German Schwalm Teaching Project
The Princess Pillow

This class is intended to be an introduction to Schwalm, and will step the student through some of the basic stitches commonly found in this type of embroidery. The heart shape is surrounded by rows of chain stitches and coral knots, accented by the herringbone stitch. The inner area of the heart uses a "rose" filling pattern. To complete the design, coral knot tendrils link the other design segments. A variety of flowers are created using the chain stitch, standard eyelet, elongated eyelet and Brussels flower stitch. The 5" X 5" project can be inserted in a box top, or used as a small doily.

A kit will be provided with the design pre-marked on the fabric. The ground cloth used is very firm linen, commonly used in Europe for Schwalm embroidery. Multiple weights of a soft cotton thread are used within the project to emphasize certain areas. The white-on-white class model was finished as a pillow insertion, but there is sufficient fabric provided for the project to be completed as a box top, or small doily.

This will be a fast-moving class. Because of the number of topics to cover, the student should have some prior experience with other forms of free-form embroidery, such as "plain old embroidery", Crewel, Hedebo, Shisha, or other surface embroidery.

During class, there will be a review / introduction to the processes unique to surface embroidery – marking methods, wrapping a hoop, dressing the hoop, how to change the size of a design, tips on fiber/fabric selection. The course material provides many tips and tricks about this technique, including a discussion of how to adapt the stitches to other types of projects. A list of additional reference material for future study will be provided.

Stitches included in the project: Chain stitch, Coral Knots, Elongated Buttonhole stitch, Eyelets, and Herrignbone Stitch. The fillings used include the Rose stitch filling (a classic Schwalm filling), and the Waffle filling.

Student supplies to bring to class: Standard stitching tools, a medium sized hoop (6" to 7") with the inner hoop padded or wrapped.

This intensive, fast–moving, class will be held: