Katie, Author at Arnolds Attic

17th April 201528th October 2020

Game of Thrones – The Embroidery of Michele Carragher

I’ve been a fan of HBO’s Game of Thrones for many years and have taken a keen interest in the show’s costumes. I knew very little about the creative mind behind them until I stumbled upon an opportunity to meet London based Michele Carragher, the Embroiderer on a Game of Thrones.

Specialising in hand embroidery and surface design, her work is breath taking. She layers detail on detail, bead work, fabric painting, brocade, thread, applique and then adds textile manipulation to create exquisite pieces of art.

Michele Carragher

Game of Thrones – House Stark

Michele’s embroidery is incorporated into garments, cloaks in addition to the iconic collars from Game of Thrones.

A large piece of cloth is stitched with lots of hand embroidery before being cut away and assembled into a finished collar.

Each collar has it’s own emblem. The Fish Crest from House Stark is embellished on this piece.

Markmaking

Michele’s work also utilises techniques and skills gained whist working in textile restoration.

The starting point for the following designs is lightweight organza and muslin fabrics. Hand drawn lines mark the way ready for the application of embroidery and bead work. The finished garment is then layered and appliqued with the cut away designs.

This embroidery appears on the dress of Myrcella Baratheon in Season 5

Embroidery Short Cuts

Patterned and pre-embellished fabrics, lace and brocades are used as a starting point for some of her pieces. Michele explained that this is sometimes taken as a shortcut for selected garments which are unlikely be seen up close on camera. Each fabric is further embellished with even more bead work and embroidery.

Daenerys Targaryen

Each character has garments themed around their own personality. This includes the choice of colour and the type of technique used to create the design. This piece was made for Daenerys Targaryen and includes her iconic Dragon scales.

Game of Thrones and the White Walker

If you’ve enjoyed this gorgeous Stitchery and want to see more embroidery from Game of Thrones, check out Michele’s website.

There’s also a detailed blog post about the White Walker and the Hardhome Embroidery.

*** Update: There’s a new book available, all about the stunning Game of Thrones Costumes from Season 1 through to Season 8 !

Game of Thrones: The Costumes: The official costume design book of Season 1 to Season 8 Book

8th April 201530th June 2018

Hand Embroidery Samples 6 ….. Chain Stitch

Chain stitch is another stitch I have used for many years but had never thought about it in any other way other than in a line or for writing lettering (curves). Experimenting was fantastic. This is a sample of Chain Stitch on Irish Linen using threads including DMC stranded embroidery thread, silk, variegated wool, Appleton Tapestry wool, hand dyed linen, Sylko 50 weight cotton sewing thread and imitation silk.

The following experimental sample was created on hessian mounted onto calico, with threads including silk weaving yarn (on the cone) from Stephen Walters Silk Weavers, Madeira Lame, Appleton Crewel wool and hand dyed linen.

I hope you are inspired to have a play with threads and experiment too!

31st March 20154th July 2018

Colour theory using a colour wheel – make one yourself!

Before starting my embroidery course I had very little experience of using a colour wheel. The style of work I create is mainly self taught and I have become accustomed to using my own instincts when it comes to mixing and matching colour. If it feels ok then I used it.
One thing I hadn’t accounted for was my own colour tastes. There are selections of colours that I always gravitated towards – colours I feel comfortable with – colours that have influenced my work.

I would like to share with you what I have gleaned from making my own colour wheel.
A colour wheel can be made of anything you like – paint, crayons, paint charts from the DIY store or even clipping from magazines. I made mine from paint.
What ever you chose, ensure the colours are of the same tonal value or shade. Red, blue and yellow are the primary colours which are mixed in equal quantities to make the secondary colours; ie red and yellow to make orange. I used my Sizzix Big Shot and a Tag die to cut out the tag shapes.
It wasn’t until I made this wheel that the fear about the ‘unknown knowledge behind a colour wheel’ became clear. Complimentary colours appear as opposites on the wheel, and by mixing white or black with a colour you change its tonal value. To expand your knowledge, there are other things you can look into, for instance triad, tetrad or split complimentary colours, but I will leave this for you to seek out on your own.

The next thing to look at is how the primary colour hues work with each other, this is red, blue and yellow all in the same tone; which might explain why some embroidery and fabric combinations work better than others; ie working with blue thread on a red fabric will not have the same clarity or impact that a blue thread has when worked on yellow fabric. I have always ‘auditioned’ thread with fabric to see if it works for me. The primary hue theory explains why some of my initial choices have required changing for threads with more clarity.

Finally, an exercise which was rather enlightening.
I started a small box of magazine clippings, collecting colours I liked which I made into a collage.
I collected these pieces of colour over a period of three weeks and was quite astounded at what I ended up with – a definite slant in my colour choice.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and hope you have a go yourself.

Author: Katie