(Photos taken and reproduced with the permission of Patricia Barratt. Images are the property of Skipton Branch of The Embroiderers' Guild)
Monday 15th February
Patricia Barratt comes from generation that have darned holes in socks and jumpers for practical reasons but she has turned this skill into an art form, creating the most wonderful, textured and colourful pictures using simple darning stitch.
We were treated to her workshop at our regular Monday meeting. Patricia brought a huge selection of yarns and design ideas to help get us started and encourged us to mix up the warp and weft threads to develop a variety of surface textures. Her own pictures are delightful and my personal favourite was a brightly coloured bird inspired by Polish paper-cut art.
Building up the pictures section-by-section takes time and I don't think anyone finished during the workshop but I'm looking forward to seeing the final results at the next meeting.