Fabric experiment for Schwalm whitework

Hi everyone,
Iam back after a short break. The past couple of weeks were spent with very little or no stitching at all. I did try to proceed further with my Schwalm embroidery piece with not much success.

Today, I decided to come out my holiday hangover and I signed into blogger .And what do I see? - 120 spam comments - all of them have targeted some specific posts .What I don't understand is - does "Free embroidery pattern resources" mean something else around the world? And why do the Chinese especially love Beaded Kamal Kadai? Is it my fault that Laid work is called so? Sigh!!! Anyways,blogger is at least filtering the spam to some extent.That's a relief.

So,what was I supposed to share with you today?

Oh,yes, my search to find a suitable fabric for white work. The linen I am using for Schwalm was purchased along with the Luzine's book "Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework".
It is called Weddigen Linen and is pricey. Linen with different counts is not easily available here.And if in case you manage to find a place that sells one,it is priced very high. So I was looking around for a cheaper option and found one. Before I tell you what it is, let me show the trial run on it.

How does it look? Not bad I suppose. The cloth is known as "Thorthu" here in South India. It is a thin white cotton towel commonly used as a bath towel by almost everyone in Kerala and Tamilnadu. The warp and weft can be clearly seen ,right? This is what prompted me to attempt one sample on it. The fabric is 11 count .So if you are keen on trying Schwalm and don't want to spend too much on linen you can try this.

The towel with me was an old one and quite shabby. As it was just an experiment I didn't bother to get a new one. Luzine recommends that Schwalm should be stitched on an unwashed new piece of fabric. May be a good quality new towel would work out to be better for learning and for samplers and it is affordable too.
Jute cloth is another option. I need to try that too. Cotton towel for Schwalm sounds a little unusual and my daughter too voiced her opinion when she saw my trial -"maa why are you stitching on a thorthu, hee,hee" . DH has not yet returned from work and so before he discovers the towel and exclaims that I've gone bonkers,let me hide it.

Iam off,
Love,luck and sunshine,
Deepa


Comments

  1. no wonder deepa...that's a great choice..i got some good quality thorthu from kerala this time just to try cross stitch on and to use as towel...it's kind of running material..not the usual thorthu with red or blue lines..I got it from parthas Ernakulam..I'll blog about it ones i do something on that...The weave is more closer than the ordinary thorthu...

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  2. I forgot to mention one more thing..during my grandmom's time , they use this thorthu as waste canvas to do cross stitch on pillowcases...it's easy to remove after stitching..

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  3. Hi Deepa!

    I think this is a great find!

    Do you know if Luzine has already a website??

    Hoping you had a pleasant break and wishing a great new year 2011 with peace and health to you and your Family

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  4. Deepa... sorry to hear about your spam issues.... I think you found a great fabric to use... personally, I think that any fabric that works to suit the task is hand is fair game to use... I often use whatever I have if it can carry the stitch and meets with my overall goal... and nowadays, anything goes, after all, we are the artist... hugs!

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  5. how beautiful your trial is.
    happy new year, Deepa!

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  6. I like the thorthu idea and your drawn work looks lovely

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  7. I liked your idea of using thorthu is grate and i agree with Heather's comment that one should try with the material available if it can carry stitches well. Your drawn works looks great. Would love to learn from you.

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  8. Hi Deepa,

    Nice alternative for trying Schwalm Embroidery. I have asked my sister to buy some linen materials of different counts from UK. Now after reading your post, I am eager to try this kind of embroidery from the materials available here. I am just like you. Always like to experiment. But you have got great ideas. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. sorry about the spammers, but i found the post hilarious.old,white work and shabby might get you more :)
    i was thinking if you need linen fabric let me know i can get you some over here.

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  10. Hello,Deepa! I'm from Brazil. Invited me to visit your blog and loved it. I also love embroidery. And I invite you to visit me: http://alcastrosantos.blogspot.com
    It will be a pleasure to receive it. Hugs, Algecira
    I am using a translator: http://translate.google.com.br

    Olá, Deepa! sou do Brasil. Me convidaram a visitar seu Blog e adorei. Também adoro bordados. E convido você a me visitar: http://alcastrosantos.blogspot.com
    Vai ser um prazer recebê-la. Abraços, Algecira
    Estou usando um tradutor:http://translate.google.com.br

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