Recently, I noticed something connecting several of my projects. I keep finding inspiration in things humanity has achieved when we are not busy destroying each other — moments when people use knowledge, imagination and skill to do something that previously seemed impossible.
Jodie Foster is a reticulated python at Chester Zoo who developed cancer. When her tumour returned, vets at the zoo worked with specialists from the University of Liverpool to adapt a human cancer treatment for her. It became a world first.
And it worked.
I couldn’t watch the videos of the operation. Absolutely not. I would like to sleep at night.
Because there is another side to this project:
At the same time, I find them fascinating.
I can’t watch videos of snakes hunting, eating or sometimes simply moving around. But put me safely on the other side of the glass at a zoo and I can stand there for ages looking at their skin, patterns, colours and movement.
I also have plenty of my own photographs of snakes, taken over the years.
This project will celebrate Jodie Foster and the people whose knowledge and skill helped save her. But it will also be my own experiment in facing a phobia: looking properly at something I find frightening and turning it into something beautiful.
A bag. And not just a convenient surface on which to put some embroidery
The bag itself needs to be worth making.
If you have taken one of my courses before, you know that I spend quite a lot of time looking at fashion references before developing a project.
I’ve actually been looking at snake motifs in couture embroidery for quite a while. If you’re curious about some of the fashion references, you can read my article Snake Motifs in Couture Embroidery.
If we are going to invest this much work into embroidery, I don’t want the final result to look like an easy craft project, a Primark accessory or a granny bag
I want a bag that feels current and that you would genuinely want to wear.
The exact shape is still being developed, but this time I am also planning to create my own bag pattern for the project.
There will be a lot of it.
At the moment I’m planning significant, almost full-surface embroidery, with the snake motif becoming part of the bag .
That also means this will not be a project requiring a couple of tubes of beads and a scrap of fabric.
I cannot give you an exact materials list or quantities yet because the design does not exist yet. I’m saying this now simply so you know the scale of the project before deciding whether it is for you.
Possibly, but I don’t expect this to be a machine-heavy project
Something tells me that the construction I have in mind is going to involve quite a lot of hand stitching. A sewing machine may still be useful for certain stages, but I’ll know that only once I start developing and testing the actual bag.
Not immediately
At the moment there is a snake, an idea, a pile of my own references and quite a lot still to figure out
I need to design the embroidery, experiment with materials, develop the bag itself, make the pattern and work out the construction before I can teach any of it.
If we manage to start making it before Christmas, we will be doing very well.
So for now, I’m thinking of this as a project for Valentine’s Day.
Appropriate, perhaps, for something about fear, fascination and learning to love a snake.
With A Hook — Preferably. But A Needle Is Possible
Technically, this kind of embroidery can be done in both ways — with a regular needle or with a Luneville hook.
For the amount of embroidery I’m planning, however, the hook makes much more sense. It is faster, cleaner and particularly useful when you need to cover a large surface with beads and sequins.
So I will be developing this project using Luneville embroidery.
If you already use the hook, great.
If you don’t, you have plenty of time to learn before we start. My Luneville embroidery courses will give you the skills you’ll need for a project like this.
If you are completely new to the technique,
Joining doesn’t commit you to buying the course. It simply means you’ll hear about the project as it develops and you’ll be the first to know when I have dates, materials, price and the final bag to show you.
For now, I’m going to face the snake.