parlstickare

My next project is a combination of need and want: a much needed pin cushion with Scanian woollen embroidery. This kind of embroidery was common in the Scania province in southern Sweden in the 18th and 19th centuries and has recently had a bit of a renaissance. These are common folk's embroideries, with flowers, people and animals in bright colours. Image google "skånskt yllebroderi" and you'll see loads of examples, some old, some modern.

I've wanted to try woollen embroidery for quite a while now, thinking of making a cushion or two for the sofa. But best to start with something small, and when I saw a pin cushion kit at the local museum last time I was at home, I figured that would be a good idea for a beginner's project. The motif (half-an-apple) comes from a coach cushion, made in 1830.

The kit contains everything you might need, except a pair of scissors. Fabric, yarn, filling, two embroidery needles, and most importantly, instructions. What colour goes where and what kind of stitches. Very good to know, so that you don't pick the wrong colour and suddenly run out of yarn when you have one third left of that bit to do.

The pattern is painted in white dots on the fabric, so the first thing I did was to pin the pattern to a piece of paper and put a pin through every single dot, thereby transferring the pattern for later use. Next step in pattern transferral is to draw a line between the dots, re-draw it to make it neat and tidy, transfer the pattern to hard see-through plastic, punch holes in that, and then use that as a template for other apple embroideries.


The pattern pinned to paper


Turn the paper over, and this is what you'll see.