This article is for the benefit of the students who will be attending my workshops in Australia, you should be able to access your preparatory notes today. Please pass this onto anyone you know who is attending a workshop in April, and of course it may be of interest to others.
One of the stipulations when attending a needle painting workshop is that you bring with you a magnifying lamp – I thought I should explain this further. Even if you have almost perfect eyesight, or magnifying specs or great prescription specs, you will not see the individual stitches of your embroidery without the help of a magnifying lamp. The essential word here is LIGHT. Even if you have good magnification without light it is virtually useless.
I spent many years doing long & short stitch without a magnifying lamp and when I finally acquiesced I could not believe the difference it made! Everything became clear and I was horrified when I looked at my previous stitching to see that I had gaps and overlapping stitches all over the place. Once you have used a magnifying lamp you will never look back, it is the best investment you will ever make, and if you are serious about needle painting embroidery it is essential.
I had a lady who came to me for lessons she was insistent that she could do her embroidery without the help of a magnifying lamp. For months she struggled, got frustrated and eventually said “Trish what am I doing wrong?”. I asked her to use my magnifying lamp for the morning and see how she got on……………… the difference was like night and day and her work improved dramatically from that time on.
Many students arrive at a class armed with what they think is a magnifying lamp but actually it is just the mini cousin of the real thing! These are what you should not bring:
Choose The Right Light. By magnifying lamp I mean either a floorstanding or portable daylight magnifying lamp with at least 12/15w and minimum of 3.5″ lens. The work area should be large enough for you to see most of your project through. The larger ones that have a floor stand are great for home use but not necessarily convenient for lugging to workshops so you may prefer to get yourself a portable one.
Recommended. If I had to recommend one light that does it all I would say go for the Purelite. It has the option of both mains or battery which is great for workshops as no cords in the way, but is also large enough to use at home. I use the purelite with the table clamp for workshops and battery pack.
Here are some examples of magnifying lamps that are good for workshops:
Here are some links of available magnifying lamps in Australia here.
This site is offering 30% off here.
IF you are coming from another country such as the USA you may want to consider purchasing a purelite with battery from Amazon UK here:
Hope this makes it all clear for you and please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions.
Trish