Blackwork tutorial

So I've been tooling along, talking about blackwork and sharing my patterns, thinking everything is hunky dory. Suddenly it hits me. I never explained what blackwork was. Yeah, there are a thousand sites that tell the story of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII, and Holbein. And yeah, there are some really great tutorials out there with wonderful diagrams. Why should I reinvent the wheel? I'm not, really. I'm just consolidating information, making it easier for you when you come to visit. And…

Ok, thanks to the response on my last post, I thought I'd round up the information on blackwork a little. I wanted to do Blackwork with my Stitch and Surface students because I think it's an amazingly beautiful technique. I'd never done it before myself, though, so it was a bit of an ambitious project. However, once in the thick of things I discovered... Blackwork isn't that hard!! You can get amazing results VERY easily. Start with a photo or drawing that has a range of lights and darks. I…

Following up on adding blackwork to the spot sampler, I thought I’d post some of the simple patterns I doodled for the lesson on blackwork. The first one here is a leafy corner, just in time for autumn (on this side of the world). Of course, if you imagine the leaves green, it could also ...

Blackwork or Spanish Blackwork is a form of embroidery using black silk on white or off-white linen. Learn more and get free designs here.

Blackwork embroidery is easy! If you have a few minutes I can show you how: First, gather your materials: Colourful silk or cotton floss (blackwork doesn’t have to be black) Aida or Evenweave…

Discover How to Do Blackwork: Is a stitch outline necessary for all blackwork projects or can it be left off to create an elegant, subtle design?

How I approached the blending of blackwork stitches to smoothly transition from one pattern to another in my RSN certificate piece.