This weekend I enjoyed the 2022 wool journey with my wool traveling club. The five members traveled from near and far to the small village of Dala-Floda where the påsöm embroidery technique has its origin and bloom. Have a peak at the påsöm embroidery wool journey!
The wool traveling club started in 2014 and had its first journey in 2015 to Shetland for Shetland wool week. Since then we find locations we can reach without flying. This was the first time all five of us could make it.
The påsöm tradition
Dala-Floda (or Floda which is the local name) is widely known for its traditional costumes and, especially for the very rich embroidery technique called påsöm. “På” means on or on top of and “söm” means seam, so a seam on top of something. The something has traditionally been broadcloth and two-end knitted items.
Our teacher for the course, Anna-Karin Jobs Arnberg has a master craftsman’s diploma in embroidery. She is also very knowledgeable when it comes to the costume and textile traditions in the area. Her day job is as operation manager and antiquarian at the Dalarna museum. She also teaches påsöm embroidery, costume traditions and other textile techniques in her own business, Flodaros.
The påsöm technique is relatively modern, it came with the zephyr yarns and synthetic dyes in the mid-19th century. Embroidery was common in the area before that, but the yarns and the dyes marks a significant change in the expression of the technique. During the national romantic area women were hired as påsöm embroideresses.
Traditionally påsöm has not been practiced with embroidery hoops. Instead the material has simply been pinned onto the skirt of the embroideress. When I got home from the course I dug out my sewing hook that worked very nicely with the broadcloth material.
The wool traveling club took a short field trip to the Dala-Floda costume parts second hand shop. It was the sweetest shed-sized store filled to the roof with cuffs, hats, suspenders, skirt hems, baby slings, tie- on pockets, jackets and watch pockets – all parts of the traditional Dala-Floda costume.
The påsöm yarn and the stitch
The yarn typically used for påsöm is a very loosely spun 4-ply merino yarn in rich and vibrant colours. The stitch with the blooming yarn is supposed to fill out the motif and create a bulky, almost three dimensional look. As I was afraid to ruin the expression of the embroidery and as I am not a reliable dyer, I stayed away from trying to spin and dye my own påsöm yarn. I use the Flodarosyarn that Anna-Karin has dyed.
Nearly all the stitches for flowers and leaves are made in double satin stitches while the stalks and occasional borders are made in stem stitches. The surface underneath the satin stitch areas doesn’t show.
Sewing the airy 4-ply yarn with the double satin stitch results in a spongy, cushiony surface, like a patch of moss on a spruce stump in a newly rained conifer forest. I want to stop and gently soak my hands in it, greet and smell its royal mossiness, just like I do when I do get to the forest and find that sweet mossy spruce stump.
Transferring the pattern
There is a set of flowers and leaves that have traditionally been used for påsöm embroideries. Anna-Karin had made both templates and stencils for us to play with and find a composition that worked with the påsöm expression and the embroidered item.
A wool surface can be very fuzzy in the world of a pen and difficult to stick to. Anna-Karin showed us how to first make a sketch on the surface and refine it with an erasable pen. Once we felt happy with the composition and placement we could mark the final pattern and inside lines with a permanent pen.
The påsöm nitty-gritty
Påsöm has its foundation in a winding flower stalk. All the leaves, buds and flowers have a relation to that stalk, making the impression of a bouquet of flowers. The flowers – like dahlias, roses, pansies and lilies of the valley – usually have several colours. Sometimes a tinting technique is used to create the transition between darker and lighter.
The motif fills out as much as possible of the surface (usually broadcloth) to create an abundance. Lots of reds and pinks together with the leafy greens, but sometimes also blues and purples and perhaps accentuating yellows and whites.
The projects
I had several ideas for påsöm embroidery. The one I picked for the course was a broadcloth tie-on pocket. If you look at the pictures of the inspiration Anna-Karin brought to the class you can see several tie-on pockets with abundant påsöm embroidery. I used these as an inspiration for my own pocket. I also brought a handspun nalbinding hat that I had waulked, to get inspiration for pattern transferring and design.
My very first påsöm project that I did a couple of years ago was a yoga mat in needle punch felt. A difficulty then was that I couldn’t get a marker to stick to the fabric, so I had to free-form the flowers on the material. I brought a piece of needle punch felt to the course to find a way to transfer the pattern to it without having to improvise it.
Ellinor decided to embroider a broadcloth sample patch. She had her three month old baby with her and didn’t have the opportunity to embroider as much as the rest of us. We didn’t mind taking the baby every now and then, though.
Boel and Anna started on broadcloth bags of different sizes and Kristin had knit and felted a sweater that she embroidered on.
The setting
The Dala-Floda inn is a pearl in the Dalecarlia landscape. A garden not much different from a botanical garden – plants of all shapes, sizes and foliages form sweet rooms to discover. Carefully tended with skilled hands and hearts. Organic and locally grown food cooked with love is on the menu. The interior equally sweetly and thoughtfully planned. All about the inn breathes sincerity and warmth.
I practiced my early morning yoga at 6.30 am in the garden, filling my lungs and my whole system with the cool September air and the sweet garden view.
The company
One of the best parts of going on a wool journey with the wool traveling club is of course the company. Some of us don’t see each other at all during the rest of the year, so when we meet there is a lot to catch up on. For a couple of days we bathe in each other’s relationships, children work and play. Crafting helps bring the conversation deeper and despite the short time we spend together we manage to find truly meaningful and deep conversations. We are sisters in craft. I always go home with a mixed feeling of sheer joy of the company and desperately missing them.
Thank you sweet sisters in craft, I learn so much from you. We are already planning our 2023 and 2024 wool journeys and I can’t wait for them.
Pending påsöm projects
I’m back home now, embroidering away on my tie-on pocket. I hope to get the hat ready before winter. I also want to try some påsöm on two-end knitted material. Påsöm embroidery has been common on especially mittens. You can check out some lovely church going mittens in my blog post about an earlier wool journey. I have finished spinning a two-end knitting yarn for mittens, but I need to spin some more before I can start knitting and embroidering.
I also have a pair of unfinished two-end knitted jacket sleeves that I would love to decorate with påsöm embroidery.
Regarding the needle punch felt material I have plans to make a sweet… no, wait, that’s a secret.
If you are a patron (or decide to become one) there is a video postcard from the wool journey available.
Happy spinning!
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Hello Josefin! So interesting, your entire blog. I, too, created a small group of fiber friends (sisters in craft… is much more accurate) that meets weekly, just 7 of us, but 3 of us are really the core. We all come from different disciplines of fiber crafts, and share our knowledge between us. We meet in homes, celebrate birthdays, are retired, and enjoy our 2 hrs per week. We just finished a small series on dyeing with Japanese indigo plants, and other natural dyes. I have been thinking of an annual retreat we could do and like your idea of hiring someone to teach something new or a new skill of a craft we have some experience with.
And, I love the påsöm embroidery. My mom did a pair of mittens for me, long ago, with very similar embroidery. I’ve promised myself to learn that and do another pair. I have knit a pair of Swedish mittens from a kit (white with bands of blue, red and yellow) and think I will add the päsöm embroidery to those mittens. Currently knitting a Norwegian pair of mittens and matching hat. I will also try the two-ended knitting using direction from the Swedish book on Twined knitting.
You inspire me and others to reach beyond our current skills. Thank you. I must become a Patreon.
That sounds like a lovely group and tradition! Once a week, that’s wonderful. We only meet (planned) on our annual wool journey, we live in so different parts of Sweden. But there is a beauty in that too. A three-day wool bath in each other’s company, learning all about each other’s lives for a few days and then keep each other in our minds for the rest of the year.
Here is a link to the Swedish digital museum with the search word påsöm, for some inspiration. https://digitaltmuseum.se/search/?q=påsöm
Stunning photos and embroidery. I miss my 4th Monday spinners group. I loved being with those women. I will look this phrase up “two-end” knitting. Is it like twinning knitting or nalbinding?
Dalene
Thank you! There is something special about a group meeting to craft together.
Two-end knitting is the same as twined knitting. The word two-end knitting is the direct translation of the Swedish word tvåändsstickning. When the technique came to the U.S. it was translated into twined knitting to sell better.