Saturday 17 May 2014

Inspirations magazine 81

I finally got my hands on a copy of issue 81 of Inspirations magazine. Turns out my contributor's copy - kindly sent by Ellaine on the editorial team to all the contributors featured in each edition - was held up at customs. 



It had been opened, pawed through and held in custody for what I presume was quite a while as it came out in February and the next issue is almost due out. But I was so glad to finally see my latest project for the magazine in print. It's one thing to see a pic of the styled embroidery online, but quite another to see it all beautifully photographed and laid out in the paper version, something Inspirations does so well.

If you're a fan of the magazine and you live anywhere in the First World, read no further. But if by chance you've also only just gotten hold of a copy or aren't familiar with the publication, see if you can find the issue. It's filled with floral projects of all shapes, styles and sizes, including a contemporary wool blanket by Anna Scott embroidered in a gorgeous colourway of mostly blues and reds.


The attention to detail from the editorial team - from the styling to the photography to the layout to the little added extras - is one of things I admire about the magazine. Even though a lot of the projects are quite traditional in style and colour, there's always something to learn: a new stitch or interesting way of working a design. And it's filled with insight into the working of stitches, including diagrams and instructions on things like how best to fuse your applique shapes to the background fabric:


The project I contributed to this issue, Petal Power, combines applique with embroidery and because it's not always easy to find the same or similar fabric, there's a handy section on how to create your own colourway of fabric and thread:


I know for a fact that at least one person in England and another in France has been embroidering this project, with a few maybes here in South Africa. It's been designated a project for "practising" different surface stitches as it has a fair few incorporated into the design, and has the added element of embroidered applique. If you're keen to give it a go but don't want the hassle of finding the right thread colours, you can buy a thread pack from publisher Country Bumpkin:


And if you do decide to stitch up this project, I'd love to see your version, so don't be shy about sending some pics. The magazine is available in print and digital editions and you can get your copy here.

4 comments:

Nicole Follow the White Bunny said...

Looks like a beautiful project and Anna's blanket (if that's the one on the cover) looks wonderful too!

Anonymous said...

That's such a lovely project and I really like the way the magazine has gone about promoting it too. :o)

Kelly Fletcher said...

Thanks, Nicole! And yes, it is Anna's blanket on the cover.

Kelly Fletcher said...

Thanks so much. They take so much care with all their project submissions, which is great for the embroidery designers.