I made some darning samples a few weeks ago, inspired by the darning samples created by Ellen Mahon in her sampler book
I’ve never done darning before. I have mended clothes, obviously, but have never done ‘proper’ traditional darning, which is basically weaving. I am not a weaver. I had to draw a diagram to stop me getting confused about all the unders and overs.
I used a single strand of DMC embroidery thread on hand-dyed evenweave (32 count, I think). You can see that my attempts are nowhere near as fine as Ellen’s.
If you follow the instructions in nineteenth-century needlework manuals, you are supposed to leave a little loop at the end of each row to allow for shrinking in the wash. As these are only ever going to be decorative, I didn’t bother doing that. I tried a few different patterns, and made a few mistakes, but overall I think it will do. I was a bit concerned about the tension, as I didn’t use a hoop or frame, but a quick (careful) press with the iron seems to have sorted it out. The rather shoddy-looking example top right below was my first attempt.
This sample overall measures about 7″ square.
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It’s weaving really, so always so satisfying for me
For a non-weaver like me, a learning curve. Ha, a learning curve with straight lines… but very satisfying when it works, yes. I may make a sample book of weaving some time just for the extra practice.
Your samples look good. I tend to use darning for mending only, and it tends to be simple, rather than patterned. I might be brave and adventurous one of these days, inspired by what you’ve done!
I’d love to see it if you decide to have a go 🙂
Visible mending now on the list…
I found my way here from Jude’s Spirit Cloth sidebar of Ragmates … wondering if we have crossed paths before, but I’m not sure
anyway, your post brought to mind a post I wrote in my original blog shortly after discovering Spirit Cloth https://imgoingtotexas.blogspot.com/2015/02/stitch-in-time-tailoring-101.html
looking forward to future connections …
How lovely to see you here, Liz, thanks so much for visiting and for the connecting thread via your post 🙂 I’m sure our paths will have crossed at some point. I love your blog post and the wonderful fascinating catalogue of stitches and samples you created. I’m very much looking forward to continuing with mine, when my broken finger heals a little more. I’ve had a little setback but hopefully nothing too dramatic. My hands feel empty without a needle and thread in them.