Freestyle Embroidery on Wool

Book excerpt: In Freestyle Embroidery on Wool you will learn how to kickstart your creativity and become confident at making your own colourful and expressive designs using appliqué and embroidery on felted wool fabric. Using her own detailed and imaginative embroidery as examples Karin Derland teaches you how to go about creating your own designs using appliqué and embroidery on wool felt. Karin shares plenty of instruction and helpful tips on making color choices, how to apply ribbons, mirrors and other accessories, making and using cardboard templates for appliqué shapes and how to combine different types of threads and stitches for best effect. Sketches, diagrams and detailed photographs of different types of embroidered pillows, cushions, cases and other items will give you a head start on creating and applying your own designs. The book also offers plenty of inspirational images through Karin's colorful embroidery that draws on both the Swedish and Indian traditions. These can be used as an inspirational library of ideas when creating your own work. How simple or complex a piece becomes is up to you and your own level of experience and personal choice. Although the emphasis is on developing your own expressive embroidery, some step-by-step projects are included to help build confidence before launching out on your own. This is wool appliqué embroidery at its best - free, beautiful and generous. A note on materials: The author recommends using kläde and vadmal, which are both types of Swedish 100% wool fabric of varying weight. They are made from woven fabric that has an even surface and processed so there is no visible weave. A good equivalent in the US/Canada is a felted wool fabric such as Melton wool. Hobby felt containing polyester is not suitable.