The Spot Sampler Finished!

Well, at last!

My first post on the Tudor and Stuart Goldwork Masterclass was dated 7 May 2010, so the course has taken me about 22 months, rather than the eighteen that Tricia planned it for. That’s not too bad – I thought it would have been much longer.

I’ve finished the spots and stitches as designed and laid down in the course, with a few small additions. I’ve done several sections of Plaited Braid using different metal threads, as well as having another go at Diagonal Half Guilloche stitch, down at the bottom. The picture is quite high resolution, if you want to zoom in and have a closer look..

I don’t usually practice stitches very much, but some of these stitches look and feel so different in the various different threads that it’s become clear to me that on future projects, I will have to test all my metal stitches with the thread and fabric I intend to use.

I also realised – at the last moment – that I hadn’t done possibly the hardest bit in the whole thing, that is, the curved stems of Plaited Braid Stitch for this flower. That was difficult for several reasons, but partly because I spent a lot of time trying to get the frame in the right position to allow me to work the stitch as I had practised it.  I chose the very finest of the metal threads in the kit, and in the end I discovered that I could work the stitch quite effectively not only as I’ve practised (horizontally), but also at an angle, working away from me. It’s worked quite well, and I enjoyed wrestling it into some sort of sense, but I don’t yet feel that I can work Plaited Braid stitch with ease or grace. Maybe that will come in time. In truth, I think being able to work it at all is a considerable achievement!

Further investigations on the Spot Sampler

The central veins of the leaves here are in Guilloche Stitch, and in one case I have have used the “imitation silver” thread and in the other case, one of the other, very fine silver threads. This shows – if we needed it pointed out, at this stage – that all metal threads are not created equal. We tend to think of silver and gold as being unchanging colours, but in fact you’ve only to look at jewellery to realise that there are many colours of gold (or in this case, silver). The threads are slightly different weights, as well, but one is clearly a brighter colour than the other.

I loved the diagonal cross shaped interlacing stitch. I can’t for the life of me think what I would do with it (something with a Celtic theme, perhaps?), but I loved working it, and like all these interlacing stitches, it looks harder than it is. That’s the right way around. Satin Stitch looks easy, but neat, smooth satin stitch is really only possible to the experienced embroiderer!

Once the foundation is correct, it is obvious where the interlacing threads need to go over and where under, and then hey presto! one fabulous, dazzling, interlaced spot.

You may recall that the plaited braid stitch was one of the reasons I wanted to do the course. My post about tackling it mentioned that I felt I was beginning to get to grips with it, and would be able to pick it up in future if or when I wanted to. So this was my first test of that confidence.

And yes, nailed it! I did have to unpick my first attempt, and I decided that the backstitch was rather hindering my efforts, but I really think that I can count this as a stitch I can take on whenever I want to!

The circle interlacing stitch is another of those wonderful, easier-than-it-looks stitches, and would make a great oversized “sequin” if one wanted to play with scales of stitches and design elements.

More variations of Goldwork on the Spot Sampler

There are two more versions of heavy chain stitch here, again using different threads. This time the threads are so different that I snipped out the larger one, on the right, and reinstated it using the finer thread. This photo also shows the detached buttonhole filling with return, worked in the finest of the gold threads. This was rather a challenge as well. I believe it will appear again in the Petite Pincushion, so I will soon get to practise it once more.

In ordinary pearl cotton, braid stitch is one of my favourites, but in metal thread it is much more of a challenge, especially at a diagonal, and on a fabric which is coarse enough to be much better used in a counted fashion! As you can see in this photo, it creates a lovely rich looped effect – rather like a braid you might use in furniture or to trim a coat, but it doesn’t really bear close inspection, because some of the loops more closely resemble knots!

The tiny four legged spiders web stitch seemed to come together much more easily than the first set I did, so I am clearly getting a better grip on it!

This Guilloche Variation is actually the stitch that most of my stitch dictionaries refer to as “guilloche stitch”, although they generally only have one run of interlacing rather than three. For some reason the thread broke up quite a bit, and I had my customary trouble with the interlacing loops. I wonder whether the relative simplicity of the stitch makes me rush more when I’m doing it?

Figure Eight Interlacing stitch is great fun. I had a little trouble getting the first set of loops to lie flat as they are supposed to, but after that, the stitch just fell into place. This would be another good one for using to represent intricate gold jewellery or ornamentation on my Dreams of Amarna panels.

More spots on the Spot Sampler

Even the macro setting on my camera has trouble with some of the fine detail here. The fine gold and silver threads used for the four-legged spider’s web stitches is barely heavier than the silk thread, and was quite a challenge to stitch with. At true size they create the smallest of subtle glimmers, rather than any dramatic effect.

The square interlacing stitch, on the other hand, makes its presence felt in no uncertain terms! It was fun to do, although using the heavy silver thread I did wonder whether the interlacing was going to create rather a congested appearance. I don’t think it does, but if there is one thing I have learnt from this course, it is “Test, Test, Test”. It is all very well being confident of how to work the stitch, but with the huge range of metal threads available and the variants of scale and flexibility, it’s much harder to be confident of the final effect if you don’t test it on the right fabric at the right scale!

The two rows of heavy chain stitch here are worked with different threads. The difference is subtle, and harder to see on the photo than in real life, because even the fact that the row of stitches are at different angles contributes to the effect. I’ve found heavy chain stitch a remarkably difficult stitch to work using metallic threads, and I’m not sure quite why, because I don’t find it at all difficult using cotton or silk!. I am assuming that it is a matter of tension, but since my various efforts haven’t cracked it yet, all I can say is “Needs More Work!”

Here you see a whole range of spots, worked with varying degrees of success.

I’ve had plenty more practice with Ladder Stitch since I worked this set, but I still find that one side of the stitch ends up appearing “turned over” compared with the other, which lies flat.  Another stitch that needs more work…

I like the dense fabric produced by the two variants on Up-And-Down Buttonhole Filling, although strangely they don’t look as different from one another in the photo as they do in real life.

Eight-legged spider’s web stitch is more stable than the four-legged version – there are more stitches to keep it under control – and it produces a good, flat boss. It would probably be a good choice in places where the square interlacing stitch would draw too much attention to itself!

Still more on the Spot Sampler

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.

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!

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!

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.