Project a Month: Monogram on Cork Fabric

This project is one from the archives - let's travel way, way back to October 2017 - I had just been happily married and was busy working at a project that ultimately didn't see the light of day. It was a seasonal monogram, stitched on DMC gold flecked cork fabric, with DMC perle cotton.

The season was winter, and the letter was "D" simply because I'd stitched A for Spring, B for Summer, and C for Fall - the letter meant nothing to me personally.

I was happier than I'd ever been, married to the man of my dreams, the one I thought would never arrive, and we were just settling into our new life and new apartment together.

That is why, in this photo you see nothing hanging on the walls, things in quiet disarray, as if recently unpacked. I'd just gotten a shiny new desk, all white, and set to work on this project.

I might have never found these photos again, had I not been looking for photos of my sweet cat Dot, after she passed away in October.

All at once, the quiet, happy scene came back to me, and these photos were a time capsule of calm and our beautiful happiness before the storm set in - before either of us were sick and I stitched, and Dot supervised me from her sunlit slumber on our bed - she lay just where she could see me stitching.

I pulled out the project as I was grieving for Dot, and found it languishing in my bin of unfinished business, and all at once I saw the letter "D." D for Dot.

What this project meant to me is this - there is so much beauty in what is happening in this very moment, right now. All around us are lights and treasures, and beauty to be taken in and seen.

We never realize how lucky we are until we have these moments to look back and discern our utter blessedness.

From Viana with love and cork

Olá! Today I'm continuing from last week's post showing the incredible work of Teresa, from Artesaté, that recreates the Portuguese traditional embroidery of Viana do Castelo, from the Minho region.

Tradition says that the embroiderer must use a cotton thread in blue, white and red. And Teresa uses blue, white and red... but the shining of Viana's jewelry inspired her to use gold, too..

Tradition says that the embroiderer must use cotton and linen fabrics... but the need of modernizing her work inspired Teresa to use felt and, lately, cork fabric, too...

Tradition says that the embroiderer must use hearts, japoneiras, oak leaves and clover leaves as motifs (among others)... but lately the embroiderers have forgotten the leaves... and Teresa, inspired by her wish of being faithful to the genuineness of Viana's embroidery and her permanent desire of knowing more and more, recovered the clover and oak leaves in her stitching, too.

Blue, red and white, the most traditional colors in Viana do Castelo Embroidery.

Teresa argues that the impressive presence of gold jewelry in her home city, Viana do Castelo, was the main influence on her choice of using metallic threads in her embroidery.

Born 100 years ago, the "modern" Embroidery of Viana do Castelo, suited for home linen, is now subject to a certification process that requires the respect of some rules which dictate the non use of golden thread. However, more than 100 years ago, the embroidery tradition was deeply rooted in this region, with a widespread use of wool yarn to embellish women's costumes: skirts, pouches and waistcoats. As you may confirm if you follow the links, this embroidery was profuse in the use of color, including metallic threads. Today these threads are not common, with the exception of their use in embroidered boxes, very popular in Viana do Castelo.

In gold, inspired by the rich jewelry.

The choice of the clover and oak leaves as well as the use of cork are the latest innovations in Teresa's work. And the photos I bring are very recent...

In the traditional embroidery from Viana do Castelo, clovers were popular patterns. Seventy or eighty years ago there were three and four-leaf clovers and their size varied greatly, but nowadays the clovers are rare and very small. In the past, the patterns inspired by nature were stylized by the embroiderers from the Minho region. Driven by emotion, while creating a clover, the embroiderer could not resist to draw it by the joining of three or more hearts, reinventing once and again the love pattern. And that's what we find on the last embroidered heart by Artesaté, that uses this lately recovered motif and the blue from Viana's ocean.

At the top the three-leaf clover, joining three hearts

It may sound unexpected but Teresa feels that Viana's embroidery and cork, being both famous symbols of Portugal, make a unique combination of textures and colors. It's natural that her words about the joy of embroidering on cork fabric may be overstated due to the excitement of a new love, but still they are worth being translated:

"It's a slow job that needs more attention. Stitches must be perfect at the first attempt, there is no space for errors once if you need to undo your stitching the cork fabric will be damaged. But the final work is special, more perfect, of a smoother texture to the touch and more rustic in appearance, which fits in perfectly with the tradition that I intend to transmit. The smell of cork fabric is one of the things that pleases and fascinates me the most, it spreads through the office making me feel that I'm working with nature and tradition."

In white, like tradition dictates... And recovering the oak leaf (at the top) forgotten in recent years.

Knowing how Teresa works, I'm already curious to see where this unique combination of tradition, innovation and love for Viana will take her...

Christmas Star...

Olá! Passing by only to wish that the Christmas Star guides you, as it did with the Three Magi, to the true light...

I bring you a beautiful star embroidered by my dear friend Inês and the words of a Portuguese poetess, Sophia de Mello Breyner...

Inês embroidered on burel and cork fabric, our great traditional Portuguese materials. I'm amazed with her work because she didn't use a pattern to embroider, only the one she has in her head and her heart...

'It was as if the brightness of a star had approached the Earth. It was Christmas" 

Sophia de Mello Breyner

Feliz Natal!

Celebrating St. Martin

Olá! Today I decided that next Saturday I'll participate in a craft show. I had nothing prepared and I needed to think of a very, very simple project inspired by the craft show theme: chestnuts... Yes... Chestnuts...

November is the month of the chestnut in Portugal. We celebrate St. Martin's Day preparing a magusto festivity. In that day you will find us eating roasted chestnuts and drinking água pé -(literal translation is "foot water") - a traditional and very mild alcoholic drink.

All this is stated by a a typical Portuguese saying:
É dia de São Martinho;
comem-se castanhas, prova-se o vinho.
(It is St. Martin's Day,
we'll eat chestnuts, we'll taste the wine.)

We will celebrate St Martin's day next 11th November and, as always, we expect very shinny days!! At that time the weather is always different from the other Autumn days... Very good and warm. That's why we call this period Verão de S. Martinho - St. Martin's Summer. The legend tells that on a very cold and rainy day Martin, a Roman soldier, cut off half of his cloak and offered one part to a beggar that was dying of the cold. Then the sun begun shinning, by God's intervention, and Martin was able to return home safely. All our children learn this legend at school!!

So... I needed a very easy project that could be made by someone that does not know how to embroider... Trying to find out what to do, I took a look at my working surface and I found my favorite materials: burel (a Portuguese felted wool) and cork. With them I knew I could create a chestnut!!! And the next step was, as I usually do, trying to find a simple pattern. As my drawing skills are terrible, usually I google images using words like "chestnut coloring"... And I always find very simple drawings that children use to color... Of course, in the end, I never make like the pattern I found, but  for me it is a very powerful inspiration source!!

So I had the materials and the pattern...

Portuguese materials: cork fabric and burel

And decided to make a coaster using the chestnut pattern and Portuguese materials. But I made a mistake (not for the first time...) and it ended up very small... What a pity!! Next time I will make beautiful coasters to decorate my S. Martinho's table!!

100% Portuguese chestnut

So, I had to think of something else... And I remembered of making something to decorate the table, maybe we can call it a centerpiece...

Using the same materials, I applied the chestnut into a burel piece and with a very thin cork strip I created a simple finishing all around.

Chestnut inspiration!!

It's not perfect but I believe it will be a good project for someone that does not know how to embroider and is not familiar with these materials... But I confess I would still prefer the chestnut coaster...

Did you know that these two colors of burel only use the natural colors of wool, no dying materials?

Back to origins...

Olá! Here in Portugal the weather is changing. The first days of Autumn brought us the rain... And working with wool yarn feels good again.

I'm really addicted to embroidery using cork fabric. Not only do I love the final look - vibrant colors make a beautiful contrast on the natural cork color - but I also enjoy the stitching a lot. I bring you a project that begun being a key ring and ended as a bag accessory... I've adapted a pattern from the book "Traditional Embroidery of Portugal". It was a very small pattern from Azores embroidery where small motifs predominate. I've augmented it many and many times, ending with a very different pattern. But the inspiration is still there...

The same motif - vey small and very big... 

Usually I use tracing paper to embroider on cork, as I explained in another post and this time I chose wool yarn. It's not easy to have the motif traced on cork...

Here you have the final result... Very beautiful to make a unique bag from a very simple one...

Cork fabric is an incredible material! Maybe an unlikely embroidery supply... But as far as I read, leather and leafs were the first "embroidery" supplies in the History of mankind... Maybe this is part of a "back to origins" movement :)

Book cover tutorial with Portuguese soul

Olá! As asked by some of you, here you have a tutorial on how I make my book covers! Never forget that I only use Portuguese materials... So try your best to find some materials similar to these.

Making a book cover in burel or in cork skin (cork leather or cork fabric) is very simple ... Burel and cork skin, 100% Portuguese, are very beautiful and easy to work with because there is no need to finish edges since they won't unravel. This is very important, make sure you’ll use a fabric like these, so no sewing is needed!!!

You should start by defining the size of the cover. From my “reviews” I found that the best dimensions are 34cm (13 1/3”) wide if you measure the cover when open and 24cm (9 1/2”) height. I tried many books and almost all fit this size. But maybe in other countries publishers use different book dimensions…

I advise you not only to see the photos but also click the links, they will help you and show you different solutions...

Everything you need to make your book cover

What will you need:
- a piece of fabric that does not unravel of 50cm (20”) wide by 24cm (9 1/2”) height;
- two more pieces of fabric that does not unravel: one piece of 11cm (4 1/3”) squared and another of 11cm by 8cm (3 1/7”) (if you are working with inches, you may try to find a similar size easier to measure…)
- 50 cm (20”) of suede cord (or another type, as you prefer);
- a needle;
- wool thread or cotton floss, depending on the fabric you’ll be using;
- tracing paper and a pattern;
- a pair of scissors with sharp points.

And that’s all!! Let’s begin…

1. Fold over the two outer edges of burel or cork skin to the required size and baste (two or three stitches will be enough) the four corners of the book cover, making two side pockets.

Fold over two outer edges to the required size

2. Use blanket stitch to hold the outer edges and to finish the whole cover. Instead of blanket stitch sometimes I use whipped running stitch and I believe that running stitch would be great, too.

Use blanket stitch to finish the whole cover and hold the outer edges.

3. Use the square piece of fabric to embroider a motif that will decorate your book cover. With this kind of fabrics transferring the motif it’s never the easiest part… I use tracing paper with the pattern and I hold paper and fabric together embroidering through both. Believe me it works better than you would think! At least, if you keep your patterns simple. I’ve already shown some photos in a previous post…

After embroidering the motif you must centre it on the front of the cover and use an appropriate stitch, like blanket stitch, running stitch or back stitch, to attach it to the cover. You can use the fabric without embroidering it, too. If you left the top open, you’ll have a pocket in your cover!!

An embroidered cork fabric book cover.

4. Your book cover could be ready to go, but I love to add a book marker to it. Use the small piece of fabric left and choose a shape to your bookmark. You can embroider it or keep it simple… In order to finish the book marker, you must perforate the top of the book marker with a sharp-pointed scissors. Or, even more simple, punch holes at the top and bottom with a hole punch.  Then pass the two ends of the suede through the hole and, if necessary, pull them with the tip of the needle. Tie a knot with the two ends together to hold the cord to the piece of fabric. On the other side you will attach the suede cord to the book cover. Fold the cover in half and choose a point at the top to make a small hole with the scissors.

Perforating the book cover to attach the book marker.

Tie a knot so that the marker is secured to the cover as in the photo.

Attaching the book marker.

Your book cover is finished! These is a very simple way of doing it but the possibilities are almost infinite... They will depend on the fabrics, the threads, the colors... And, above all, it will depend on your imagination...

I love this book cover made of burel...

"Burel" and cork, beautiful together...

I believe that when you are working with great materials, like burel and cork, they should be the stars and keeping it simple is always the best choice to make… Look here  and here to look at an even simpler way of doing it - a "four stitches" book cover... More simple is not possible!

You already know these words in Portuguese, but I don't mind repeating them... "Cortiça" for cork and "burel" - no translation available :)