Category: General Embroidery
Still more on the Spot Sampler
Wheatsheaf On Ladder Stitch
We’ve had a sudden spurt of good weather and good light recently, so I’ve been making hay while the sun shone (literally!). I’ve also been making an effort to use all of the different gold threads that Tricia provided in the kit, some of them real metal threads, some of them imitation, some thick and some thin.
Guilloche On Ladder Stitch
The Wheatsheaf on Ladder Stitch and the Guilloche on Ladder Stitch are in different shades of gold and even different types of thread. There is even a Queen Stitch in a very fine gold thread in the top corner of the picture showing the Wheatsheaf on Ladder Stitch. The one I used for the Guilloche variation is the one I used for most of the practice cloth. It’s surprisingly floppy for a metal thread, which helps with some of the stitches, but not all. In this particular case, at least there were no breaks in the metal, unlike in the Wheatsheaf stitch!
Eight Sided Interlacing Stitch
The Eight Sided Interlacing Stitch was an absolute treat to do. It’s important to count the foundation correctly, but from then it was simply a matter of repeating the same set of actions. I’m rather pleased that, by and large, the threads have stayed neatly side-by-side!
Cross Variation Guilloche
The Cross Variation Guilloche Stitch makes a great contrast with Eight Sided Interlacing – not only yet another different thread, this one a little stiffer, and a slightly different shade of gold, but also an upright, angular form, rather than the almost circular appearance of Eight Sided Interlacing.
Jane Rainbow Kit – second installment
Flower 1 on the Jane Rainbow Kit
The raised edges of the petals of this flower are produced by working one row of blanket stitch along the edge and then working detached buttonhole stitch into that. It creates a fairly subtle effect in real life, and it’s always satisfying to see small details like this appearing in kits.
You can also see in this close up that although I was beginning to get to grips with satin stitch, my Long and Short Stitch wasn’t very good.
Flower 2 on the Jane Rainbow Kit
Really not very good, in fact! The stitching on the second flower looks more like brick stitch. I think this is the only bit of the design I didn’t enjoy doing, and that’s entirely because I simply could not get to grips with Long and Short Stitch. No-one had told me to think “Long and Longer”, which is what has cracked it for me since then. Besides, working a colour change into such narrow rows is not the easiest way to tackle Long and Short stitch!
Leaves and stems on the Jane Rainbow Kit
I did like the rows of stem stitch shading from dark to light that were used for the stems – in fact I used the same technique in the stems on the Piano Shawl. The detail of the end of the stem – concentric rows of stem stitch – was particularly charming.
The leaves in the bottom corner worked well, too. The openwork at the centre of the upper leaf makes a nice contrast with the rest of the design which is very densely stitched.
I did enjoy working this – even if it was finished at the speed of lightening!
A Final Look At Christus Natus Est
First Stained Glass Window
Second Version of the Stained Glass Window
I promised a look at the development of the “Christus Natus Est” design, so here is the very first version, much more traditionally representative in style, made by my mother when I was a little girl, for the window over the stairs in the first house I remember.
When we moved house, there was no window that the first version could fill, so she designed another, this time to fit in a living room window. It is much simpler and more stylised, but I think you can see that in both versions the primary impression is one of the protecting care of the Holy Family.
Christus Natus Est, by Steve Williamson
Then, about four years ago, she did a version in oils, for an exhibition at a local gallery that had the theme “Memorable Dates”. Somehow the design came into vivid life in the painting – she says it came together much more easily than many of her paintings do, but in this version, the Christ Child needs no protection, instead the Light of the World blazes fiercely, incandescent with power and authority.
The Saviour Is Born!
I expect it is a surprise to none of you, having seen that progression, that I decided I wanted to do my own interpretation. As I’ve said before, I think my version is quieter and more subdued. It has a sense of stillness and purpose, perhaps, the outstretched arms of the Christ Child already prefiguring the Crucifixion, with none of the exaltation of the heavenly choirs.
If, unlike me, you believe that an artist’s work reflects their state of mind, you might be worried about that. Don’t be. Beethoven wrote some of his most joyous music when he was already profoundly deaf and acutely depressed, and while I would not in any other way expect to be bracketed with the great man, my embroidery never has anything to do with my emotional state!
Another Long-Ago Project – Jane Rainbow Kit
Jane Rainbow Kit
This crewelwork cushion came from a Jane Rainbow kit, which my parents gave me for Christmas about fifteen years ago. It’s the last kit that anyone’s ever bought for me, because I finished it in short order – it was done by Twelfth Night – and the family felt that it hadn’t kept me out of mischief for long enough! I’ve looked on a couple of needlework shop websites, and it seems that this design is no longer available, which I think is a pity. It was fun to do, and I learnt a couple of variations I’d not come across before.
Pomegranate
The pomegranate shows a great variation in height and texture of stitches. I like the way the French knots used in the centre are also used for textured patches on the leaves, although I think I would be inclined, were I to work this today, to use a darker colour in the centre of the pomegranate. The ribbed pattern around isn’t made up of exceptionally long bullion knots, as you might expect, but instead is a sort of opened-out ribbed spiders web stitch. The instructions here said to pack in the stitches as much as possible to get a nicely raised effect. It worked really well – it almost looks padded!
Glittering Nightcap – Materials Arrived
Glittering Nightcap Materials
Although I am very tempted by Tricia Nguyen-Wilson’s Cabinet of Curiosties Casket Course (who wouldn’t be?) I decided that I really shouldn’t take on a multi-year project such as that would certainly turn out to be, not least because I really want to do more on the Dreams of Amarna Panels.
I couldn’t quite do without an Online University course, though, so I have signed up to the Glittering Nightcap Course, and the materials arrived just before Christmas. Eight colours of Gilt Sylke Twist, as well as all the other silk thread, real spangles (tiny ones), a Japanese needle, and even a Pigma pen (for which I am devoutly grateful, because my local – usually very good – artists’ suppliers was completely non-plussed when I asked about them. I suppose it’s an American brand.
I shan’t be able to start before the middle of January or maybe even later, but I’m really looking forward to it. It will be interesting to get to grips with Gilt Sylke Twist, having heard so much about it!
Another variation on the Three Hares
Three Hares Decoration
When I wrote about the Three Hares design I created for Handmade Living magazine, I mentioned that I was rather taken with the design as a framework for experimentation. I have an idea in my head for quite a big project based on the design, but while that’s simmering away and developing in my head, I have gone in the other direction.
This is a much smaller and much more complex version, but maintaining the historical connection, I chose to use Bayeux Stitch (there is a diagram in this Embroiderer’s Guild pdf) for the background. The stitching uses fine woollen threads on a linen ground, and naturally I followed my usual habit of increasing the complexity of my adventures in stitchery.
Decoration Closeup
Bayeux Stitch is worked in two phases, of which the first is surface satin stitch. I chose to alternate two shades of rust for the surface satin stitch, and then the couching stitches went over the top using the darker shade. It doesn’t really show in the photographs, which were taken in rather dismal lighting conditions, but it does show in real life, and it makes the background shimmer slightly – which is a good trick when there’s no metallic thread involved!
Decoration - Back
Whereas in the first variant, created for Handmade Living magazine, I simply outlined the design, gaining all of the interest from the contrast of fabric and thread, in this case I outlined the motif (in back stitch), then covered the background completely with stitching.
Finally, I turned the embroidery into a hanging decoration by the same method used for the Glittering Snail, but before I covered the back with fabric, I added the year and then my initials in Morse Code.
Progress on the Finnish Embroidery
Finnish Embroidery - Progress
I managed to get started on my Finnish embroidery project at last. It’s going to be a table runner for our dining room, which is golden-yellow and decorated in a slightly Arts and Crafts fashion, so the design has been traced twice, back to back, to create a long design, and without the lettering shown in the photograph that accompanied the linen (see my first post about this project).
Following the model I saw in the shop, I’m using Bokhara Couching for all the solid shapes, laying the couching stitches in a sort of brickwork pattern to create texture. The deep golden circles will echo the sunburst in the eucalyptus frieze in the dining room, and the two greyish greens are close to the other colours in the frieze.
All the lines are going to be in stem stitch. I’m working this quite slowly and carefully to keep the stem stitch twisting neatly in the same direction and the stitch length more or less the same.
It’s some time off yet, but I’m planning to hand-hemstitch the edge of the runner. I take a slightly unexpected pleasure from hand-hemstitching, and even the six metres of hemstitching on the Piano Shawl haven’t put me off. There’ll be about three metres of hemstitching on this, and I’m rather looking forward to it!
..And the Sailor home from the Sea.
Framed
Once the Camberwell was finished, I handed the piece, still stretched on the bars I used to work it, over to my client (Action Ma’am) and her picture framer. I’m very pleased with what they came up with, so I’ve asked her to write up a little bit about framing the piece and where the Camberwell is living now.
At quite an early stage, I had decided that Camberwell was going to hang in the bathroom. An odd choice, maybe, but her colours went beautifully with the accent colours I had already chosen and the theme of nauticalia.
Original Photo
My local picture framer enthusiastically accepted the challenge of creating a suitable box-frame. We chose a rounded moulding, to echo the curve of the funnel, and charcoal for both mount and moulding to match the colour of the ribbon used for the funnel. Since it was to hang by an east-facing window, we selected a grade of conservation glass which excludes 98% of UV light. I took the opportunity to have the inspirational photo properly mounted in the frame I had bought for it from a high-street newsagent a year or so previously.
Camberwell Where She Belongs
The pictures now hang either side of the bathroom door. Rachel and I had a little ceremony with sparkling white wine to hang the finished panel. I can bore for England on how wonderful it is, and admire it in comfort whilst lounging in the bath.
The title of this post is taken from RL Stevenson’s “Requiem” – text here. Or alternatively from AE Housman’s “Home Is The Sailor” (here). We both thought it was the right title, but neither of us could remember where we’d heard it, and when I Googled for it, I found myself with a positive embarrassment of riches!
A Needlelace Embellished Blouse
I must have worked the Needlelace Embellished Blouse when I was sixteen or seventeen – probably it was about the third or fourth project that I did, ever. Once I’d got hooked on embroidery – which happened over a piece that I’ve yet to show you, partly because I’m not sure where it’s hidden itself – I went from technique to technique and project to project almost without drawing breath!
I wanted something “Floral-inspired but modern”, I remember, so my mother suggested a pentagon for a flower and triangles for leaves. Thus:
The Geometric Floral we designed for my Needlelace Embellished Blouse
We divided the pentagon into triangles, because I wanted to use three different needlelace stitches (and also because it would be more interesting that way), and transferred it to a boat-necked summer top with a V at the back.
Needlelace Blouse
It’s hardly surprising I gave needlelace a try – both Grandmama and my mother had worked needlelace embellished table cloths, so it was in the air, so to speak. It’s also not surprising that I didn’t attempt another tablecloth. Even then I knew that I didn’t have the patience for that size of project!
Needlelace Close Up
The triangles forming the flower I worked either in Pea Stitch or Corded Single Brussels Stitch, and the “leaves” were Corded Point d’Espagne. There’s a Needlelace Tutorial starting here on a lacemakers’ website for those who are interested. Then I buttonholed the edges (the wrong way round, I think, now I look at the photo again!) and, with much trepidation, cut away the fabric at the back.
And it worked! I wore the blouse quite a lot for a few years, and now I’ve found it again I suspect I’ll be wearing it some more – although not this year <shiver>!
Further Adventures In The Abstract Garden
The Finished Cushion
You may recall that I worked an abstract piece of canvaswork inspired by a vegetable garden. When I’d finished it, I didn’t like it very much, and really didn’t know what to do with it. However, my cousin (who comments here occasionally as Action Ma’am) did not suffer from the same problem. Not only did she like it, she knew what to do with it. I’ve asked her to write up what she did, and here’s what she wrote:
Having commented how the abstract garden canvas reminded me of my veg garden, I was delighted when Rachel offered it to me. I knew exactly what to do – it had already told me it wanted to be on a cushion for the armchair in the conservatory. My guess that the red of the canvas was the same as the red of the upholstery was spot on.
Close Up Of The Corner Trim
I don’t have a sewing machine, so Fiona my curtain-maker agreed to put the cover together for me. Not having done any needlework for many years, I was quite alarmed at the prospect of “getting it right”. Rachel and I had an email discussion about how to straighten the canvas and apply it to the velvet, handstitching it in place. To emphasize the garden theme, I had chosen some gimp braid to cover the edges of the canvas. The loops of the braid echo the hoops of the iron edging you sometimes find around borders in posh parks and gardens. I also chose some green fringe to define clearly where the cushion ended and the chair began.
The Cushion On Its Chair
Whilst I was still thinking about getting started, Fiona phoned to say she could deliver a bedspread she had been making for me the next day. This was too good an opportunity to miss. I took the afternoon off work, a deep breath, gritted my teeth and leapt in. The stripes on the velvet helped in getting the canvas straight, the braid hid the edge of the canvas, and two hours later, it was ready for Fiona.
Whilst the cover was away being made up, I found a necklace in an accessories shop, with a green wellington boot charm on it. I bought four as a finishing touch.
The abstract garden canvas is now a happy cushion, nestling into the crook of the chair arm, and kicking its welly-booted heels in the air. I don’t think the chair intends letting go of it any time soon!