Jacobean Coat – Half-Circle Motifs

One Side Of Design
One Side Of Design

One of the exasperating elements of this project is that the lovely clear, delicate green of the fabric isn’t showing on any of the photos I am taking. This strange, rather disheartening cream fails to reflect one of the pleasures of working on it.

Here you see the side of the coat with the two lilac half-circle motifs. There are also three circle motifs, and two huge leaves, not to mention all the little teal leaves that I’ve not even applied yet.

The circles have been relatively easy, but both the fawn leaves and the two lilac motifs are giving trouble…

About to be undone..
About to be undone..

The first one of the two lilac motifs has rather lost the way home.

Somehow it is fussy, tired, and full of the wrong sort of detail. It’s also too dark. I need to reduce the dark blue and dark maroon stitching.

I’m not even sure that the felt will survive.

That said, I like the blanket stitch variation of the lilac stitches, and the green Reverse Palestrina Stitch.

A better version..
A better version..

This is a better version.

There aren’t as many colours, or as many stitches as in the version I’m not happy about. The fronds are in Cable Chain and Twisted Chain, and the purple trellis is couched with the blue.

Now I need to unpick the first one and come back to it, informed by the much better second version. I don’t want it to be entirely the same, but closer would certainly be better!

11 Comments

  1. Dima says:

    I like your second version. Especially the lattice.

  2. Lady Fi says:

    Very nice!

  3. Jen Mullen says:

    Yes, the second version in color and detail!

  4. The leaves on the first flower are really nice, textured and the colours blend, and line in teal add interest.
    In the second leaf I really like the lattice.

  5. Sue Jones says:

    The second purple flower with the lattice works. On the top one, I wonder if swapping the maroon cable-chain stitches for something close to the felt colour will be all it needs to do the trick?

  6. Carolyn Foley says:

    I agree, the second one is better.

  7. Terrie says:

    Delicate as always. Love the colour shade.

  8. Susan says:

    I agree I like the second one better, but I also like the first center. Maybe it’s just the fronds that need to be redone – maybe even just the burgundy ones. They seem heavy for the delicacy of the flower. I know you’ll be doing the right thing, because you have a great second one. Maybe the green will show more in the next photos. =)

  9. karen says:

    although unpicking can be frustrating it can also be exciting because the new idea is just that, new, fresh and the result of learning…
    I share your frustration with altered colour in images too. It’s so hard to photograph embroidery especially when the weather isn’t playing!

  10. Particularly like the lattice affect in the second one.

  11. Sheryl says:

    Beautiful stitching, I love the colours and prefer the second version – especially the lattice work.