Monograms and hem stitches

Picture from Google

Together  - a foursome of  creative friends -  we take it in turn to cook for each other. Once we used to be very creative. These days we freak out over Easter and Christmas floral decorations only. Being busy and being occupied with all kinds of things we generally meet up over dinner, catch up on our lives, gossip a little bit, and have a good glass of wine to go with the lovely food we cook for each other.

Is it not great that an invitation for a Chinese hotpot dinner can be the inspiration for a post on my blog?!

  

So, it was party time yesterday. My friend nicely laid the table with inherited table linen with hand embroidered monograms. Her aunt would have been so proud to see it being used on the table. It is machine hem stitched, but the monograms ‘RV’ are done by hand. It gives such a personal touch to the linen.

Draw work or hem stitching is one of my favourite techniques to use on hand embroidered table cloths. My Easter, Christmas and summer linens all have various handstitched hems. 

This small sampler, using an embroidery book as a guide when I first made it, is an inspiration on next projects. Maybe it should be framed, instead of being kept as a bookmark in the embroidery book?

  The picture below is of a placemat made by ladies who work for ‘Arbeid Adelt’, a group of women who make beautiful items in aid of charity. Just a drawn hem and just a few rows of embroidery make this item delightful to use, either on the breakfast table or on a tray.