Some foliage on the Little Jacket

I’m varying the stitching as much as possible, but certain stitches rather lend themselves to certain roles, so there is a certain amount of reoccurrance. Here there are Half Cretan Stitch, Closed Feather Stitch, Feathered ZigZag Chain Stitch (more than once), and Wheatear Stitch.

I’m mostly putting green on green with the leaves, so that although there is variation, it isn’t too striking, and there will be moments of quiet in among all the proliferation of colour and form.

That said, some of the leaf groups demand a bit of counterchange – the dark and light green above, and the dark green and yellow in the next picture. In that case I’ve enhanced the counterchange with close blanket stitch on the yellow inner edge, to make it a bit crisper, yellow Spanish Knotted Feather Stitch on the dark green (I love that combination, it just sings!) and a dark green Mountmellick stitch on the outer edge of the yellow.

I don’t feel obliged to stitch down the felt to the same degree in all cases, but the needlefelting doesn’t have the same effect on the slightly closer, marbled felt, so I’ve often been holding it down with small stitches at the edge. Feather stitch is a conventional stitch for leaves, recalling vein patterns, but equally, I can choose to recall the vein pattern in one half of the leaf and not in others, as here (Chained Blanket Stitch, since you ask!).

I’m planning to do all the stems in some form of braid stitch, so you also see some rather unsatisfactory experiments here!

In other news, I am up to Episode 70 in SlowTV Stitchery, which discusses George Augustus Palgreen Blacktower, Tanya Bentham’s book on Opus Anglicanum, and offers some thoughts about framing..

6 Comments

  1. Sue Jones says:

    The green and yellow leaf pair are delightful and will hold their own against the more colourful flowers and buds. Others, being quieter, can provide second-look interest – always a good thing to have.

  2. Jen Mullen says:

    Love the green on green and the spark the yellow and dark green give!

  3. Embroidery stitches on leaves of felt is a great way to show the many stitches there are.
    I agree, Spanish Knotted Feather Stitch looks striking on the leaf. It is a beautiful stitch but not an easy one, for me at least.

  4. Lin says:

    Lovely stitch selection and use. Great variations. xx

  5. Alex Hall says:

    Really enjoying all your various stitches and the Spanish knotted feather stitch looks very tempting!

  6. Jillayne says:

    I like the variety of stitches you’re using in this – as you say, it’s often feather stitch chosen for leaves but what you have used adds a rich depth of variety to the work. I also love that yellow and green combination – very lively.