Embroidery

Today I saw FB friend, Velma Bolyard's post about embroidering on paper.  It reminded me to dig out an embroidery project that I started awhile ago.

I was looking into "semamori," which is a Japanese custom of embroidering an amulet or good luck symbol on the back, under the collar, of a child's kimono.

I found several samples on the internet.  The photos below are from srithreads.com

 I was able to get this book from Japan-

I started practicing a few stitches on my own.  The background paper is watercolor paper which I had dyed some paintings on years ago, and decided to cut up for cards.

Here are some semamori with assorted threads.

You are supposed to sew the design in a certain order, but I wasn't always able to figure that out.

So, armed with inspiration from textile artists Emily Barletta  and Helen Parrott, I got out my hand spun paper yarn with copper leaf, and a piece of indigo dyed watercolor paper.  http://emilybarletta.com/section/204626-paper.html
http://helenparrott.co.uk/

Here's the piece I embroidered today.  It's not quite finished. I'm trying to decide about a stitch on the edges.

It's approximately 10 in. by 10 in.