I little bit of restoration....

This is a peg doll I bought off E-bay. Unfortunately his highway man days looked like they had seen better days so I thought I would put him right. He had been glued, and the glue was showing through. The jacket has also comefree as had his hat and the base,

I took everything off that would come off easily and remade a waist coat in a new piece of felt. I remade the piece exactly and sewed it back on instead of gluing. In hindsight I should have given the new waistcoat more felt to give myself something more to stitch into. I sewed the bead buttons onto the jacket to secure them (also glued on), then redressed him. He had only one pistol remaining so i fashioned another one just like the first out of a matchstick. 

The finished result:

A busy time

I came back from a successful trip America to go almost straight to Winchester to teach Jacobean embroidery for Embroidery Now.

The level of experience of the 8 students was quite high, but I think everyone went home with some new knowledge. Took the opportunity to have a look around Winchester and was lucky enough to see an embroidery exhibition and separate quilt exhibition both on in Winchester library (Winchester Discovery Centre). There were some fabulous old quilts including one reported to have been stitched by Jane Austen:

Jane Autsen is buried in Winchester Cathedral, and while there it is worth checking out Antony Gormley's 'Sound II' art installation in the crypt:

To see what else is being taught in Winchester, have a look at http://www.embroiderynow.co.uk/. Classes are soon to start in Brighton also if you find yourself in that neck of the woods.