For the past several months, Laura Turnbull and I have been chatting back and forth about crewel embroidery kits from The Crewel Work Company.
Not only have the kit offerings at The Crewel Work Company expanded quite a bit recently, but Phillipa and her daughter Laura are in the process of deciding on some new offerings to add to their gorgeous line of historic crewel embroidery kits. And, to that end, they want your help!
To entice you to help them make some decisions on upcoming kits, they’ve graciously offered a magnificent give-away here on Needle ‘n Thread, for three winners. The prize? Ohhhhhhhh……..
Take a look at this!
Three participants in today’s give-away will win the Mellerstain Firescreen kit from The Crewel Work Company, which is newly back in stock.
This is a large and magnificent recreation of an original 19th century design from Mellerstain House in Scotland. The linen size for this piece is 30″ x 24″ and the design size is 20″ x 16″. The finished piece can be used as a fire screen (the finishing furniture is not included), or it can be made up into a wall hanging or a framed piece.
The design features all kinds of elements that are typical of traditional crewel work – from foliage and rolling hills, to frolicking deer and other wildlife, to the main attraction – two parrots perched in a Tree of Life – and all are worked in a variety of stitches normally associated with crewel embroidery.
The kit includes detailed step-by-step instructions, a full-sized layout chart for all the stitches and colors, a beginner’s booklet titled “The Essential Guide for Newcomers to Crewel Work” (which includes tips and techniques that will help you successfully complete the embroidery), linen twill accurately pre-printed with the design, all the Appleton wool necessary to complete the fire screen, and needles.
Your Opinion, Please, on Crewel Possibilities
To participate in today’s give-away, I’m going to make you work for it! But don’t worry! It’s not too hard, and it will be fun!
You see, Phillipa and Laura are working on future kits to offer at The Crewel Work Company, and they’d like to hear your feedback on some Crewel Possibilities.
So, to enter today’s give-away, all you have to do is take a look at the following possibilities for future crewel work kits and share your thoughts in the comment section below, guided by these questions:
1. Which of the following do you like best and would you like to see as a crewel embroidery kit and why?
2. Would you stitch crewel kits in this size and complexity if they are made available? Or do you not prefer kits of this size and complexity? Do you prefer smaller projects or larger, grand ones?
Here the designs in question and a little information about them.
#1. The Wemyss Panel
The style, materials and scale of this bed pelmet are typical of Scottish crewel work around 1670. It celebrates the restoration of the King, represented by the lion.
The pelmet and its pair were taken to the trenches during the First World War by the then Earl of Wemyss, as a reminder of his home, Wemyss Castle. Surprisingly, the Earl and the bed hangings survived the trenches unscathed.
Incidentally, the lion’s teeth were added later than the 17th century, probably by the Earl himself, giving the lion a unique character and personality.
The pillow above, featuring an excerpt from the panel, will soon be available in kit from from The Crewel Work Company.
The whole re-creation of the panel would be approximately 45″ x 15″.
#2. The Restoration Pillow
This cushion is part of a pair originally embroidered in the 1660s and is in Phillipa’s private crewel work collection. The unmistakeable face of Charles II triumphantly looks out of this rich ‘Tree of Life’ design.
The original, seen above, is quite faded.
Using the reverse side of the crewel work, and relying on Phillipa’s experience studying crewel work from the same period, the re-creation would feature vivid, rich colors, and the finished size would be approximately 25″ square.
#3. The Glasgow Bedspread
This vast embroidery is part of Phillipa’s private crewel work collection.
If you’re familiar with Phillipa’s kit collections, you’ll recognize the repeated design as her Jacobean Fantasy Kit.
The original embroidery was completed in Glasgow, Scotland and is signed and dated by the embroiderer, “E.M. 1914”, the very same year the First World War broke out in Europe.
“E.M.” had a wonderful color sense, combining a peaceful undertone of soft deep pewter greys with vibrant accents of bright color.
This vast piece would be a master class in soft shading with long & short stitch! The approximate size would be 120″ x 60″, making a magnificent Arts and Crafts floral coverlet for a piano or table.
Give-Away Guidelines
To enter today’s give-away of three Mellerstain Firescreen crewel embroidery kits from the Crewel Work Company, please follow these guidelines:
1. Review the above crewel possibilities and the questions posed in bold above them, and leave your answer, thoughts, insights, and opinions in the comment section below. Entries made via email or left on other articles will not be eligible.
2. In your comment, please make sure you answer the questions posed above! You’ll find them in bold!
3. In order to avoid any confusion when the winners are announced, please make sure that you leave a recognizable name either in the “name” line of the comment form or in the comment box. Please also make sure that your email address is entered accurately.
4. The give-away ends Saturday, March 19th, at 5:00 am CDT (Kansas, USA). Three winners will be drawn randomly and announced that day. The winners will need to contact me with mailing information, which I will forward on to The Crewel Work Company.
So, if you’d love to have one of these gorgeous fire screen kits from The Crewel Work Company, go to it! Take a look at the Crewel Possibilities shown above, consider the questions, and let us know your thoughts!
