Color My World With Embroidery

Color My World with Embroidery

By Maggie Walker

I have been crafting for decades. To choose a single craft is difficult, but becomes easy when it needs to involve the use of scissors. Embroidery and the constant changing of colors necessitates cutting the embroidery floss – a lot! You’d better have a pair, or two, or three close by if you don’t have a scissors sharpener handy when you are working on a huge project – or one that involves a lot of color.

My mom would always start my sisters and me on something fairly straightforward and easy. Color choice was always our own. My mother introduced us to the French based DMC embroidery floss because it would “shine” after countless washings. And it still does! These aprons were embroidered by me more than 50 years ago. They were pre-made and pre-stamped. My favorite color is blue and I figured the only way to get a blue rose, besides my imagination, was in needlework. (1&2)

I come from a very ethnic group from Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, Kansas, that was settled in the late 19th century. The people who settled there were mostly (closely) related and are proud of their Croatian heritage. As time went by, the older – but not too old – immigrants and their children wanted to embrace their traditions and decided to organize an orchestra of Croatian musical instruments, known as Tamburitzans, and they went all out.

Our mothers were tasked with making a “basic” costume for each of the musicians. For uniformity’s sake the costume committee made the boys’ costume of white full legged peasant pants, white peasant shirt and red vest.

The girls’ costumes are much more “elaborate” in a simplistic kind of way. It consists of three pieces: a blouse, a long skirt, and a long apron to cover the front of the skirt – to the bottom of the skirt. The sleeves, the bottom of the back of the skirt (the only part that showed) and the entire apron is embroidered.

The design of the costume is that it is the “special Sunday dress” so it would fit the girl from teenager to grave. It really is versatile enough to accommodate body changes over the years.

Different patterns were used for the blouse over the years and mine is raglan sleeved. I was in the second wave who joined the group in grade school. We had our own recital and I needed a costume so my mother put me to work. In the time allotted I was able to embroider a full sleeve and half of the other sleeve. There are lilacs, edelweiss, roses, lily pads, tulips, poinsettias, pansies, cacti, and little red flowers on the cuff. I can tell which full sleeve I did by the two colors of green on one of the cacti. It was not deliberate. Oops!

My older sister finished up the larger motifs on the second sleeve and then I finished up the little red flowers on the cuff. While I worked on the sleeves, my mother started on the motifs on the apron. She did a total of 19 (out of the 50) scattered around for the first recital so it would have color. My mom sewed it all together (blouse after embroidery, skirt and apron before embroidery) with the apron and skirt edged in red satin ribbon.

These costumes were long-term projects. Very, very long-term projects. I worked on mine for about three years or so. As I said, the blouse was done when first needed, but the apron has 50 motifs and the skirt has 10 motifs on the back of the skirt. It was indeed a labor of love. Pictures of each garment are included. By the time I graduated to the senior group, my costume was completed. I was 11 years old when I started and 14 by the time it was declared finished.

TA-DA: Here it is 50+ years later! (3)

I became an expert with French knots and lazy daisy stitches by the time I was done with all of those lilacs. I also became very proficient – and quick – to get them done.

And yes, it still does fit. Yes, there is a “to grow on” tuck on the skirt and apron, and no, I never had to let it out.

In high school the history lesson was about colonial America. Among quite a few other things, the teacher suggested a sampler, so that is what I did. After the assignment was done, my mom hung it in the dining room since it did seem appropriate for Thanksgiving dinners. It hung on the wall for 40 years. When I retrieved it, all my daughter saw was time and dust on it and asked me why I would want “that!” I ignored her and proceeded to clean it knowing it was on cotton fabric embroidered with DMC floss. After it was washed, dried, and re-starched, her attitude changed from sneering to amazement and admiration. It was sweet to be able to amaze her with something I had done so long ago. The one thing I could count on is the respect my daughter had for my handwork. She liked it and would ask for my help and advice on her own projects.

This is taken from the yearbook as it made in the book for posterity: (4)

Earlier I mentioned the “basic Croatian” costume is designed for use from teenager to adult. Well, I am involved in community theater. Quite a few years ago we performed The Sound of Music. This costume is perfect for the folk festival at the end of the play as Croatia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 19th century. When I told the director I already owned the costume and had access to the accessories, I got the part of “Agatha”, the soprano who bowed … and bowed … and bowed … It was a hoot to play the part and be period accurate.

After all of that embroidering, the rest of the family recognized me as the go to when needing that craft. My siblings create quilts for each other for 25th wedding anniversaries and 50th birthdays. For the 2nd brother’s 25th anniversary, the design was to incorporate the flowers of the month in embroidery into a tic-tac-toe pattern. I was able to locate a cohesive set of transfers for the flowers of the month. We all share the work: one sister cut the pieces for the quilt top and put them in order, I embroidered the motifs and sewed the quilt top, the other sisters did the quilting and binding. It was an amazing quilt when it was complete. (5)

I have made many “cup” towels over the years in many kinds of sets. I made birds for my mother-in-law 40 years ago, herbs for myself and a friend about 20 years ago, puppies (that looked like her dog) for my daughter 14 years ago as a wedding present, and lots more. Much later I made Scotty dogs for my mother-in-law. (6&7)

With all of the embroidery, scissors were an integral and handy tool to keep close by. These range in age from 10 to 40 years old. And the 40 year old ones are the ones in the blue package. When a tool comes in a specific package, I return it to its package for long term protection. The tools seem to last longer that way. [Can you say “anal retentive?” lol] (8)

I have come across many “shortcuts” and “tools” to assist in creating these wonderful works of art. Perhaps it is because I have been working with these items for so long that I look over the “new tool” and wonder how anyone can think it is an improvement. I recently found a way to transfer an embroidery pattern to fabric by a standard printer. My concern is that whatever I am making is rarely 8½” x 11” and there is either going to be a lot of waste or not big enough. I can trace and have the transfer pencils and a dry iron to set up my embroidery project. I guess the influence of my depression era born mother who had many conserving ways comes out when it comes to creating works of art.

Embroidery is an enhancement craft. It can be used as a stand-alone craft to create beautiful articles of clothing and decorations. It can also be used to enhance other crafts, such as crochet, and knitting. There is no limit for its use.

To add eyes: (9)

To add initials: (10)

To add dates: (11)

To add enhancements: (12)

To provide massive decorations on a blanket! (13)

And, of course, embroidery can be used to be inspiring. (14)

*All handwork was created by the author. Casey is an original work created as a gift for a UMKC graduate and cannot be copied due to Disney copyright. No money exchanged hands in the development of the pattern which was not written down or in the gifting to the graduate.