Sarah Lechner - Embroidery Workshops * Austria * September-October 2015

Austria is one of my favourite places and Sarah Lechner's studio where you will stitch is just off the main Salzburg to Vienna railway line with free pickups included in course costs.

This is a lovely opportunity to learn new needlework and textile skills with a great practitioner. Courses are for two days and cost €350 including simple B&B accommodation on Sarah's farm - two courses back to back cost €650. The exchange rate for the Euro is the best it has been for years - what is to stop you?

Click here for more details in English, French, German and Spanish.

2 Embroidery Frames Free to Good Homes - Glasgow Area

Janice in Glasgow has 2 embroidery frames both in good condition that she is happy to give to an appreciative embroiderer if you can collect. The standing frame above is dismantled for ease of storage but has all the components and is easily rebuilt. It measures 77cm high at the side leg height, the frame is 75 cm x 42 cms. The total height when built is around 1 metre. The hand held frame below measures 28cm x 75 cm. Just click on the angel below to contact Janice direct.

SOLD 3 Cotton Mouchoirs from Musée Etoffes Mulhouse * £8 €18 $30 Shipping Included

I fell in love with the Musée de l'Impression sur Etoffes in Mulhouse - do visit if you are going to see the DMC factory.

I grabbed these pretty cotton mouchoirs as a light souvenir of the old printed cottons to take home in a very heavy bag

and I have them still in their new condition - I have opened the box simply to scan them for you. Each one is about 12" square (30cm square)

and they are accompanied by a little explanatory leaflet in French, English and German

SOLD 1914-1915 Journal of Manchester Municipal School of Technology Textile Society * £16 €40 $72 Shipping Included

Over 100 years' old, this full sized softback journal of over 100 pages is, apart from its cover, in very good condition.

The style of the time is still reflecting the Arts & Crafts movement though this is definitely a journal of technology from the commencement of the First World War.

There is always a poignancy in hindsight, since one of the articles talks optimistically about plans for after the war (they thought then it would be a short war.... ) without ever imagining for one moment that millions of workers would be killed by the war and the Spanish flu pandemic that followed in its train.

There is actually one colour page in the journal showing designs for printed cotton.

The several articles are very interesting documents and are good reads with many facts I hadn't come across before.

The article on the cotton print is particular fascinating, postulating that early print designs were from Persia.

Here you can see some other articles looking at the Labour Problem - they had no inkling of the millions that would be killed in the war and the enormous challenges that would pose for labour in the industry - that was still all the future...

There are about 60 pages of articles - but equally of interest are the wonderful graphic advertisements at the beginning and end of the journal

yes, I really love bobbins and spindles and all the pictures of the mills now long gone.... aah.

Pack of 5 Sampler Greetings Cards - Blank Inside * £8 €18 $30 Shipping Included

I have just found this pack of unused cards and envelopes and thought someone might like them. The sampler is professionally photographed and the image is very clear. The size of the card is 6" x 8" - 15cm x 20cm. If you would like these 5 cards and envelopes and can pay via PayPal simply click on the flying angel below. The price includes shipping to wherever you are.

Chiara Vigo - The Last Weaver of Marine Silk

If the ancients went in search of the golden fleece then it was to find the precious beard of the shellfish Pinna Nobilis

When cleaned and combed these filaments (used by the shellfish to anchor it on rocks) provided the expensive golden thread used for weaving and embroidery.

One woman now, Chiara Vigo in Sardinia, takes up the shuttle from her grandmother to keep this mystery alive - you can see her on Facebook

and watch the You Tube clip below to see her work from collecting the fibres, through carding and spinning, then watch her weave the ultimate cloth. This work she has dedicated as an altar cloth.

Visit the Micheál and Elizabeth Needlework Collection at their Fabulous Cotswold Manor House this Summer

This summer the world-renowned needlework collectors, Micheál and Elizabeth Feller, will open their idyllic Cotswold manor house to welcome lovers of fine needlework and samplers.

If you would like to arrange a group visit of between 15-20 guests to study the stunning Micheál and Elizabeth Needlework Collection then contact us and we'll work with you to tailor a bespoke visit.

Group guests will enjoy a guided tour of the collection and refreshments for a per person fee of £20.

Do come and experience England at its loveliest and needlework at its finest with Micheál and Elizabeth Feller as your hosts. For more information and help click on the embroidered panel below - we are looking forward to greeting you.

SOLD Textile Society Journal Volume 39 - As New - £12 €30 $60 Shipping Included (Australia and New Zealand $65)

I have literally just found this journal at the bottom of a file of papers and taken off its cellophane wrapper to scan it. Its 104 pages are pristine.

This was a truly excellent edition of the journal with masses of historic needlework and textile interest.

I have just scanned the title pages of the articles - which don't have the best images - for you to see what is in there - it is colour image packed - but these are seriously researched articles

by very well regarded authors such as Mary Brooks writing on changing views of 17th century embroideries. Joan Kendall on the fabulous Hatfield House tapestries

Nicola Bowe on the embroidered sodality banners of Ireland

Jacqui Hyman on early Mamluk textiles

an article on the Rachel B Kay-Shuttleworth collection at Gawthorpe Hall

William Morris textiles

the vast collection of cloth samples held in the Board of Trade Archives

as well as book reviews - of the Feller Needlework Collection and Silk samples from Ireland. The entire journal is rich pudding indeed for textile lovers... pace yourself!

SOLD Proof Unbound Copy of The Feller Needlework Collection I * £22 €55 $90 Shipping Included

I have also uncovered the photo prrofs for Volume 1 of the Feller Needlework Collection - maybe someone would like them.

This is the same size with the same content on the same paper as the published book and is in pristine condition and there is the charted pattern too

but maybe if you would like the pages loose to arrange as you would like, then this is your opportunity

also if you would love some of those nice images for framing then you won't feel as bad as if you were to destroy a bound book. Needless to say there is only one of these!

Proof Unbound Copy of The Feller Needlework Collection II * £42 €75 $130 Shipping Included

I rediscovered my proof set of pages for Volume 2 and thought someone might like them.

This is the same size with the same content on the same paper as the published book and is in pristine condition

There are the charted patterns too

but maybe if you would like the pages loose to arrange as you would like, then this is your opportunity

also if you would love some of those nice images for framing then you won't feel as bad as if you were to destroy a bound book

Needless to say there is only one of these!

If you would like this item and can pay via PayPal simply click on the flying angel below. The price includes shipping to wherever you are.