Distant Stitch Diploma, Module 2, Chapter 8 - Use of Purls or Bullion

I have looked at both commercial and hand-made samples.


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 Most of the samples above are gold and silver purls as well as spangles and metal tubing.  In the bottom left of the screen you will see macaroni painted with metallic and acrylic paints. Below them are the springs from clothes pegs, which I have painted with metallic paints. The silver tubing is the crimped edge of a foil dish, tightly wound round a wooden stick. The final sample in the left corner is silver foil and cord, wrapped around wire.


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At the top left are three strands of thick gold lurex wrapped round wire. On the right is sari waste, wrapped and stitched over wire and then coiled.

Below on the left, is red and pink floss wrapped round a purple glitter pipe cleaner. On the right, pink thread is wrapped round a silver pipe cleaner. Below this on the right is a length of copper sheet, twisted into a coil. It had a surprising amount of 'recoil' to it when it was pulled out.

Below are a variety of threads wrapped around wires. In the sample below the copper wire, the variegated thread has been attached to the wire using blanket stitch.

This was a fun activity and although some samples will not appear in future work, it brought up lots of ideas to experiment with.

Distant Stitch Diploma, Module 2, Chapter 7 - Contemporary Shi-Sha Ideas

I bought myself some Markal paintsticks for the first time and decided to use them to colour the background fabric for this chapter. I found a variety of rubbing blocks, including the base of a floor mop as shown below.


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Some of my experimental backgrounds, as well the clay relief and burnished and embossed copper sheet.


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I rubbed Markal paintsticks over a commercial wooden block and the top of a Yankee candle to create marks. I was delighted with the results, but am still finding the process a bit messy at the moment!


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All the stitching was done by hand.

The top shisha is a metal holly leaf brooch, stitched down with metallic thread.

Below on the left is a broken needle threader, stitched down with silver thread. I've stitched the right-hand side in the shape to imitate the missing wire!

On the right is a key ring sewn with a tradition shisha stitch with beads and sequins added to the thread.

The bottom shisha is a circle cut from a foil lid. The blue stitching at the top and bottom is detached buttonhole stitch. There is a metal tube on the left and right, held in place by stitches through the middle. The flower and bead is suspended above the shisha, attached by long stitches.


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The background was created using the clay relief block and rubbed with Markal paintsticks. All the stitching was done using the sewing machine and the basting stitch.

The metal circle at the top left is the outer casing for a brass hook. It is held in place with stitching through the central hole.

The silver circle at the bottom left is an individual foil pie casing, folded in on itself and stitched vertically and horizontally in metallic thread.

The flower in the centre is burnished and embossed copper sheet, cut into shapes and stitched in place with a spider's web pattern in metallic thread.

The 'starfish' at the bottom right is stitched in a spider's web pattern and are the waste pieces left from the flower design.

There are 2 metal brackets at the top right. I've no idea what they are, but they looked interesting!

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All the stitching was done by hand.

On the left I have stitched flattened glass shapes in a crescent pattern, using thick thread for the large pieces and finer thread for the smaller ones.

On the bottom right I have sewn watch pieces in fine silver thread, so that they are almost invisible.

On the top right is a triangular piece of glass, stitch with a very uneven border stitch. Not very pleasing.

At the top is a metal bookmark, with coiled metal cords across the centre. The bookmark is held in place with detached chain stitch in a variety of lengths. This reminds me of a bumble bee.

In the centre is a ring of small square mirrors, covered with knitted copper wire. This is held in place by a blanket stitch, sewn round in a circle.













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At mixture of hand and machine stitching.

I broke the mirror with a glass cutter (mainly) then stitched it down on black felt and used the basting stitch to continue with the theme of broken glass. It looks very effective.

The 2 pieces at the top of embossed copper and stitched in place by machine.

The 4 little mirrors on the left are sewn in place by hand in a herringbone design.

Below this the mirrors are stacked and stitched down with open chain stitch.

At the bottom, 4 mirrors are stitched close together with a traditional stitch.

To the right the 4 mirrors are stitched down over the corners.

On the right the copper shisha is stitched in a traditional way with beads added to the thread.

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To combine machine and hand embroidery, I made a new clay mould, based on the leaf pattern motif.


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I machine stitched the outlines in satin stitch and then used whipstitch in the centre. I hand stitched the side panels in stitches from Indian embroidery. The central shisha looks like the end of a watering can but it is something I have had for years. It was the support for a beaded pendant, which went out of fashion a long time ago. It works very well here.  I like this embroidery, and the way the satin stitch flows and unites the design. I nearly filled in all the spaces but stopped just in time!



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Presentation board.

Distant Stitch Diploma, Module 2, Chapter 6 - Decorative Details from a Shi-Sha Textile

By the end of chapter 5, I realised that I ought try and stitch a traditional Indian design. I chose a red background as it is one of the coloured backgrounds in the tunic. I was pleased with my results but really appreciate how skilled the Indian embroiderers are. Although it was well outside my comfort zone, it was a very worthwhile exercise.


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I made a series of card/string/wire blocks to create prints and rubbings. I also used modelling clay to make a relief block from my Indian embroidery.

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This shape is based on the leaves at the base of my Indian flower embroidery. I used wax crayons to make the design vertically.


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The same relief block, used horizontally and closer together.
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Wax crayon rubbed over the clay block, very exciting!


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The same block, using coloured wax crayons.

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Mirror shape circles in wax crayons from a wire on a block.


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Wax crayons rubbed over relief surface based on buttons.


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 Treasure wax on tissue paper, rubbed over card and string elliptical shapes.



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Leaf relief shape on crumpled black tissue paper, rubbed with metallic rub-on.


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Metallic rub-on on tissue paper, over elliptical shapes.



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 Acrylic paint on gelliplate, marked with relief design.


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 Acrylic paint on gelliplate, marked with relief design.


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 Ghost print of page 79.



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 Acrylic paint on gelliplate, marked with relief design.
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Commercial wooden block on paper, colours lifted from gelliplate.


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 Acrylic paint on gelliplate, marked with relief design. I love the marks and the colours. It would work very well in stitch.


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Ghost print of page 83.

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 Acrylic paint on gelliplate, marked with relief design. I love the colours and the design. The white areas could be picked out in metallic silver and gold, if converted into stitch.

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 Acrylic paint on tissue paper. Markings quite faint unfortunately.


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 Pleated tissue paper, laid on gelliplate with 'button' print. I love this print, it makes me think of tree trunks/woodland at sunset.


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Combining blocks of patterns and shapes. There is a lot of movement here and it could work well in stitch.
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Crumpled, painted tissue paper created a fractured surface with explosions of activity, sea anemones perhaps?!

Distant Stitch Diploma, Module 2, Chapter 5 - Decorative Features of an Indian Stitched Textile

I do not have a piece of Indian stitched textile so have chosen a picture of a child’s tunic from 'The Techniques of Indian Embroidery' by Anne Morrell. 

The tunic was made in the Kutch region of Gujarat. The main fabric is green satin with small motifs. There is embroidery on the bodice, cuffs and hem, with edgings of tassels.
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The embroidery on the bodice is stitched onto a variety of coloured backgrounds. These colours are seen clearly in the bands, which divide the embroidery into sections. Along the lower edge of the bodice, small coloured triangles of fabric have been stitched to enhance the bodice.

 The most used stitch on the bodice is open chain stitch, with shisha mirrors and bands of running stitch, buttons and beads. The motifs resemble colourful flowers and leaves. The buttons form a continuous  edging to the bodice, cuffs, centre front and hem. Beads also encircle patterns on the bodice.

 The wide border around the hem and cuffs comprises rows of brightly coloured patterns. Here the mirrors are sewn in teardrop and elliptical shapes. The patterns include soft wavy lines of stitch, (probably open chain), as well as wide herringbone stitch



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Other designs from the region.

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I stitched two traditional shisha mirrors and an individual foil pie casing!


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Experimenting with square mirrors.

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Detached chain stitch around mirror and buttonhole stitch around a bleach mark.

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Two layers of broad Cretan stitch in the shape of a triangle.




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Small metal watch parts in a triangle of triangles.


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Herrigbone stitch covering bleach marks.

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Teardrop shapes stitched in chain stitch with coloured buttons.


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Running stitch and chain stitch.
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I enjoyed stitching with the various elements found on the child's tunic, so I recreated the flower design shown on page 48. This appears on page 67 in the next chapter.

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There aren't any shells on the child's tunic, but they appear often in Indian embroidery, along with buttons. As a shell collector I have a lot of cowrie shells, which were once part of a hanging mobile. Fortunately they have holes drilled in them, so were easy to sew onto fabric.



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I was very surprised at the amount to variation in the embroidery on the child's tunic. It wasn't until I looked closely that I came to appreciate the intricacy to the design and the high standard of workmanship.