Embroidery is one of my travel hobbies, that is when stuck in airports, on on those ridiculously long commute to a dance event (it once took me over 15hrs each way to get from Cork to Torquay!)
I have been working on a few projects in 2020, and even complete a tablecloth for a friend (pictured above, please note the middle picture is the kit image as I forgot to take a completed work photo), and I had supper crafter motivation, completing the cloth during the evening over a 2 weeks. Which is some feat since like any handcrafter I have some unfinished projects which have been sitting for years unfinished . though normally these contain some cross stich elements, and I really don't like that stich and try to avoid it where I can,
Ultimately I want to make myself a Piano Shawl, with embroidered motifs for different things that happen in my life, like a stitched charm bracelet. I This will be my Big project which I plan to begin in 2021, when my world starts turning again. I also need to gather and research the materials for crafting, of the shall itself, including some thick Silk fabric, fringing, beads and robins, as well as various colours of threads and fine silk embroidery needles.
There is very little information out there about how to make a piano shawl, or how the Victorians (1839-1901) made their beautiful silk ones, and as the most expensive, and most important part of the project will be the 1.5m square piece of silk for the base, I will need to read up on the various types of silk, to find the best medium to heavy weight fabric, with a even weave, that drapes well, (Silk Gabardine?). In the mean time I will be making a Test Piano shawl, on a cotton, as well as embroidering my dance shoe bags which came as a gift with my last purchase of Balboa Zin shoes, and I am determined to finish my yellow daisy motif table cloth, even if its full of cross stitch, as its been in my to finish pile for over 3yrs
I had to look up what a piano shawl is. They look amazing, I really like how you plan on making a personalised memory one.