My tryst with embroidery goes back several decades to when I just about started secondary schooling. I still remember my once-a-week aftternoon class at Chembur. I was about the only young girl among my peer students who were mostly housewives— the word home maker had not been coined then…
We traced designs using a red carbon paper (yellow for dark fabrics) choosing from what seemed like thousands of them that lay strewn on our teachers dining table.. waiting to be traced onto table cloths, cushion covers, wall frames etc… The Jacobian designs were my favourite and still are…
She taught us the nuances of embroidery, what made a piece beautiful and noteworthy. Satin or Herringbone, the stitches had to be even and fine and regular not only on the right side but the wrong one as well. To this day, whenever presented with an embroidered piece (sari or anything else) I always turn it over. The wrong side must be as beautiful as the right side, with inconspicuous knots and minimal hanging threads. I may have achieved such proficiency for probably only one odd piece of work – that’s all.
Threads were always stored by cutting and stringing them on bangles number-wise and then braiding them into a plait. This way we could pull off the exact length. Some made elaborate ‘files’ out of satin with elastic holders for the threads. Bottom line, no dumping coloured skeins into one bag. Needles, scissors were stored in empty boxes…
But lets come to the present… I was pleasantly surprised to find that most Anchor embroidery threads still had the same ‘numbers’. (All Anchor embroidery threads are number coded so 267 is a lovely moss green or pinks are in the 052 range…) I still had all my designs but tracing was more difficult. I used iron-on transfers which made life simpler…
Battling submission deadlines, my errant spectacles and truant maids I finally did complete my work. Its not one of my best, but I enjoyed a trip back to my childhood… Will I take up another piece? That’s a difficult one…
Cheers!
