The Bluebird online workshop
Last year we hosted a series of creative workshops in our London studio. As this isn’t possible this season in the UK we thought we would open up this opportunity to everyone and host our workshop online. So where ever you are in the world, whether you are isolating, self-distancing, or coming out the other end. Join us in creating something beautiful for yourself ..or a loved one!
For Spring Summer 2020 we look at the story of the Blue Bird, the story encourages people to look at their surroundin with the realisation that happiness is the everyday. Nurturing your creativity at times like these is important, so join us now in creating your personalised embroidery Bluebird.
Embroidery is good for the brain, its creative, in-expensive and it helps to release unwanted stress. We have created a Bluebird template for you to get started, as well as an alphabet of letters that will allow you to be able to personalise your embroidery and get creative. We would love to see how you interpret our workshop, for a chance to win a SS20 Bluebird scarf. You can tag us with your designs on instagram #renlisugirl we will announce the winners on the 1st of June 2020 so you have plenty of time to perfect your technique and get experimental!
What you will need:
- Coloured embroidery threads
- Embroidery needle
- Embroidery hoop
- Embroidery pen (optional) / Pencil
- A source of light, lightbox, or window & sun
Step one- Deciding on what to embroider.
A hard decision.. Embroidery can be beautiful within shitting, on shirt collars and cuffs, or the chest.. traditionally on linen you could embroider a pillowcase for a friend or a tea towel if you aren't feeling confident! I would suggest if this is your first time, to start with, a scrap piece of fabric for you to test the different techniques and see what works best for you. A tight weave is better, however, you can experiment.
Step two- Creating your design
When creating your design, you can use the template provided above, or you can choose to personalise your design with your own initials.. and more! I have put together a selection of inspirational images to help you. Remember, Renli’s drawing style is very romantic with winged curled lines and a playful aesthetic.
Once you have drawn out your design its best to go over it with a dark black pen, you will then need some light to be able to trace your design. You can do this by pinning your paper underneath your fabric and using a lightbox, or by holding these to the window. You will see that now your design is visible through the fabric, trace the design with a magic embroidery pen or use a pencil if you don’t have one of these to hand. I found by the time I had finished, as long as I followed the lines carefully, by the end the pencil wasn’t visible. If it is, you can gently wash your design when its finished and the pencil lines should disappear.
Step 3- We begin!
For our Bluebird embroidery monogram you will need to use 3 basic stitches. I will now go through each of these stitches. To start each stitch you will need to cut yourself a long strand of embroidery thread, knot the end with a single knot, then cut off any remaining thread.
Back stitch- Outline of initials 'RS'
A Back Stitch is a simple outline stitch. Bring your thread in from the back at point A. Insert your needle from the top, just below your previous stitch at point B. Bring your needle back up to the front at point C, leaving room for an additional stitch.
Running stitch- Feet
For this stitch you simply run the needle in and out of the fabric at even points to give you a broken line of embroidery. For the feet I took away 2 yarns of the thickness of the thread. You can do this with any of the sticthes to adapt the width of the stitch. By doing this it allows the feet to be thin and delicate.
Split stitch- Bluebird body
Bring the thread up through the fabric and make a stitch. Bring the thread back up through the middle of that previous stitch, splitting it just before the end.
Back stitch- Beak and eyes.
For the finishing touches we can revert back to our first style of stitch, the back stitch. However this time we will make the stiteh line finer by taking away 2 yarns with in the thread to make the stitch more delicate. Stitch
Complete! Now you know your stitches, it’s time to get experimental. This is the perfect time for you to stitch all your loved ones their birthday presents for the next 10 years! Remember, for a chance to win yourself a SS20 Bluebird searf you can tag us on Instagram #renlisugirl
Enjoy!
Renli Su team
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Renli Su Bluebird workshop
By Nina Scott-Smith