Samples 2015: Week 11, England

 

Free machine embroidery on calico (hooped). Satin stitch and twisted cord edging.

 

Source picture

From this article in the Saturday Guardian 14/03/15:
"England’s uncertain future. Rescuing the English – what will become of England now that imperial Britishness has departed and global capitalism is eating the nation’s soul? Will it be discussed at all during the general election? It is time to retell the country’s story involving everyone, argues Paul Kingsnorth. And it’s time for the left to rediscover ‘Little England’.”

Detail from an illustration by Rob Pybus

Sample design
After playing with the old L-shaped cards for a while, I took a simple little square section and enlarged it. Colouring in with the needle was fun, but then came the edge…
 
I thought I’d try Linda Miller’s method of zigzagging over the unstitched calico edge onto a backing of “stabilising fabric”. Well. Maybe it wasn’t the right kind of stabiliser, or maybe it was just my incompetence, but it didn’t look good. And it looked even worse when I couldn’t get rid of all the little white whiskers of stabiliser. So I had to add a cord. Which I hand stitched on for fear of making things worse! Ah well, it’s only a sample. Moving on.