Isobel's bands from Italy and Japanese Embroidery

 Sometime when I am working on a piece, it goes more slowly than I want it to. I am enjoying the process of stitching and need to be patient with the rate of growth. This is one of two bands of Reticella that I am doing. For some reason Reticella has never been my favorite embroidery technique. My friend Diane Clements was a master of Reticella and she talked me into doing Reticella several times and now I am so glad that I did. Using 17th century patterns to design my own bands has been fun but a real challenge. I have also used some techniques from books that I bought in Italy. It is growing and I am pleased with the way that it is looking. It will look so much better when I can take off the paper pattern and finish off all of the stray threads.

I have been working my way through the steps of Japanese Embroidery very slowly. I work on it an hour a day when I can. The braid changes from purple to green and finally to orange and will end up with gold thread embroidered on top of the silk. I have been busy putting in the base threads for the cloud areas of the fan and the pine trees. The orange threads are twisted and ready to stitch.

Isobel Lyon reticella band

I just finished this band on my Isobel Lyon sampler. Reticella is not my favorite form of needlework but I bought some fun books in Italy when I went to Burano  to the lace museum. I used  a couple of the reticella techniques in this band.  I like that way that it turned out and it certainly gave me plenty of repeats so that I could practice and get better.
I am really having fun working on creating my version of a 17th century whitework band sampler.

I have discovered that this white on white embroidery attracts almost like a magnet every stray red or dark colored fiber floating in the room . I learned to keep a pair of very fine tweezers handy to pluck off those pesky little colored fibers as they got stitched into the work.

I am about three-quarters of the way finished but have a couple of really open reticella areas at the bottom that are going to be a challenge.