Tag Archives: embroidery pattern

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New ballet pattern: Relevé

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The next pattern in my Ballet series is here! While I was browsing through history of ballet dancing, I came across this photo of the Cuban prima ballerina Alicia Alonso performing the ballet figure Relevé. When I think of a ballerina, I pretty much have this beautiful pose in mind.

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Needless to say, I had to adapt it for embroidering! Can’t wait to bring her to life.

Amazing fact: Alicia was almost blind during her ballet career and yet managed to become a ballet superstar! I guess extraordinary circumstances produce extraordinary people… or extraordinary people thrive in extraordinary circumstances?

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Manicure your pattern!

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Today I have a tip for improving your tracework using a tool straight out of an over-the-top nail art salon!

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When I began stitching, I couldn’t get my head around transferring a pattern onto fabric. It cost me a lot of trial and error before I’ve figured out something that worked for me. Where I live, iron-on patterns are unavailable or hopelessly dated (ducks in bonnets, yarn-covered kittens…). I’ve also had bad experiences with iron-on pencils turning out to be barely visible on the fabric. Drawing on the fabric directly seemed a daunting task for a perfectionist like me. The only method that sort-of worked was transferring a pattern using carbon (dressmaker’s) paper.

The problem was that it cost a lot of effort finding balance between the right amount of pressure from a blunt pencil and the visibility of the line underneath. Press too light and you can’t see a thing (and while you’re peeking, the paper shifts from it’s original position…), press too hard and it tears. There had to be a solution…

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