I thought it might be interesting to do just a short post about miniature embroidery. I've always enjoyed embroidery, and when I began to make miniatures, a quarter century ago now, naturally I wanted to use this craft in my miniature settings also. I learned to do needlepoint in Grade 2, at an all-girls' school in The Netherlands taught by nuns. We began knitting in Grade 1, making underwear and then a dress for our dolls, and the next year embroidery was introduced.
The three little Serendipity rugs or mats I made recently were made without a pattern, i.e. I just used left-over threads and created the "design" as I went along. This is a rapid way of making miniature mats, rugs or carpets. However, working a complex design from a pattern is a whole another story!
This is a miniature version of an actual Persian carpet, from the Mazlaghan region, near the city of Hamadan in western Iran. It is a twentieth century design, so not antique. I've always loved the colours in this rug, which you also see in the RAF tartan; light slate blue, dark red, light grey and navy blue, with small accents of a mid-brown colour. The pattern comes from a book by Meik and Ian McNaughton, entitled Making Miniature Oriental Rugs & Carpets (Guild of Master Craftsman Publication Ltd. in 1998.)
I began this rug on Friday; it is now early Sunday evening, and as you can see, I haven't really got a lot done. The rug will measure 6 1/4 x 4" (162 x 99 mm) when finished, worked with two strands of cotton floss on 24 ct. canvas, that is, 676 sts per square inch. And I learned something when I started this; the graph in the book is not that large, and I was seeing double; therefore, I decided to head into town on Saturday to get an enlarged photocopy made. However, I am still seeing double.
I need to get new glasses, again; I went from being nearsighted, a couple of years ago, to becoming far-sighted, but now my prescription is not working. I realize that print has become blurry, as has the type on the computer. So tomorrow I'll make an appointment with my optometrist. In the meantime, I can work for an hour or so before the blurriness gets bad. As I love this little rug, I will get it finished!
Until I get the wood for the stairs in my wooden shoe factory, that project is at a temporary stand-still; there was none in the right size to be had in town, but I will try again this coming week.
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