Embroidered letters…

So, I had this idea and I wasn’t sure if it would work, or if it was even possible with my level of skill.

I’ve made a few prototype porcelain pots that look like this…

See those recesses in the top? Well, the plan is to fill those with embroidery. Specifically embroidered writing.

You see, I’ve always had a thing for love letters. Not ones I’ve received because, well, I haven’t received any. And anyway when you don’t know the back story or what happened next, a love letter becomes a fantastic, romantic story in itself. Did they live happily ever after? What happened next?

Love letters from the war are beautiful things. They are a strange mixture of sentiment and everyday banality. As though they'd love to write more of the sentiment but they need to pretend that everything is normal, everything’s ok.

I’ve bought a few from a lovely man on Ebay. I got quite obsessed with one couple for a while and had him scouring through his amazing collection for any letters between them. I’ve got about 20 from Vera to Fred between 1942 and 1944. Here’s one of them:

You should be able to to click to make them bigger.

My plan is to have some of the more everyday lines from the letters embroidered on the lid of the box, but something more loving printed onto decal and fired to the inside of the pot, like a hidden message. Both will come from the same letter and I might even include a copy of the letter with the box.

What do you think? I have wanted to combine my textiley hobbies with my ceramics for quite a while but it needed the right project and this could be it.

I’ve ordered some water soluble stabiliser and scoured my stash for some nice fabrics to practice on (pics to come later this week…)

If you’d like to see any more of my work you can visit my website here: www.beccyridsdel.co.uk, or my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/beccyridsdel.

Well, some more letters just fell through the letterbox and they start “My darling treasure…”. Think I’m going to cry reading these.

Beccy

MIA…

So it turns out that lately I’ve been missing in action. I haven’t had time to do any sewing for weeks, and I’ve been far too tired for my normal evening knitting/crochet time.

So what have I been doing?

Looking longingly at my pile of potential, probably easy, refashions?

Yup.

Picking up my hook and promptly falling asleep?

Yup.

But mostly I’ve been making ceramics for my upcoming Open Studio. Yep, it’s that time of year again, where I work like a mad thing for weeks, spend days clearing out, re-arranging, displaying (and cleaning) the workshop, then throw open the doors and try not to look too worn out for a couple of weekends.

Here are a few things I’ve been working on.

Lots of little jugs – two firings down, two to go. I like to make things complicated (and time consuming!)

Some new things – I made nine of these today, gotta get a move on if I want to have enough to show, they are only a couple of inches across.

They are clear-glazed porcelain boxes and will eventually have some embroidery set into the top. I’m going to get to do some sewing again! Very exciting.

Lots still to do though – I’ve got to actually do the embroidery (free-motion foot to the rescue!), have some decals made, actually finish something so I can take photos for postcards. Oh, and make enough work to have something to sell – and all before the middle of April. Lawks, think it might be a bit quiet around here for a bit.

If you’d like to see any of my finished work, you can pop by www.beccyridsdel.co.uk.

Beccy