Silver Birch Bark

One of the prettiest barks is that of the silver birch. It is almost white and has little black lines often with lozenge shaped patches. The more you look at these patterns the more colours you can see.

Across Russia they have whole forests of birch that stretch for miles and miles.

I decided that my next weaving would try and capture the patterns, textures and colours of birch bark.
Below are some photographs of birch bark I took locally.

In my weaving I attempted to show the colours, patterns and texture of the bark.

Leprechaun Leapabouts

This month at our embroiderers meeting we were given a pattern for leprechaun shoes. 

We could modify and decorate the shoes any way we wanted and bring them back to the December Meeting completed.

I chose some green material with flowers that I painted gold and then embroidered them with gold thread

 The basic shoe pieces were cut out and the points at the back and front were elongated. Loose french knots were made over the pattern.

 Perle thread was zig-zagged around the edges and over the surface to add interest.

 The front seams were  joined so the top edge could be decorated.

Leaves were cut out in orange felt and stitched to the top of the shoes.

The back seam and soles were attached and edges embellished with beads.

Orange cones were attached to the toes and decorated with bells.

Orange and green leaves were embroidered by machine over a sheer and applied to a cord attached to the back of the shoe.

The completed shoes worthy of a leprechaun!