{"id":2445,"date":"2025-09-19T07:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T12:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trulyclaire.com\/test\/?p=2445"},"modified":"2025-09-19T08:04:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T13:04:39","slug":"entering-the-world-of-tambour-embroidery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trulyclaire.com\/test\/entering-the-world-of-tambour-embroidery\/","title":{"rendered":"Entering the World of Tambour Embroidery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rabbit hole began when I saw the film Brodeuses<\/em>. It\u2019s a story about a teenage girl, Claire, who finds comfort and friendship in embroidery while navigating the challenges of an unwanted pregnancy. There is one scene in the film when she turns over her work that took my breath away. It was then I began reading and studying up on it; daydreaming about enrolling at Lesage\u2019s school in Paris, and thinking of all of the beautiful things I could make with a lot of time and a some chainstitching. I added a tambour hook set and embroidery frame to my wishlist and let it sit for about a decade. Then one year my mother surprised me with a tension frame and my eldest goddaughter surprised me with a set of hooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time I thought that I\u2019d begin practicing this embroidery technique right away, but several years passed before I gave it any real attention. I\u2019m not sure all of the reasons why I didn\u2019t begin once I had all the tools. I believe that while it was something I wished for, I decided that other things needed my time and mental energy more. I also didn\u2019t have easy access to quality reference material but over the years I satisfied my interest by watching snippets of the technique that I could find on social media from design houses like Dior, McQueen, and Elie Saab and gobbling up videos from Shakeel FYM<\/a> on YouTube to learn what I could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brodeuses<\/em>, 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Tambour Hook and Needles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Brodeuses<\/em>, 2004<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tambour Hook and Needles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It seems that in the past 15 years interest in tambour along with other hand crafts has grown and with it so have resources and reference materials. For my birthday this year a friend gave me a copy of Tambour Beading Techniques and Projects<\/em> by Hannah Mansfield. A month or so ago, by happy chance, while browsing the stacks of my local library, I found Bead Embroidery Chinese Style<\/em> by Han Yu with a beautiful shot of a tambour hook and work on the cover. And then about two weeks ago I learned about the book Tambour Work<\/em> by Yusai Fukuyama from a video by creator Olsjona<\/a>. I searched it up and saw it was a rare book with copies fetching over $200 in some cases. But lucked out and found it for $12.50 at Ashland Book Exchange<\/a>! It came in the mail a few days later and I was over the moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With these books on hand and an abundance of videos online like never before, I felt like I had more than enough to get started. So last month while I had some time away from DayJob\u2122, I decided I was ready to dedicate the time needed to bring this from theory and imagination to real life. With a bit of silk organza and common sewing thread I set about practicing. Prepping the fabric, getting the correct tension on the frame, and building the muscle memory for creating the stitches takes time to build comfort and speed, and I\u2019m enjoying the process. The more I practice the easier it gets of course<\/em> plus I get the added benefit of it being a kind of meditation. I can simply focus on the work in front of me and everything else on my mind seems to fade away kind of like what it does for Claire in Brodeuses<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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These books are all available brand new at Lacis<\/a>. Both the Lacis and Ashland Book Exchange<\/a> websites look like like they are stuck in 1999 but while they may look dated, they each are a treasure trove. Ashland Book Exchange is a used books retailer and they only had one copy of Tambour Work<\/em> when I purchased mine. They are worth checking out.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Whether the style be in the Chinese tradition, French tambour, or Indian aari work I can\u2019t get enough of hook embroidery. I have some low stakes projects in mind that I\u2019d like to start soon to further my practice: an embroidered sleeping mask, a beaded\/sequin patch, and an embroidered cut work shawl. I think I\u2019ll begin the sleep mask soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additional Resources<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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