Category: General Embroidery
More on the Candlestick
Second Stage of working the Candlestick
I wanted to create the appearance of engraved brass on my candlestick, so I began by laying long stitches vertically over the whole area. It didn’t occur to me for a moment to do the surface satin stitches horizontally. When you look at a shiny or patterned metal candlestick the reflected colours tend to blur out vertically, colours of the thread create vertical, slightly blurred stripes in the first layer.
Then I worked a basic laid work pattern over the top, with the diagonal threads couched down with an upright cross at the crossing points.
The background looks a little strange because the light was poor and I had to use a flash. It has washed out the detail of the stitching, and created a strange watermarked effect on the grosgrain ribbon. The weave is so tight that with every stitch I feared I would break the needle, especially at the edges with other layers of stitching to stitch through.
Now I move on to the dripping wax. No, I’ve not forgotten the wick. I just need the candle and the flame in place to weave the thread into the back!
Floral Glove Needlecase Course Month Five
The Cuff of the Floral Glove Needlecase
I’ve had an exasperating time with the Floral Glove Needlecase since you saw it last, what with unpicking and reinstating the gold lace (fx: growl!), and wrestling with the silk ribbon ruffle, which had to be gathered up and attached across the bottom in a sort of squiggle.
However, when I finally got all that sorted out, I screwed my courage to the sticking-point, gathered my wits, picked up my glue-pot, took a deep breath and finished assembling the separate ornamental cuff of the Floral Glove Needlecase.
The Back of the Cuff
So here is the cuff lining. I know that the felt isn’t centred. I was sure that it was on the brocaded silk, but by the time I had tweaked and stretched and glued, that was the best I could do. As someone who is clumsy and awkward with glue I would have prefered a slightly wider margin of fabric around the card shape, which would have made it easier for me to handle.
The front and the back (stretched over batting, heavy interfacing, and light card) are attached to one another by overcast stitching. I used a strand of one of the silk threads from the embroidery – that seemed the best way of being consistent with the materials used.
Now, as I’ve said before, I’m not good with glue and scissors, so I was worn out when I finished, and I know it isn’t perfect, but it does look pretty good, especially from a reasonable distance!
At this point Tricia’s instructions say – I kid ye not! – “Sit back and admire!“.
So I did.
Slow-And-Steady in needlepoint
Slow And Steady needlepoint cushion
I worked this cushion from a design in one of the craft books Grandmama gave me (“The Book of Creative Crafts”, it was called, and it included woodwork, screenprinting and candlemaking as well as embroidery, needlepoint and rugmaking), but in my usual somewhat ambitious fashion, I did not restrict myself to a single side.
Slow And Steady Facing The Other Way
In some ways this made it easier, because the patches of stitching that represented the plates down the centreline of Slow-and-Steady’s shell had to be worked in the same stitch and colour on both sides. That at least meant that those decisions were only made once. I also decided that the shapes of the plates would be the same on both sides (approximately – they were drawn freehand!) and that the colour would be the same as well.
After that, I rummaged through every book on canvaswork I had, to find a sufficient variety of stitches to keep the work interesting. In effect it is a sampler, almost a practice piece, but camouflaged by making it irregular in shape and style. My favourite stitches pop up again – Leaf Stitch, Upright Cross Stitch, Linen Stitch, Byzantine Stitch. In fact this is probably where I met most of them for the first time.
I have a notebook in which I drew out the pattern and then listed all the stitches used, so that if I forgot how to work the stitch I would be able to look it up. I used Persian wool, rather than tapestry wool, and 14 gauge cotton single thread canvas. One thing I did not note down, and should have done, was how many strands of the wool I used for each stitch. I know they are not all the same, but I didn’t keep notes. That means that when I use these stitches in future, instead of checking on my previous experience, I will have to work samples all over again.
I did note down what the materials cost – £13.50. It was a very long time ago!
Calling him “Slow and Steady” was my idea. I always loved the Just-So Stories.
Stitching order for the Old Bookmark
Bookmark Stitching Order
It’s important to stitch representational pieces in the right order to make sure that they “work” visually as representations of something real. Here I have numbered each of the elements from this point forward. The candle stub itself is the first, followed by the candlestick body, then the rim, then the wax dripping down the side. In this way it will be possible to make sure that the stitching goes over itself when it should.
Stitching the Candlestick - First Stage
So in this next picture I have finished stitching the cream candle stub, and then laid long straight stitches over the candlestick using Surface Satin Stitch. I don’t want to use real satin stitch as by the time I add the second layer of stitching, as I intend, this will be becoming too thick and heavy to use as a bookmark. I’m too fond of books to want to damage them by using thick bookmarks that break the spines.
I want to create the effect of a brass candlestick, so I have chosen a golden-brown variegated silk thread. I’m going to couch down these long threads to create something that will look like cast or engraved texture. I can’t create a barley-twist effect without redrawing the edge, which I don’t want to do. It will be intriguing to see whether I can create the effect I am aiming for.
If someone who embroiders ever tells you “I knew it would work” – beware. We only know that we think it will work!
Follow Up to the Lady By The Lake
Stitching showing colour changes
Several of the comments on my Lady By The Lake post asked me to show some close ups of how I achieved the colour changes on the skirt. I’ve not had enough light to get her down from the wall, so in the meantime I found a fragment of canvas and some tapestry wool and worked a couple of patches of stitching to show what I mean.
The stitch is a bordered Hungarian Stitch. I couldn’t find a diagram online, but I think it is fairly clear to see how the stitch fits together!
I was rather limited by the threads I had available, but I’ve tweaked the image in The Gimp, and I hope you can see that I’ve only used three colours of wool, but I’ve achieved seven variants of shade. In practice I think I would choose one or other of dark diamond and light border or light diamond and dark border, and stick with that choice, since changing between them is rather messy. That said, sometimes it’s worth the extra headache to get the precise effect you want. This stitch gave the Lady a slightly textured skirt with suitable shading without spending the earth on different thread colours.
A Patch Of Linen Stitch
As this patch shows, you can blend colours with Linen Stitch as well, and I have done in the past, when the available colours weren’t quite right for the effect I wanted to achieve. I didn’t do so on the Lady, because I wanted to create the effect of a glossy silk satin blouse. So rather than creating softer colours by blending them, I wanted strong shadows and bright colours. The Lady’s canvas was a double thread canvas, so I could choose to work at two different scales. I wanted to reserve the finest scale for her skin, so everything else used the basic canvas count, and the skin and features were worked as petit point.
Hmm, I really do need to get her down and try photographing her again, don’t I. There’s loads more to say about the Lady by the Lake!
An Old Bookmark
Bookmark from The Needlewoman
This design came from one of those Needlewoman Magazines. It was inside the back page with the competition results, as a sort of bonus.
The most difficult thing about it was finding the fabric – navy grosgrain ribbon, four inches wide. I recall that I bought the last length in the shop, which was enough for two bookmarks, but as it was cream, I dyed it with Permanent Blue Quink.
I stitched the first one as a teenager and gave it to one of my cousins, and the second has remained in the back of one of my stitch dictionaries ever since. Now, however, I’ve decided to fish it out and use it for more Long and Short Stitch practise. The design is drawn on with quilter’s pencil, so the first thing was to backstitch around the whole thing so I didn’t need to worry about rubbing the design off.
I’m using silk threads, and as you can see from the text, some of them will be variegated. As it is such a closely-woven fabric, it’s rather a trial to stitch on, but I think the flame shows it will be worth the effort!
More Canvaswork Inspired By Clarice Cliff
Canvaswork Hollyhock House
Emboldened by the combination of fun and applause (admittedly only from my parents at that point!), I moved on to the “Hollyhock House” design from the series of Designs Inspired by Clarice Cliff.
Again in two versions, and again I haven’t photographed the tent stitch cushion.
Hungarian Stitch is another of my favourites, and you will notice that there is still more Cashmere Stitch, Diagonal Mosaic Stitch and Upright Cross Stitch. I chose to work the poplar-like trees in a Sheaf Stitch variant, which I think was not hugely successful, but an interesting experiment. The background is Linen Stitch (diagrammed on my post about The Lady By the Lake) as it doesn’t obtrude, but it does cover the canvas thoroughly.
At some point soon I should find a suitable thread for the outlines and then finish these two. Then I can turn them into cushion panels or something and move on…
A Bear Called Paddington
A Bear Called Paddington
I’ve always had rather a weakness for Paddington Bear, and this painted canvas caught my eye a few years ago, hanging up in a market stall in Leeds when we were visiting friends. Immediately I saw in my mind’s eye how almost every section could be worked, starting with using rayon thread for the jar of marmalade. In fact, as I recall, the part of this canvas that gave me the greatest difficulty was the choosing a stitch for the background!
Paddington’s duffle coat is worked in Linen Stitch using ordinary tapestry wool, and his fur is worked in Appletons wool using a sort of random, closely packed long and short stitch. Looking at this piece analytically for the first time since I worked it, I’m really quite pleased with how the Linen Stitch works for the dull woolly fabric of the coat, and how believable the fur has turned out to be.
Paddington's Face
I’m also very pleased with how different the hat looks. It too is worked in long and short stitch, but I used longer stitches and Paternayan Persian wool. The difference lies in thickness of the individual strands and the different level of sheen – Persian wool strands are rather thicker and have a lovely muted sheen, whereas the Appletons wool produces a slightly duller surface. The tapestry wool, of course, is almost completely matte.
Look at that little face! The only thing I missed is a smudge of marmalade on his nose..
Paddington's Marmalade Jar
Then there is the jar of marmalade that first caught my eye in the first place. I worked that using six strands of rayon, mixing orange, red, and yellow strands in the needle, and working rows of stem stitch around the jar. It looks much glossier and stickier in real life!
Finally, after much head-scratching and puzzling, I worked the background in a slightly enlarged version of Hungarian Stitch, using Persian wool. I blended a second colour into the base to give a sort of grounding section so that Paddington wouldn’t be suspended in mid-air. I can’t think why the designers didn’t do that, as when I was a child (I’m assuming this was really intended for children and not for grown-ups!) I would have been rather worried by the character not having any ground beneath their feet!
The Lady By The Lake – another early project
The Lady By The Lake
This was another early project. It was a DMC painted canvas, which was clearly intended to be done in tent stitch using tapestry wool. As it is eighteen inches by nearly two feet, that would have driven me wild…
I bought it almost entirely because I thought I could see a way to get the folds in the dress to appear the right shades without using as many colours of thread, and I wanted to experiment. So I used a bordered Hungarian Stitch, worked in three shades of pearl cotton and combining them to create the impression of five shades in the skirt. It worked!
The blouse is also pearl cotton, this time Linen Stitch, which is effectively the back of Basketweave Tent stitch put on the front. It produces a very solid, durable background and I’ve used it on cushion projects in the past.
Linen stitch in canvaswork
The only drawback is that it takes so long to do. I’ve diagrammed it here because I can’t find it online, and I’ve found it such a useful stitch myself. It is worked diagonally, just like basketweave tent stitch.
The face and arms were worked in petit point, separating the double threads to create single thread canvas, and worked in stranded cottons (blended). The hair (she didn’t have such glorious chestnut hair on the painted canvas itself) is also blended stranded cottons, worked in a sort of long and short stitch. The hat has spider’s web stitch roses on it.
I changed the wooden, slatted backed bench of the canvas into a padded one so that I could do the upholstery in Reversed Mosaic Stitch. The lake itself took ages to do – row after row of darning stitch using all sorts of ribbons and threads, including some truly ghastly knitting acrylic which would have made a dreadfully uncomfortable jumper, but made a very good lake surface, with that slight sparkle you get when there’s just enough breeze to move the water.
The sky and clouds are all Milanese Stitch, worked in blended Persian yarns with three strands in the needle. It works, but now I’ve read Terry Pratchett I’m afraid it makes me think of the sky above “gnarly ground” in “Carpe Jugulum” – not such a peaceful thought!
Tudor and Stuart MasterClass Stitches – Month Six Stitches
Last time, I found the stitches rather tricky in the gold thread and tried them in pearl cotton afterwards to see whether that made them easier. I’m not sure it did, as a matter of fact, but it did show me that the relative scale of fabric and thread would also influence not only the appearance of the stitch, but also the experience of stitching it.
Cross Shaped Guilloche Stitch in pearl cotton
So this time I started with pearl cotton. I can’t say it was markedly easier, especially the Cross Shaped Guilloche Stitch Variation. This time I think the thread was too heavy for the stitch at the scale permitted by the fabric, and furthermore it turns out that both of my practice cloths may be plain weaves, but they are not in fact proper evenweave fabrics, even if they look as though they should be.
I counted very carefully, but somehow it looks as though it should be enclosed in a rectangle and not in a square. It also looks rather a tangle!
Guilloche Stitch Variation in pearl cotton
The Guilloche Stitch Variation here is in fact the one I have seen in some of my books on embroidery stitches, although those have been somewhat simplified by comparison. Still, I can imagine using it to create a braid effect, and I’m sure that I will think of something to use the cross-shaped variation for, once I’ve had a bit more of a play, and tried to find the right scale of thread to fabric.
Month Six Stitches In Gold Thread
So, finally, here are the stitches in the gold thread. It’s harder than you might think to keep the thread in order, and in the end I decided to make a virtue of my difficulties and in the Guilloche Stitch variation I’ve got two of the sections showing a close, tight version of the wraps, while the other three are looser and more loopy.
In the Cross Shaped Variation, again I thought I had counted carefully, but again it didn’t come out quite square. I think I might try again but doing the stages in a different order so see whether that helps me in any way. I also found myself, in spite of all my efforts and in spite of having the instructions beside me, getting the thread wraps weaving over where they should have gone under and under where they should have gone over.
More practice needed, that’s for sure!
In fact, it occurs to me that there is a lot to be said for practising each of the stitches on the actual cloth before putting it in place on the sampler. Just as a final check. . .