Hand and Lock Embroidery

Embroidering A Rain Soaked Red Rose

Last month Hand & Lock collaborated with the London based artist Kirstie Macleod on her project entitled ‘Art Dubai’. The project revolved around a spectacular burgundy dress that had been hand and machine embroidered by craftspeople all around the world. All of the artists and embroiderers involved were given the statement ‘a rain soaked red rose left forgotten on a pavement’ to draw inspiration from and develop designs of embroidery that would portray this. Once completed, the beautifully embroidered dress was then worn as an integral part of a performance which was held in Dubai from 15th – 22nd March 2009.

Hand & Lock were commissioned to embroider the front bodice panels, underside of the collar, the cuffs and the scalloped hem of the skirt, which consisted of a huge 14 metres of luxurious silk taffeta. Using Hand & Lock’s extensive archive and Kirstie’s statement, Studio Manager Sana Uddin, chose to draw from organic shapes using flowers, leaves and vines for the embroidery design. The design would also reflect a quintessential English look, which would stand apart from the other embroidery. Keeping this traditional look in mind, Hand & Lock decided that deep greens, burgundy, dark violets and musty antique golds would be also ideal to create the feeling of a ‘rain soaked rose’.

The majority of the embroidery for the bodice and collar panels was Irish satin stitch combined with a single line of gold Cornely chain stitch. The chain stitch worked as an outline and appeared striking against the pre-embroidered burgundy fabric. The cuffs and skirt were embroidered with deep violet and burgundy Cornely chain stitch, which followed the scalloped hem of the fabric. The chain stitch made the hem bolder whilst also making a connection between the skirt, cuffs, bodice and collar. Using the pre-embroidered burgundy as a base, Hand & Lock developed and elaborated the repeat design by embroidering shades of violets on top of the gold embroidery. Once all our embroidery had been completed, the panels were then sent away to Beirut for the next part of their embroidery journey!

For more details about similar commissions, please contact Sana at  sana@handembroidery.com

Posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 | Read on: Events, In the press, News |
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