Courses and Workshops
with Leon Conrad
New Courses for 2003/2004
Lecture and Show Schedule 2003/2004
Class Projects Available
Lectures and Day Courses Available (New!)
New Courses for 2003/2004 I will be offering a limited number of private group courses in London from September 2003.
Group sizes are kept small, in order to maximise individual attention.
The focus in these sessions is on technique – getting you to stitch to the best of your ability. If you like honing in on technical detail, in a supportive, friendly and light-hearted environment, then these courses are for you.
In these classes, I will be focusing on my speciality which is blackwork embroidery, as well as teaching people how to set up a slate frame to work on. I will also be encouraging people to try out canvaswork stitches and do innovative things with space dyed threads.
Slate frames, stands, magnifiers and lights are set up at each stitching station for your comfort and convenience.
Course dates are as follows:
Saturday 13th September 2003 – Reversible Blackwork
Class includes evenweave fabric, use of silk threads from The Ebony Collection.
Tuition covers an overview of the history of reversible blackwork, along with examples of designs from early pattern books.
Learn how to work out your own pathways in continuous line designs, and how to follow various types of reversible charts available on the market.
Find out how to start and finish your work neatly and almost invisibly.
Practise several techniques of doing this.
Work on a simple, graded design and find out how to get the neatest, most accurate results consistently in your work.
Wednesday 22nd October 2003 – Using Space Dyed Threads
Class includes evenweave fabric, a selection of space dyed threads and the use of a slate frame.
Tuition covers the differences between space dyed, over dyed and variegated threads, ways of using them, and various effects you can achieve by manipulating the threads as you work. Explore techniques I have used in pieces such as the Gemstone Series, or Gloriana's Garden in detail.
Slate frames and class doodle cloths will be provided already set up for you to practise on.
If you would like to take your work home, please set up your fabric on your own slate frame ahead of time.
Just let me know and I will send you out your fabric before the course starts.
Use whichever one you feel comfortable working on.
Feel free to bring threads from your own stash along to class to play with.
Saturday 25th October 2003 – 16 Canvas Work Stitches in One Day
Class includes canvas or congress cloth, a selection of different canvaswork threads and the use of a slate frame.
Tuition covers an overview of the history of canvaswork, various sources for designs which would lend themselves to interpretation in embroidery using these techniques, introduction to the basics of canvaswork, description of the families of stitches, and practice in the use of 16 different stitches.
These stitches can be combined into a sampler project, or used as the starting point for a canvaswork adventure.
A brief overview and discussion of the various fibres you can use will also be part of this class.
Please do bring along any interesting, unusual or even ordinary fibres from your stash.
Saturday 15th November 2003 – Make Friends with a Traditional Slate Frame
Class includes a 12x8" Slate Frame, polycotton backing fabric, embroidery fabric, wooden dowels and lacing thread.
Tuition covers an overview of history, and instructions on how to set this up and use it.
Bring a notepad and pencil or pen, a selection of needles, including a large sized one.
Saturday 17th January 2004 – Elizabethan Blackwork Embroidery
Class includes linen and evenweave fabrics, use of silk threads from The Ebony Collection and gold metallic threads.
Tuition covers securing, starting and finishing threads, ways of working stem outline stitch for outlines in freestyle blackwork designs, various straight line stitches for use in filling patterns, several different ways of shading, and the use of gold as an embellishment in blackwork designs.
We will also touch on reversible blackwork.
It is advisable for you to set up your fabric on your own slate frame ahead of time. This can be done by attending a class either on 15th Nov or 31st Jan. Should you be unable to attend either of these classes, and wish to have a frame set up for you ready to work on, please select a slate frame kit from the slate frame page on my website and add a set up fee of £25.00 and it will be set up ready for you to work on when you arrive.
Saturday 31st January 2004 – Make Friends with a Traditional Slate Frame
Class includes a 12x8" Slate Frame, polycotton backing fabric, embroidery fabric, wooden dowels and lacing thread.
Tuition covers an overview of history, and instructions on how to set this up and use it.
Bring a notepad and pencil or pen, a selection of needles, including a large sized one.
Saturday 28th February 2004 – Reversible Blackwork
Class includes evenweave fabric, use of silk threads from The Ebony Collection.
Tuition covers an overview of the history of reversible blackwork, along with examples of designs from early pattern books.
Learn how to work out your own pathways in continuous line designs, and how to follow various types of reversible charts available on the market.
Find out how to start and finish your work neatly and almost invisibly.
Practise several techniques of doing this.
Work on a simple, graded design and find out how to get the neatest, most accurate results consistently in your work.
Saturday 6th March 2004 – Plaited Braid Stitch Workshop
Class includes linen, gold thread and a hand-made Japanese needle. Tuition covers background information on the types of thread used for embroidered goldwork in the Elizabethan era, the centres for production, trade routes, etc. It also covers examples of how different metal thread stitches were used to greatest effect. Of course, full tuition on how to work Plaited Braid Stitch (easier than you think!), variations, and other Elizabethan embroidered goldwork stitches will be the main focus of the day. Participants are encouraged to bring along ideas for projects or a selection of designs for discussion on how to apply the technical knowledge acquired in class to a specific practical end. Additional kit cost for this class: £7.50
Saturday 20th March 2004 –Elizabethan Blackwork Embroidery
Class includes linen and evenweave fabrics, use of silk threads from The Ebony Collection and gold metallic threads.
Tuition covers securing, starting and finishing threads, ways of working stem outline stitch for outlines in freestyle blackwork designs, various straight line stitches for use in filling patterns, several different ways of shading, and the use of gold as an embellishment in blackwork designs.
We will also touch on reversible blackwork.
It is advisable for you to set up your fabric on your own slate frame ahead of time. This can be done by attending a class either on 15th Nov or 31st Jan. Should you be unable to attend either of these classes, and wish to have a frame set up for you ready to work on, please select a slate frame kit from the slate frame page on my website and add a set up fee of £25.00 and it will be set up ready for you to work on when you arrive.
Saturday 24th April 2004 – Plaited Braid Stitch Workshop
Class includes linen, gold thread and a hand-made Japanese needle.
Tuition covers background information on the types of thread used for embroidered goldwork in the Elizabethan era, the centres for production, trade routes, etc. It also covers examples of how different metal thread stitches were used to greatest effect.
Of course, full tuition on how to work Plaited Braid Stitch (easier than you think!), variations, and other Elizabethan embroidered goldwork stitches will be the main focus of the day. Participants are encouraged to bring along ideas for projects or a selection of designs for discussion on how to apply the technical knowledge acquired in class to a specific practical end.
Additional kit cost for this class: £7.50
Cost: £75.00 per person – includes tuition, class materials, home-made meals (morning coffee and biscuits, light lunch, afternoon tea and biscuits). A separate kit cost is specified where applicable.
Group Cost: Organise your own group class and save money! Group rate of £60.00 per person for self-organised groups of 3-6 people. Dates can be arranged to suit you.
Times: Morning Coffee is served at 10:00 am. Courses start promptly at 10:30 am and end at 4:30 pm, with around an hour's break for lunch.
Special Needs: If you have any special dietary requirements, learning difficulties, or disabilities, please let me know so we can arrange to best cater for your needs. I can cope with most things given enough notice!
Payment: The full fee is due at the time of booking. I accept payment by cheque or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard) or a Debit Card with a Visa or Delta Sign. Sorry, but I am not set up to accept Switch cards.
Participant Cancellations: Full refund if cancellations made more than 2 weeks prior to course date.
50% refund if cancellations made between 2 weeks and 1 week prior to course date.
25% refund if cancellations made between 1 week and 2 days prior to course date.
No refund if cancellations made up to 2 days prior to course date.
Tutor Cancellations: Every effort will be made to ensure courses go ahead as planned. In the unlikely event of a cancellation on my part, I will try to offer an alternative date in the first instance, followed by a full refund of monies paid.
Other classes and exclusive design projects can be taught for small groups by arrangement.
Contact: For information on course content, booking or administration, email Leon Conrad.
Lecture and Show Schedule 2003/2004
Due to my increasing interest in doing research into the historical side of 16th / 17th Century embroidery, in September 2003, I will be starting a 2-year Full Time MA Course in the History of Design and Material Culture of the Renaissance, run jointly by the V&A Museum and the Royal College of Art in London. I will continue to teach and lecture privately and for groups. I will continue to publish designs which will be sold through retailers and distributors. However, I will be cutting down my appearances at retail shows during this period.
Charts and silk on linen kits for my designs will be on sale at retail shows on an exclusive basis via Mace and Nairn. Special Edition cotton on Aida kits will also be available through Spiders Web. Here is a selection of shows, lectures and workshops where you can catch me, or my designs.
Look out for new designs at all the retail shows listed!
2003
Thurs 20th to Sun 23rd Nov - Knitting and Stitching Show, Harrogate – Special Edition kits available through Spiders Web
Sat 6th Dec - Cambroidge Embroiderers’ Guild Branch – Blackwork Day Course
Sat 13th Dec - East Kent and District Embroiderers' Guild Branch - Blackwork Lecture
2004
Sat 17th Jan - Elizabethan Blackwork Day Course, London
Sat 31st Jan - Slate Frame Day Course, London
Sun 22nd Feb - Contemporary Blackwork Workshops, Textiles in Focus, Cambridge
Sat 28th Feb - Reversible Blackwork Day Course, London
Sat 6th Mar - Plaited Braid Stitch Day Course, London
Sat 20th Mar - Elizabethn Blackwork Day Course, London
Thurs 25 & Fri 26 Mar - 'B for Blackwork' demonstrations for Mace & Nairn - Spring Needlecraft Show, London
Sat 27 & Sun 28 Mar - Intensive Elizabethan Blackwork 2-day Course - Manor House Museum
Sat 24 April - Plaited Braid Stitch Day Course, London
Other provisionally booked dates and show dates are not shown here.
A limited number of teaching dates are available in 2004.
I am now only considering overseas bookings for 2006/7
These projects are available only as part of classes which I teach. They are not available otherwise, nor are they published commercially. Only a few of these projects will ever be taught, so if you are looking for an unusually fine and challenging design, check out the projects featured on this page. Contact Leon Conrad for details of how you can enrol in a class to stitch one of these projects.
BLACKWORK EVENING BAG
A sumptuous evening bag in traditional Elizabethan style blackwork embroidery. Stitches used include stem outline stitch, straight line stitches and seeding. Beading techniques involved include spiral braid, beaded tassels, and beaded edge.
Only available as a class project. First taught at A Sampler Gathering, Plymouth, MASS (USA) organised by The Historic Needlework Guild April 2002.
REVERSIBLE BLACKWORK FAN
The ultimate in reversible blackwork embroidery - a fully functional fan project, including traditional symbolic Elizabethan motifs. Everything covered from mounting the fabric on a frame to mounting the finished fan leaf on a set of hand made ebony fan sticks. The fan is embellished with a citrine gemstone, brass hanging ring and tassel.
Only available as a class project. First taught at A Sampler Gathering, Plymouth, MASS (USA) organised by The Historic Needlework Guild April 2002.
APRON SAMPLER THREAD ROLL
Based on a unique 1936 apron sampler from Leon's collection, this thread roll is a sampler which covers double running motifs, cross stitch, 8 types of pulled work stitches and 3 types of drawn thread work stitches, including Serpentine or Zig Zag hem stitch.
Only available as a class project. First taught at A Sampler Gathering, Plymouth, MASS (USA) organised by The Historic Needlework Guild April 2002.
CIRCLE OF FIRE
A contemporary shaded blackwork project based on a pattern found on a Cosmati pavement.
Only available as a class project. First taught at A Stitchers' Gathering, Hilton Head Island, SC - USA organised by Moss Creek Designs, October 2002.
SUMINAGASHI MARBLING
Example of an embroidered book cover worked by Leon Conrad on fabric marbled using the Suminagashi technique.
Suminagashi (literally 'spilled ink') is a Japanese marbling technique. The flowing patterns are traditionally formed with pine soot ink on water.
In Suminagashi, no additives are used to thicken the water. This gives the patterns their qualities of motion. The inked water is in a constant state of flux. When the pattern is caught on paper or fabric it catches a moment of this movement and suspends it, creating an illusion of timelessness.
No pattern can be repeated in this technique. Each marbled image is a unique happening, resulting from the interaction between the artist and the materials.
Suminagashi is often used in Japan as a foundation on which calligraphers can scribe poetry - the art being to capture the meaning of the poem in the quality of the marbled pattern and the calligraphy used. Some of the finest examples of this work can be found within a set of poems dating from the 11th Century, presented to Emperor Shirakawa (reigned 1072-1086) for his sixtieth birthday in 1118.
Leon Conrad has been experimenting with Suminagashi marbling techniques for several years, pioneering techniques of transferring traditional ways of marbling on paper to fabric and exploring different ways of using the resultant works as starting points for embroidery.
He can introduce you to the history and ideas behind this stunning and captivating art form through the course of a lecture, covering the philosophy of and approach to the technique, the equipment and materials used and examples of finished work in various media.
1/2 day lecture and demonstration available as well as practical hands-on tuition in the form of 1 or 2-day courses.
PRECISION BLACKWORK
A lusciously rich and sumptuous traditional style blackwork design embellished with Citrine gemstones in 9k gold settings. The outline can be worked in counted thread technique, or as shown in stem outline stitch.
During this course you will learn how to stitch blackwork to die for. My approach in this course is to throw away the rule book and examine standard and non-standard ways of working blackwork anew.
Sharp needle, or blunt needle? Evenweave or block fabric? Should I use a backing fabric? But what if I want my blackwork to be reversible? What is the best stitch to use? Which filling patterns should I use if I want to do my own designs? Every one of the above choices has its pros and cons, and I will cover these, giving you the practical basis from which to make informed decisions about the choices you make in your own work.
The aim of this course is to help you achieve the best work you are capable of.
First taught at A Sampler Gathering, Plymouth, MASS (USA) organised by The Historic Needlework Guild April 2001.
WORKING WITH SPACE DYED THREADS
Gloriana's Garden. A class project which introduces new ways of using space dyed thread. The design is embellished with goldwork techniques: padded cutwork and couching.
You've seen them about - and probably used them. And there are more and more of them coming out on the market. This class project introduces new techniques I have devised in order to release some of the untapped potential of space dyed (over dyed) threads.
On this course, you will learn how to make these threads really sing out in your work. You will have the opportunity to handle and compare different threads and colour ranges from companies like The Thread Gatherer, Rainbow Gallery, Needle Necessities, The Caron Collection, Stef Francis, Pipers Silks, Olde Willow Stitchery and others (subject to availability) and learn about works by other designers who are also using space dyed threads in innovative ways.
By using these techniques, you will learn how to avoid the 'streaky bacon' effect which can be seen so often when these threads are used in conventional ways.
Hands-on tuition - 1/2 or 1-day courses.
First taught at A Sampler Gathering, Plymouth, MASS (USA) organised by The Historic Needlework Guild April 2001.
REVERSIBLE BLACKWORK BAND SAMPLER
A reversible band sampler in black silk and gold metal thread, embellished on both sides with gold coloured sequins and beads.
First taught at A Sampler Gathering, Plymouth, MASS (USA) organised by The Historic Needlework Guild April 2001.
Lectures and Day Courses Available
NEW:
Medieval Majesty – Symbolism of design in the pavements of cathedrals – a journey of enlightenment and discovery. Illustrated Lectures (not slides)
IN REPERTOIRE:
Arraiolos - The Embroidery of Portugal - Lectures and Workshops available
IN PREPARATION
The Age of Gold - The significance of gold in the Elizabethan age with an emphasis on the use of gold in embroideries of the time.
Email Leon Conrad for further details on fees, booking, availability and requirements.
Click on the
following graphics or headings to go to the page(s) of your choice
Suminagashi - The Japanese Art of Marbling on Paper and Fabric - Lectures and Workshops available
What didn't they get up to? 17th C English Embroidery Techniques - A slide lecture covering the history, techniques and background to one of the greatest ages of English Embroidery.
Blackwork Embroidery - Mystery, Magic and Symbolism - In preparation. Enquire about Lectures and Workshops.
Specialist
Book List
The Jewel
Stone
Series
Blackwork
Index
Blackwork
With a
Twist
Accessories
&
Threads
Cross Stitch
Index
Assisi,
etc.
The Gem-
stone
Series
Biography
&
Articles
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Contact details:
Website www.lcdesigns.co.uk
Email info@lcdesigns.co.uk