2022 Kate Barlow Online -

Jacqui Carey

Kate Barlow

United Kingdom

Kate loves to design her own embroidery kits using traditional techniques in a contemporary way. She also likes to combine her embroidery with her love of historical dress, creating kits based on original pieces. Her classes can cover all levels of ability, from absolute beginners to more advanced stitchers and her style of delivery leads to a very calm atmosphere conducive to deep learning.

Visit Kate’s website and social media pages

A calm, kind, professional and thoughtful teacher with impeccable style and delivery.

Kate's May Festival Workshops

Love-in-Idleness Brooch

UK timezone: 11-12 May 2022 (9-3pm UK time)
N.American timezone: 9-10 May 2022 (4-10pm UK time)

This diminutive design is inspired by the floral needlework style popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. Shakespeare referred to these pretty flowers as Love-in-Idleness and mentioned them often in his writing. Our little Pansy is worked on a silk duchess satin ground using twisted silk threads, gilt passing thread and spangles.

Needlelace stitches with bordered turns are combined with couched passing threads and closed fly stitches to create the pretty flower before adding an Elizabethan double looped edging.

Course outline:
Day 1, session 1: Frame up, begin needlelace
Day 1, session 2: Continue needlelace, begin couching
Day 2, session 1: Begin Elizabethan edging, add spangles.
Day 2, session 2: Finish stitching and make up into brooch

Practical information

Length: 2 days
Level: Intermediate

Class fee: £380 including kit

Kit Includes:
Silk duchess satin, calico, needles, Deveres silk threads, Gutermann sewing threads, gilt smooth passing, spangles, brooch pin, instruction booklet

Techniques:
Needlelace, couching, surface stitching, gathering the finished embroidery around the brooch base, slip stitching the backing to the brooch

Equipment requirements:
6 inch embroidery frame, embroidery and goldwork scissors. A lamp and magnifier will be helpful and the threads are fine and the stitches quite small, beeswax

Design size:
7cm x 4.5cm (2¾ x 1¾ in)

Linen size:
20 x 20 cm (7¾ x 7¾ in)

Kate's Past Festival Workshops

Blackwork Coif

This design takes a wild strawberry, hazelnut, pea pod and columbine as the central motifs, all linked together with scrolling Elizabethan plaited braid work. The counted blackwork patterns are worked in silk floss with a stem stitch outline bordering each element. Details are added in gilt passing thread using Elizabethan spider’s webs, Elizabethan Ceylon stitch, Elizabethan looped edging and more Elizabethan plaited braid. The wild strawberry is worked in detached corded buttonhole needlelace.

This design is replicated from a 16th century Blackwork Coif in the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust. A percentage of each sale supports the work of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford-upon-Avon and vital care and conservation of The Shakespeare Houses and the treasures in the Trust’s Collection, including the original coif which inspired this design.

Little Elizabethan Stork

UK Time Zone: 6-8 May 2021

US Time Zone: 14-16 May 2021

Using beautiful silk floss threads you will create this little stork that has been inspired by a pair of embroidered 17th century gauntlet gloves in the V&A museum in London. He stands on a hillock of blue laidwork and is surrounded by silk flowers, gilt tendrils and gilt cutwork leaves. Tiny spangles are added for extra sparkle before adding a frame of looped and cutwork corner decorations.

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