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Stitching for Pleasure Progress 2026
Monthly Update: End September 2026 (as usual, click on first image below to see a larger version with a caption) Working on... At first I thought 'Not a lot' but as I've jotted down what I've done it actually is quite a bit.....
TAS are preparing a very simple display as part of the Ushaw Historic House Festive Celebrations. The theme is Winter Wings. Not angels but a Dove of Peace. We were all given a drawn template and 20cm hoop so the birds are exactly the same size, but then we could use our own preference to how they are stitched. I chose a small 3d version made from felt, embellished with beads and stitch. It hangs from a nylon line so it gently moves in the air.
#52 Circles (Roundels) project with Anne Brooke. Not a single one completed this month *unhappy face*. Time sems to have run away with me. May be I will catch up next month.
The long neglected UFO... Is it finished? I'm not sure yet. So far it has 112 Suffolk Puffs on it, lots of seeding, fly stitch and running stitch. It is greeny, greyey, yellowy, browney, measuring 105cm long. Sometimes I like it sometimes I do not. It's currently hanging vertically from the cupboard door in the sewing room, but here it is laid out horizontally, as it was stitched...
Cathedral Broderers - Repairing the Ramsey Cope At Broderers four of us are currently working on the 'Ramsey Cope'. The first image below is an AI enhanced version of the Cope - The original photo is used as the reference for the extent of the wear and tear on the Orphrey. The Cope was a gift to retired Bishop of Durham, Arch-Bishops of York and Canterbury, Michael Ramsey in 1960 on his retirement. The body of the Cope was made around about that time, but the embroidery on the Orphrey iis much older and was altered to fit the new cope. The Cope has been worn many times for services since then and is the favourite of the current Dean Philip Plyming. There have been previous repairs to the Cope, but now the silk embroidery and gold work on the Orphrey and Morse is very fragile due to its age and general wear and tear. The silk on the Hood is also in a very poor state. Our first task was to catalogue all the areas of embroidery that need urgent attention and assess how much work needs to be done to stabilise the fabric and braiding. There are 24 'yellow' motifs that require urgent attention, and several areas of greens and pinks motifs that are less damaged and will have to be fixed at a later date.. With an agreed plan of action with approximate timing of individual tasks (aprroximately 50 Broderer days) we have to make a start as soon as possible to reach the target of puting this back toegether in time for Advent at the end of November. First take the bold step of lifting the Orphrey away from the Cope to remove the damaged threads. When we did this step, we found most of the yellow areas of embroidery were so damaged to be just huge bits of fluff. Next step to gently lifted away the fluff from the back, and remove all the damaged stitching from the back and front in preparation for new stitching. DeVere Yarns (https://www.devereyarns.co.uk/embroidery-thread---silk-42-c.asp), did a fabulous job of matching the perfect colours and weight of silk for repairs from the tiny snippets of damaged threads we sent them. The shoulder areas of the Cope are so worn, we also need to replace the couched gold around one of the motifs. To help us know where to stitch the new gold we added tack lines. Tack lines to show direction of stitching inside the individual motifs help us keep to the overall style of the motifs. Using sections of photos from the least damaged areas of the Cope as reference provides visual guidance on stitch direction, length, and colour change to be followed in each motif. After three sessions of removing the damagedd threads. We have now started the stitching, it is slow going! The two layers of fabrics, damask silk and linen are heavy to stitch through and can cause to silk threads to fray easily. However, we are looking forward to bringing this cope back to its glory in time for Advent.
No FettleThoseFinishes Points this month, but a rare opportunity for restoration work on a very interesting clerical garment. It's also been very interesting to chart the progress of the repairs. I will eventually put this whole section onto a separate webpage so the story fo the repairs don't get lost.
See you all next month xx
I thought I would leave the image of the chums enjoying their picnic here for a bit longer
See you next month xx. ... ooo ... To read previous monthly updates, click below:
Images from all my 2025 fettled finishes are in this gallery, click here to go to the
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