Welcome to the last in this series of #institchescreative2020 blogs for the moment. As lockdown is gradually being eased, we feel the time is right to concentrate on new courses and workshops so that we are ready to go when we are at last able to open the studio again. If, (Heaven forbid!), that time never comes, or for those people who may still be unable to attend a physical course, we want to spend some time working out what other types of workshop we could offer.

Above all we want to be able to continue to bring you all inspiring things in the future…watch this space for news of tutorials, courses and workshops and other exciting things coming your way soon.

Thank you to everyone who has worked along with us and left comments and images of your own creations. It really means a lot to us.

Meanwhile, read on for part two of the little books blog....

Sometimes it's really hard to resist a skein of beautiful thread, even when you know you can't possibly thread it through the eye of a needle never mind pull it through the cloth,  so in this week's blog we are going to explore couching and find out how you can use beautiful but too-thick-to-stitch-with threads.

We've had a busy week getting the online shop organised (more later...) with not a lot of time for creativity. So here's a really quick and easy idea to help you make the most of every opportunity and record more about what you see on your regular walk. Wherever that may be - your garden, city streets, your local park or woodland, lakeside, canal or coast.  

When I go for walks I often take a sketchbook with me so that I can jot down visual notes about what I see and experience. If I’m on my own I might have time to do a detailed sketch, 

​but often in the past I’ve been with someone else or it might be cold so the notes can be quite --- well, sketchy. 

They might include a rough sketch, notes about colour (I’ve usually only got a fairly indestructible biro or fine-line pen with me), sounds, lists and anything else I have observed or how I feel. ​Sometimes I add colour once I'm back at home.

It's still pretty weird out there in the big wide world, but at least when we are in the studio we are surrounded by the familiar and the colourful.   The studio may be student less at the moment but it's still a hive of activity as we busily wind, dye, process and label miles and miles of threads!

As we mentioned last week we have taken the bull by the horns/ risen to the lockdown challenge/gone where the angels fear to tread....take your pick!  and have finally stopped prevaricating and decided that now was the time was right to open an online shop.  After all if you can't come to us at the moment then we shall have come to you!

Hold on!

Before you stop reading and rush, clutching your credit card in hand, to find the shop link you will have to wait just a teeny weeny little longer - we had no idea how much time and effort it would take to set up.  Fingers crossed all will be ready for a launch sometime next week!   

Until then,  get yourself a nice cup of tea, pick up your stitching and join me as we explore blanket stitch.

Welcome to our now weekly #institchescreative2020 blog. We are still planning to alternate paper and stitch, so this week is a quick paper-based project. Meanwhile exciting things are happening behind the scenes in the studio: we’ve been dyeing threads and, as Hazel mentioned last week, learning how to set up an online shop so we can bring them  direct to you in your sewing room. 

​Negative space drawing
I realise this sounds technical, and indeed this exercise is often done by serious artists wanting to learn how to make better drawings, but today we are just going to use it as a different way of drawing. You may remember that I told you about our brains’ shorthand back in April when we were drawing without looking: 

​Well, this is another exercise in looking. This time we are trying to shut the analytical side of our brain up by confusing it. We are not attempting to draw an object that the left side of the brain can classify and describe, so it cannot take over and stop us from seeing what is really there. Instead we are trying to draw the spaces around that object, and if we want, with practice that can make us better at drawing complex things accurately.
Or we can just ignore all that, have fun and have a go at drawing voided shapes to fill with detail or pattern later.

If you follow InStitches on either Instagram or Facebook you will have seen a recent post about my 10 year old niece Isla.  Along with many of the world's children, Isla and her two sisters are in lockdown.  So, no school, no meeting up and playing with friends, no visiting their beloved grandparents, Auntie (me!!) or cousins.  ​

I often forward her the Terry's paper blogs and she in turn WhatsApp's her creations back.  Here's what she said about this week's one on spirals:

I did one of the exercises on your website, but I did it with my eyes closed and listening to music!  Thank you so much, it really relaxed and calmed me!  I picked random colours, and it actually turned out alright!

Children are resilient and adaptable but looking after their mental health is just as important as looking after ours.   We hope over the last 6 weeks we have managed to bring a spark of creative joy and that you have been able to take a moment to stop, slow down and make time to appreciate the smaller pleasures in life.  

​So, settle down, pull out your stitching basket, pick up your needle and thread and come fly away with me...

I have a thing about spirals; I’ve been collecting spiral images for as long as I can remember, many of them in a sketchbook dating back to 2002, but for far longer than that: ammonites, periwinkles, new ferns, wrought iron gates, staircases, fractals....

The inspiration for this week's stitch comes from the beautiful dense and precise chain stitch embroidery of Gujarat.  A small handmade wool rug covered in chainstitch crewel from Liberty's of London (hence the smallness!) was one of the first things I bought for my first home.  It was covered in a flowing pattern of  flowers and birds all worked in chain stitch using a jewel palette of coloured wools.

The V&A collection contains many examples of this type of work, including a beautiful padded and heavily stitched hunting coat, from  17th Century India (click the links and scroll down to see it).  At India's Mughal court (early 16th - mid 19th century) the professional male embroiderers were famous for their use of an extremely precise repeat chain stitch form of embroidery known as Ari work.  It is also sometimes referred to as tambour (from the French word for drum because the ground fabric is stretched tightly across a frame or hoop needed for the regular chain stitch).   The tambour stitch is stitched with a specialist hook called an 'ari', which is similar to a crochet hook.  

Well this week we were going to be drawing spirals but that’s going to have to wait till next week now because today I have decided to take advantage of all this beautiful sunshine we’ve been having in the south of the UK and explore drawing shadows instead. 

​As I have been on my (OK, not quite daily) early morning walks around Fleet Pond I have noticed the shadows and dappled shade being cast by the newly emerging leaves and wondered how I could use those creatively. I’m always tempted to take loads of photos, but in reality my photos often just reside on my phone/PC and this is only the first step towards being creative. I was looking for a more immediate way of recording my surroundings, so today I decided to take some basic tools with me and get stuck in.  

​The technique I chose is shadow-drawing, which is a simple way of recording the shapes or outlines of objects on the page. It has to be said that it is much easier to do on a still day or indoors if it’s as windy with you as it was here this morning. Indeed, you can do this anywhere as long as you have a good source of light and something to draw that has an interesting shape.

​But its a great technique to save for a sunny day so you can benefit from that extra sunny feel-good factor. 

No, you haven't just found your way onto the Gardeners' World blog, it's just that, with all the sunny weather we've been having here in the UK, I've been spending rather a lot of time out in the garden these last few days.  ​

Now, more than ever, I'm thankful to have an outdoor space of my own; with life so locked down it's become a place of sanctuary - and constant work! Daylight hours are growing longer and longer so I can be out there for hours, especially since this week I decided to paint all my fences; however after spending 10 hours already today and  not even half way round I'm wondering why I ever thought  it was a good idea!

Come the evening, though I feel exhausted,  I still enjoy sitting down and picking up my hand stitching.  The rhythmical movement of the needle and thread through cloth is soothing and calming; in these uncertain times it's just what I need.