Embroidery World Tour 2025
Prompts for the raffle for 2025 and for those who wish to carry on or join in with the Travelling Pages. If you haven’t done it before, please have a go – there’s no pressure and it’s suitable for all abilities and interests. All the following information is in the pink folder available at meetings and instructions will be emailed out too.
We will be looking at countries and embroidery traditions/techniques.
For those wanting to do the Travelling Pages I have included some information about each country’s embroidery/textile traditions to give you a starting point and some inspiration. It’s not an exhaustive list! There’s also some other ideas included, again not an exhaustive list.
PLEASE NOTE:
You can do absolutely anything you want inspired by each country; you DO NOT have to do any traditional embroidery techniques if you don’t want to.
For stitch techniques that may be new to you, the RSN Stitch Bank is a useful source online.
I will endeavour to help if you get stuck with one you want to try; if I fail miserably there’s always a chance another member will be clued up or there’s always YouTube!
Instructions for the Travelling Pages
We will start in January, first swap in February.
Each month’s theme will be the same as the raffle country for that month. You will need to do some artwork/notes and a finished piece based on the prompt.
The notes and artwork can be as detailed as you want but at a minimum should give your inspiration i.e. that month’s prompt and what you took from it and the techniques used. All prompts are open to your own interpretation.
Your notes and finished embroidery/work should be mounted on thin card/sketchbook paper, single sided, landscape and should be no larger than A5. Please sign your work.
Once you have completed your work and notes put them in a BLANK envelope and bring it to the next meeting; all the envelopes will be put together, and you will pick one randomly to add to your sketchbook at home.
The next month’s theme will be swapped in the same way, reusing the envelope you got last time.January’s prompt is China; you will do your piece after the meeting, and it will be swapped at the February meeting; February’s prompt will be swapped at the March meeting and so on.
If you are unable to do/don’t want to do a particular month, then you won’t get a swap. If you make a piece but are unable to attend the meeting, then keep it and put it in your own book.
You can of course make a swap piece and a second to keep for yourself if you want.At the end of the year, you will have a collection of pieces by other people to add to your own A5 sketchbook, a book you have made or however you want to keep them. It’s a great way to find new techniques and approaches.
The country for each month can be found on the Blog (under the Programme 2025 tab) if you want to get ahead, but we will only be swapping the relevant month’s theme each time. The prompt will be included in the newsletter and is also in this folder along with info on each country to give you some inspiration.
To be clear: you are NOT required to do any particular traditional technique, do whatever you want; the information included is for if you want to explore techniques associated with particular countries.
January: China
Satin stitch, chain stitch, couching, Pekinese stitch, Chinese knot, stem stitch, long & short stitch.
Things to consider:
Koi, dragons, calligraphy, pandas, cranes, fireworks, Chinese zodiac, tea, Confucius quotes, silk, willow pattern crockery, Ming vases.
February: India
Techniques such as Zardozi (think goldwork); Chikankari (type of whitework); and Phulkari (darning with floral and geometric motifs); Kantha (running stitch); shisha (mirrors).
You could also consider:
Saris, paisley patterns, block printing, tigers, ducks, peacocks, plantain trees
Stitches: satin, stem, back, herringbone, buttonhole, running, darning.
March: Japan
Nihon shishu, uses silk threads to create motifs inspired by nature, such as cherry blossoms, koi fish, and dragons.
Stitches: satin stitch, long and short stitch, French knots, running stitch.
Shashiko, Kogin, Boro, Nihon shishu
You could consider:
Anime & manga, cherry blossom, geisha, sushi, gardens, kimono, origami, samurai, wabi sabi, boro.
April: England
Where to start?! You could consider:
The Bayeux tapestry; Opus Anglicanum; floral motifs, heraldic symbols, scenes from nature. Lots of information on the internet.
Crewel work Blackwork
Stumpwork Try Bayeux stitch
May: Italy
You could consider:
Bargello, Assisi work (red & white void work), Reticello, Caslaguidi
Stitches: Catherine de Medici stitch (basically a double running stitch I think!); Palestrina, Parma and Sorbello stitches (all named after the towns they originated from);
Other things: Venetian masks & glass; Leonardo da Vinci; all things Roman; ice cream
June: Egypt
Think Coptic woven textiles as well as ancient Egypt.
Stitches: blanket stitch, chain stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, seed stitch, stem stitch, twisted chain stitch and couching.
Other things to consider:
pyramids, hieroglyphs, scarab beetles, Tutankhamun, cats, ibis.
July: Mexico
Stitches: cross, satin, running, chain, Otomi stitch (videos on YouTube, it’s a herringbone variation)
Bright colours, floral motifs, and symbolic representations of nature and folklore.
Other things to consider:
Day of the dead, Frida Kahlo, Aztec & Maya civilizations, chocolate, tree of life.
August: Norway
Hardanger (whitework): a drawn & counted thread technique Squares, rectangles, triangles, crosses, zig-zags, diamonds, 8 pointed star Stitches: Algerian eye, buttonhole, cable, picot, satin, running, wrapped bars.
Other things to consider: Traditional costume - Bunads, Vikings, runes, Northern lights, Munch
September: Morocco
Intricate patterns, geometric designs, floral motifs, and Arabic calligraphy.
Stitches: cross-stitch, satin stitch, running and double running stitch backstitch, chain stitch.
Other things:
Roses, ceramic tiles, the hand of Fatima, Berber carpets, lanterns.
October: Panama (An obscure one just to shake things up a bit!)
Chosen for Guna Mola, a type of multi layer reverse applique.
Animal and plant motifs in bright colours with simple embroidery.
There’s a good YouTube video explaining how to do this technique
http://tamarembroideries.co.uk.
Has a picture tutorial in her Stitch methods tab.
Or other Panama related things:
Harpy eagles, dove orchid, Wounaan & Embera traditional tattoos, devil masks 😬.
Panama has one of the highest concentrations of species on the planet - have a look at: www.crea-panama.org
November: Sweden
Huck embroidery on Huck fabric(? 🤔) Monks cloth (? 🤔) or Aida (! 😁), in other words fabric with warp & weft threads that ‘float’. This is a new one for me, so: huck embroidery weaves the thread through the fabric; no knots apparently and no stitches showing on the back.
Other things:
Vikings again! Northern lights again! Moose, lakes & forests, midsummer celebrations, reindeer, Sami duodji (traditional craft)
Dalmålning (Dala folk art especially the Dala horse)
December: Ireland
Mountmellick: white on white embroidery; motifs based on plants found around Mountmellick: blackberries, dog roses, shamrocks, oak and fern.
Stitches: cable, stem, herringbone, coral, chain, couching, French knots, bullion knots, Cretan, feather, fishbone, fly, cable, satin, seed, long & short and…the tricky Mountmellick:
You could also consider:
The Book of Kells, shamrocks, leprechauns, Newgrange, Giants Causeway, celtic knots, hares, green.
