At the beginning of this past summer, I took on a student. Just one student. We met all summer long, twice a week, for about an hour (sometimes an hour and a half) at a time. Her goal is to learn how to do specific elements of goldwork, to use in ecclesiastical embroidery. To this end, she wanted to work on real projects that, in the end (provided they ended successfully), could be usable.

Beyond the most basic embroidery (chain stitch, backstitch), she hasn’t really ever done any surface embroidery as an adult. As a child in South Africa (where she grew up) she learned the basics in school. She does have some really well-honed sewing skills, though, including hand-sewing skills, so she’s pretty adept with a needle. Throughout the summer, we covered the groundwork.

Now, we’re doing the padding for the goldwork. As I mentioned before when I talked about the transfer of this embroidery design, we’re working on a dark burgundy velveteen. The goldwork will be all couched, with the majority of the lettering done in couched passing threads.

She’s been doing all the work on this piece, of course, but this week, I’ll finish tacking on the “S” for her, so that next week, we can actually start the goldwork.

Now that the school year is in session (she’s a teacher), we’re only meeting once a week, for an hour.

Progress is slow – but it is still progress. And that’s the point: doing nothing, you’ll get nowhere, but doing something (even if it is just the littlest something every week), you will make progress! Going forward is going forward, after all.

Enjoy your day!