Addison Embroidery
at the
Vicarage

Embroidered cornflower

The last week has gone so quickly and with the general election approaching I am back in London supporting the political journalists – daughter and son-in-law – for whom working days of 19 hours have become the rule rather than the exception and whose home is as often as not a bed in a hotel in Cornwall, Wales or Scotland. Sometimes, if they’re lucky they even find themselves in the same city where they can share a hotel bed together. Opinion  poles are rapidly becoming those things we dare not mention and, considering that the 1 % or 2 % points that separate the two main parties is well within the accepted margin or error (+ or – 3 %),  we shouldn’t be paying them much attention anyway. But probably I missing nuances here.

Reiss top with embroidered cornflower

So, just a little post here showing a repair job. This Reiss top is much loved but it had been spoiled by  a couple of unsightly brown stains, which try as I might I couldn’t remove. The fabric was not especially easy to work on so the cornflower is a bit bumpy but the recipient is happy. The garment has been washed and the embroidery hasn’t puckered, so that’s good. It’s not as if it’ll be worn for a special occasion so ok is good enough.

VS whitework monogram (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

On Wednesday, the vicar gave an afternoon talk in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. These talks are very good not only in terms of intellectual content but also because they do a rather good half-time tea (choice of various teas or very good proper coffee and big slabs of lemon drizzle cake) which is just what’s needed if you’ve spent the earlier part of the day haring round the shops picking up all those irritating things not to be found locally (tracing paper/Parker ball point pen refills/Paperchase loose leaves for their brown paper files/industrial cat bell for the new flea collar, etc.).

VS whitework monogram (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

Quite drowsy as the bus home neared Wallingford I was suddenly roused to meerkat alertness by the unexpected sight of a fully blooming wisteria almost completely covering a double fronted cottage in Crowmarsh Gifford – a sight I wasn’t expecting for another 2-3 weeks, at least. Now I am very partial to a wisteria and this year I have been on particular alert for their flowering so that I could blog a wisteria embroidered coat from last year along with the real thing.

VS whitework monogram: detail (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

Full of enthusiasm when home I tapped away on my lap top, rattling out brief explanations of wisteria symbolism in The Tale of Genji (see here for previous mention of the book), praising Enchanted April which begins with an advert promising “wistaria (sic) and  sunshine ” (the film of which is – dare I say it – better even than the book), etc., etc. Having pretty much finished the text I went off to find the photos I took last August of daughter No 2 wearing the wisteria embroidered coat I made for daughter No 1 (it’s so hard to have the right daughter, the specific bit of clothing, me and the camera all available in the one place at the same time…)  But … woe, woe, woe … no photos to be found anywhere … Well, at least I have now discovered which photos I lost when last year I did my bungled transference of photos to the external hard drive. So, no wisteria coat for the time being.

VS whitework monogram: detail (hand embroidered by Mary Addison)

Returning to plan A, I continued with my second SV monogram. You may remember, a  couple of weeks ago, I did a brightly coloured stripey SV (Christian name and surname) for one person and I enjoyed the letters so much (especially the S which is a truly great initial) that I promoted another SV up my to do list. This one is for a wedding anniversary in July and obviously consists of 2 initials for two people. I’ve placed the initials slightly differently from before. I also wanted something elegant and timeless and to this end settled on a background of two branches of bay leaves bound together – a design inspired by inlaid woodwork found in the choir of S. Maria in Organo, Verona (se below). As we all know, the leaves of the bay laurel remain evergreen and never decay and when such symbolism is applied to a couple’s love for each other it must be just about one of the nicest wishes you could make.

Note to self: I used Anchor No 2 Stranded Mouliné which I really like as it appears very creamily pearl like on white linen – the photographs don’t capture the shade at all. Must order more.