Fern Street, Cwmbwrla, Swansea, SA5 8BG Copyright Ruth Norbury 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in reviews. 7

9 Other Products by Ruth How to Embroider a Dipper Books available now: Crochet / Amigurumi: PDFs : Kits: Cards: 8