Tudor And Stuart Masterclass – Pincushion Progress

Tudor Pincushion Progress

Tudor Pincushion Progress

So here is the progress on the Tudor Pincushion.

There are two close shades of red and two close shades of tan in the design, – this will increase the appearance of rich, subtle colour variation in the final piece, which will provide a gorgeous background for the gold and silver threads.  It also means that I have to be super-organised with my thread. As soon as I cut a length, it is wound onto a card with the thread number written on it, because even my daylight lamp sometimes isn’t enough to help distinguish the colours.

I’ve miscounted and had to restitch the corner motifs in a couple of places, but that is probably because, first,  it is a very fine count of fabric, and second, tent stitch is an oriented stitch.

Tent Stitch - demonstrating edges with the orientation and against it

Tent Stitch - demonstrating edges with the orientation and against it

That is, because it creates a diagonal stitch, diagonal elements of the design look different when stitched, depending upon whether they slant with the stitch or in the opposite direction. This doesn’t cause a problem once the piece is finished – especially given how small the stitches are! – but it does mean that it isn’t so easy to know at a glance whether details are right. When the details are wrong, it becomes clear that they are wrong just as soon as you stop stitching, and then it becomes a matter of how much or how little needs to be unpicked.

Of course, I suppose I could interpret (probably correctly!) that as a sign that I’ve been stitching for too long and my eyes are tired…

6 Comments

  1. karen says:

    you do so well on the fine fabrics and it can affect your eyes but I imagine it’s addictive so hang the eye strain!!

  2. Janice says:

    Phew! Good luck with this one Rachel. It’s probably a stitch-count too far for my eyes and patience! The design is lovely, though.

  3. I love Tudor designs. What is the thread count of your linen? Are you stitching with one strand of silk?

  4. Jan says:

    I’m impressed with your stitching on very fine linen. You’ve learned a lot in these classes and I know you’ve enjoyed them. Is there a lot more to go on this project?

  5. That linen looks very fine. Fine stitching too!

  6. Lady Fi says:

    Such dainty stitching! Love the Tudor pattern…