Friday 24 February 2012

Wildlife spirits in cross-stitch!

And we have finally released a new collection - "Wildlife spirits" that was for a long time keept in reserves!
This collection is a set of peculiar animalisctic designs performed in a traditional tribal style. In these designs we tried to preserve the athmosphere of cave drawing and pass the sense of admiration and respect that our ancestors experiensed towards wild animals on whom they were greatly depended in those ancient times.

Wildlife spirits collection consists of 5 designs:

Pattern size: 220x267 st.

Pattern size: 208x238 st. 

Pattern size: 212x261 st.

Pattern size: 212x258 st.  

Pattern size: 216x276 st.
The designs are to be stitched in halfcross-stitch, and it is recommended to stitch them on white Aida 16.
We offer 2 colorways for this collection - Silver line and Amber line - at your choice.


Designs from this collection will be stylish and extraordinary home decor when finished and framed or can be an exclusive present for a special event!
Find them at my Etsy web-store.
Happy stitching!
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Shall we dance?


I'm proud to announce that we've started to work at our new collection dedicated to the Dancing art!
The whole collection will consist of 4-5 designs and will feature such types of ballroom dancing as Quickstep, Waltz, Tango, Rumba, etc.
The first design of this series is Quickstep
This design will be handeled to the model stitching in April and will be available as an embroidery kit in Autumn 2012.
Besides we have plans to work out a passionate Belly dancer in Blackwork.
The first draft is almost ready and soon will be completed with Blackwork fill-ins.

It will as well be available no sooner that Autumn 2012.

Friday 10 February 2012

Folk needlecraft in ancient Russia


Part 1. General information
Needlework has always been one of the favorite and widely spread woman’s crafts in Russia. It required no special tools while every peasants' household had tissues, threads, needles and needlecraft frames.
Rural needlewomen
Girls began to embroider at the age of 8-10. And they had a long list of thing to be done before the day they get married as traditionally the bride has to stuff not only her own wardrobe, but also to do with her own hands a huge lot of household linens, sheets, towels, table clothes and so on and to give presents to the numerous groom's relatives as well.
Girls were stitching every spare minute as they had a long list
of items to be conpmleted before their wedding day.
Hope chest (their size and number depended on the well-being of
the girl's family and the girl's hard working)  
So girls were embroidering 10 hours a day, mainly in winter and spring – at the low season of fieldwork.
Peasant needlework had a traditional set of items to be decorated with embroidery. As I've already mentioned it was clothes, headwear and household objects: linens (bedding), towels, curtains, etc. Such items as chemises and towels had a great ritual meaning and played essential roles in such rituals as wedding, birth giving, praying and funerals.
Everyday peasants' garment 
Embroidered peasant costume and towels
(North-West of Russia) 
Bed cover embroidered with scarletwork
For example, a large - up to 2 meters long - luxuriously embroidered ceremonial towel was specially worked out for the wedding day. The wedding towel was a complex construcion of red and white stripes with exquisite embroidered ornaments full of sacral meaning, and it took up to a half-year to finish such a thing. Before the day of its' direct use it was stored neatly in a special coffer together with other trousseaux items, was taken out for the wedding day and used to frame the main icon at the bride's house, and during the wedding ceremonials it was used to connect (tie the arms) the bride and the bridegroom as bare hands were considered to be promising poverty and lack for a new household. Thus, the wedding towel embroidered with the symbols of prosperity, well-being and fertility was regarded as a guaranty and a new family successful life.
The bride's home decoration for the wedding day
Ceremonial wedding towels, surviving items, North-West of Russia,
second half and the end of the XIX c.
(letf to right: Olonets region, Tver region, Karelia) 
Echoes of ancient atrditions in modern wedding rits
The color solutions for folk embroidery varied from region to region. But in the North-West of Russia traditional colors were strictly red and white – either white ornament on the red calico or scarlet embroidery on the white or natural linen. The red was a symbol of the Sun and heavenly fire and was a crucial element of Slavonic and later Russian peasants' beliefs, the remnants of which (especially concerning agricultural needs) rested among peasants even after the establishments of the Christianity in the late X century.
Slavic pantheon 
Next time I'll tell about embroidery tips and techniques (stitches) and the symbols that were widely in use in the traditional Russian folk embroidery.

Blackwork Dragons-2012


Dragons-2012
This collection was worked out specially for the year of Dragon 2012 and consists of 4 various designs that were created by 4 different designers.
Blackwork Lindworm dragon
Fantastic Lindworm floats in the air and pour over a stream of flowers and beads. Dragons are seldom kind but this one is for sure kind and cute – having it at your home means that it will fill your house with positive emotions and luck and will cheer you up every day!
(available as a Blackwork kit in several color solutions)

Flying Dragon is also not a usual beast. Its translucent wings remind the wings of a butterfly and it hovers gracefully, and is as well a friendly dragon.
(available as a Blackwork kit in several color solutions)

The Dragons' family is cute and amusing. Can you resist their charms? Stitching this design is really a pleasant thing, and this amicable family will charge you with great mood and give inspiration and positive attitude to life.
(available as a chart only)


The Dragon-sampler is quite a canny beast. This design will bring you the joy of stitching a lot of traditional Blackwork fill-ins. But be careful with him – it has obviously got something on it's mind!
(available as a chart only)

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Thursday 9 February 2012

Blackwork embroidered folk costumes, Russia

Some interesting illustrations on Blackwork embroidery in Russian folk costumes.
All the costumes on this pictires are modern reconstructions, but they were worked out as copies of original surviving costumes or elements of folk costumes.
A costume of young married woman, Belgorod region.
Fhotografer Dmitriy Davydov
Costumes of a young married woman and a boy's chemise, Belgorod region.
Fhotografer Dmitriy Davydov
Men's costume, Belgorod region.
Costume of a young married woman, Belgorod region
Women's costumes of Voronezh region


Elegant equestriennes in Blackwork

The collection "Ladies on horses" was created in 2011.


It features 4 equestriennes in elegant retro clothes riding horses that are so thoroughly worked out to reflect the grace of these creatures. The elegance of noble women accompanied by strong and majestic animals creates the harmony and sublime beauty that we tried to reproduce in our designs.

This fine collection is worked out in a classic Blackwork style, with the dominating black thread. We dared to add subdued grey and brown shades to complement a little variety to the images. And you will as well be glad to find a small portion of embellishments such as holographic lurex threads and beads that we introduced to these designs to finish them with a touch of glamour.


Ladies on horses

Windy day. Finished size 16x19 cm.

Winter ride with a Greyhound. Finished size: 22x19 cm.


Trotting. Finished size: 21x19 cm.

After the ride. Finished size 22x19 cm.
We adress this collection not only to the Blackwork lovers, but also to everyone who adores horses and fine retro style.
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Wednesday 8 February 2012

Love is in the air!

Here comes February and soon we will celebrate the St.Valentine's Day!
I'm proud to present you our new festive collection of polychrome Blackwork "Love is in the air"!

This polychrome cheerful collection was inspired of course by Love. Designs of this collection suit perfectly to expresses your emotions and will become a peculiar way to tell that very person about your feelings!
This series could as well be called Heart collection, because you will find hearts of different types in each of these designs. A pair of tender swans are framed with pink ribbon twisting in a shape of a heart. The nightingale sings its Love song with a burning fancy crimson heart as a background. And Cats purr languidly emitting the vibes of love.
And we promise that the collection will be replenished in the future as Love is multifaceted and can be depicted in an endless row of images.


We still work at the Wedding sampler with a coach"Wedding Day" - the model is under stitching now. And I'm pretty sure we'll finish it by the end of February. 
Colorful Blackwork looks unusual, I agree. But I'm as well convinced that all creative means are good to express true Love and deepest heart feelings!