Small finishes

It’s reading for a new show time again and so I have managed to sit and stitch through a number of small finishes. Firstly, one of the designs Ruth produced for us at November’s Embroiderers’ Guild meeting, made up into a card.

The border is in feather stitch, the centre in a spiral of split stitch, the main oval parts of the petals in Corded Brussels stitch (needlelace) and the ends in satin stitch.

Then I decided to make up a little magazine kit I bought from eBay in 2009. Simple stem stitch and lazy daisy stitch for the wheel barrow and the flowers/leaves.

Then french knot middles to the flowers and my first ever attempt at a Dorset Button for the wheel.

I was fairly pleased with it until I put the kit picture next to it for comparison…

Obviously a technique I need to work on but it has made a nice little card.

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Miniature Embroidery

Our last Embroiderers’ Guild meeting was an all day affair, with a stitching workshop in the morning and a fascinating talk in the afternoon given by Hull Branch’s Alison Larkin on miniature embroidery.

In the morning she gave out kits she had made up for us to practise stitching a floral Jacobean-style motif  in a single thread of stranded cotton and tiny stitches. There were three colour choices and I went for green and yellow. By lunchtime I’d got as far as this:

The half seed stitch and half Jacobean laid work/trellis stitch leaf is edged in whipped back stitch, as are the petals in the central flower with the french knot middle – you can see the back stitched foundation in the bottom petal. The stems are split stitch and the top flower has one petal edged in split stitch over which is worked satin stitch with the other petal being whipped back stitch again.

The other leaf is half satin stitch over a split stitch edging and half outlined in whipped back stitch with split stitch veins.

Unfortunately I had to leave promptly and it wasn’t until I got home that I realised I’d left with my embroidery still in one of Alison’s hoops! This meant I really had to get on and finish the stitching to post it back to her! Not that it was any hardship at all to work on such a lovely design.

The simple straight stitches in the petals of the central flower and bud really bring them to life. The darker yellow daisy was only supposed to be a bud, but I’d stitched most of the petals before I checked the design and I liked it so decided to keep it as a full flower.

Finished and with a penny to show the scale!

I really enjoyed this little project. It was right up my street anyway as I love working small. :o)

A great day – many thanks to Alison and her fellow members of the Hull branch.

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Fragments with ‘streetcombed’ objects

I can’t upload any photos at the moment because there is a problem with the port on the computer for the camera card, so I thought I’d share some of the fragments pieces from my sketch book, using found objects ‘streetcombed’ from roads, pavements and car parks.

For this one, a shot silk dupion scrap and a piece of sky blue organza form the background for three non-ferrous washers, partly or fully covered with silk thread and added french knots and beads.

This one has a background made from a Colourcatcher and tiny scraps of silver purl and black watermarked taffeta. The (misshapen) washer is completely covered with satin stitch in silver thread and variegated silk threads provide a contrast.

I used another bit of the same colour catcher for this one too, which I stitched after the first time I helped in one of the annual Clear Ups we have at the Guildroom, (the premises that Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club use for rehearsing, club activities, storage and making).

The flowers were among the sweepings from the Props Cupboard floor that day and the slither of white fabric is an old friend – it’s the spotted voile I used for Miss Murdstone’s house cap in ‘Young Copperfield’ and scraps of which turn up regularly in all sorts of projects, often naturally dyed.

I caught down the spotted voile with french knots, putting them over the spots on the fabric, so it’s quite loosely layered and I like the fraying effect. The flowers are sewn down with straight and back stitches and decorated with lazy daisy stitches.

Colour catcher again here, in an experiment with cutwork, showing through from underneath a piece of blue cotton and edged with buttonhole stitch.

A rectangle of  hand dyed heavy weight fabric sits in the middle and the washers are stitched down with  grey stranded cotton. The floral shape at the top has petals made of two lazy daisy stitches, nested one inside another.

About to make my husband a cup of coffee and hope he will find time to sort out the camera card port tonight. 😮

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