Christus Natus Est - More Progress
Since the Christus Natus Est panel seemed to be so popular, I thought I’d provide another update.
As you can see, the curves that indicate the Virgin’s robes aren’t right at all. I can correct that later, rather as I will correct the Christ Child’s halo – and indeed, put in St Joseph’s halo, which I decided not to attempt to include in the first stitching, because the other two haloes presented such challenges!
You can see that I have loads of needles working with all the different colours of silk and several sections of gold. It’s always more difficult working from the far end of a colour section (relative to the direction of the spiral) and using more than one colour on the robes has helped me there, because I’ve usually managed to have at least one of the colours placed in such a way as to help by catching the gold thread in place. Otherwise, because it is so springy, it’s hard to keep the curve smooth, and in a couple of places the thread is longer than it should have been and creates a slight gap with the line before.
Don’t those rows and rows of gold create a gorgeous background, though!
Circular Interlacing Stitch
There were two more interlacing stitches this month, Circular Interlacing Stitch and Figure Eight Interlacing Stitch.
I know I’m always talking about scale on these stitches, but I’m pretty sure that at a reasonable scale of thread to fabric, the Circular Interlacing Stitch will create a lovely neat boss which would have all sorts of wonderful uses in representing jewellery and embellishment. Instead, on my loosely-woven practise cloth it looks rather leggy and a bit thin. I’m glad to see that I got the interlacing right, and don’t have any twists or tangles in it, though!
The most difficult part of the stitch, I found, was laying the foundation interlaced crosses using the correct proportions and directions. Sometimes a larger thread count makes life harder rather than easier!
Figure Eight Interlacing Stitch
By contrast, it isn’t at all obvious that I even got the Figure Eight Interlacing Stitch right, although I am pretty sure that I did. It might have been better to pull all the wraps tighter to create a neater effect, rather than allowing the loops to create the uncontrolled springy appearance that they have at present. This is partly a result of the fact that I’m still reluctant to pull metal threads into tight loops because I don’t want them to strip their surfaces.
I do like the rich, textured braid effect that this stitch creates in the photographs in Tricia’s instructions, so I think it will be worth playing with it using different threads – not all of them metal, either – and seeing where it takes me.
An Elephant Of No Distinction But Infinite Charm
Do you remember the Elephant of No Distinction But Infinite Charm, who inspired the canvaswork footstool I made for my mother? She’s now commissioned me to work a doorstop with the same inspiration. Naturally she didn’t want me to work it in the same technique. For one thing, the furniture in the living room has been reupholstered since I did it, and the jungle-inspired green background (although the footstool still looks quite happy) would no longer be as suitable as it was.
First Stage - stencil prepared and paint chosen
So we’ve picked a fairly loosely-woven linen, in a sort of pinkish beige (actually, “natural” unbleached linen run through the washing machine on Hot!), and rather than leaving the background completely plain, decided to stencil it with an all-over pattern taken from the lamps. The design is inspired by crystanthemums, as is the design on the curtains (a Designers Guild design which is older than me, and is proof that good design doesn’t date – it hasn’t looked dated or old-fashioned in more than forty years!).
Stencilled fabric
After consulting my clients (!) I’ve decided to use a gold fabric paint for the background pattern. When I tested the stencil on paper the paint ran under it a little, so I chose to use a sponge instead. That seems to help in ensuring that the fabric paint isn’t laid on so thickly as to be unembroiderable, as well.
I didn’t create a proper, regimented repeating pattern, because I felt that it would make the stencil design too obvious. Instead I have twisted and turned the stencil and added extra leaves to fill in any really obvious gaps.
Guilloche Stitch, Reverse Chain Stitch and Ceylon Stitch
I have been working more on the Spot Sampler of late, slowly catching up with the metal thread stitchery. If you are confused by my posts on this, you aren’t alone – I spend a few minutes every time I sit down trying to work out where I’d got up to!
Some of the stitches are familiar – Ceylon Stitch, for example, I have used before. In this case I have used the lighter and floppier of the metal threads supplied. It creates a more lacy effect than Tricia intended, but I thought the thread might “strip” less dramatically (I was right, too!). When I finish the main body of the sampler I may go back and work new versions of some of the stitches around the edge, so in this case, for instance, I would choose to use the heavier, thicker thread. This will make the sampler even more useful by giving me some sense of the variation of appearance available through different threads..
As you can see, I still haven’t entirely got to grips with Guilloche Stitch, although using the stiffer thread did make the whole thing slightly easier. I was becoming slightly anxious about finishing the panel without starting a new length for the last course of interlacing!
Reverse Chain With Buttonhole Edging
I’ve already used the Reverse Chain Stitch with Buttonhole Edging since I learnt it on this course, when I was working the Title of the Map for the Amarna Panels. Now I look at the photograph I see that my tension wasn’t entirely consistent across the whole width of this spot, and the thread stripped and clogged in a couple of places. But then, samplers are for practising on… I may choose to re-work this later, using the finer thread, since I think that if worked fine and delicately this stitch could find a host of new uses.
Plaited Braid Stitch on the Spot Sampler
I felt when I finished my practising for Month Fourteen that the real test of my grasp of Plaited Braid Stitch would come when I came back to the stitch after a week or so. As you can see, I’ve worked it as a counted stitch here, in the larger size and using the heavier thread, and it seems as though I got it right. I kept the instructions to hand all the time, of course, but I’m very pleased with this. It is a real testimony to the clarity of the instructions, and the way they gave me some grip on the structure of the stitch, that I didn’t feel at all anxious when I was working this.
Can you hear me purring?
Tulip Stitched
I’ve now finished the tent stitch on the Tulip Slip Needlework Nibble.
I had a minor epiphany about halfway through, when I realised that in this particular case, absolute accuracy in colour placement isn’t really necessary. I’m not trying to create a picture which will look all wrong if every stitch isn’t exactly as charted. Tricia has created a stylised design which we are then going to use to learn the technique of working with tent stitch slips. So in minor details, the Tulip is not exactly as charted, but I doubt anyone will notice!
Tulip Applied
The next stage was to cut out the slip, and attach it to the velvet, turning the edges under as far as possible. I didn’t think this would be easy, and it wasn’t. Since linen for counted work is quite widely-sett (that is, the set up of the warp and weft allows a little air between the threads), it’s also rather prone to fray, and rolling the threads under with a needle turned out to be a slightly hairy experience.
On top of that – we all know that velvet “creeps”, don’t we? I unpicked and re-positioned the slip twice, and ended up pinning it firmly in place, regardless of the risk to my stitchery. I’m pleased to report that there seems to be no lasting damage…
Tulip Edged
The final stage before assembling the pincushion (that will be another post!) was to edge the slip with silk gimp. The green gimp matched one of the green silk threads, so I used a single strand to couch it down. Except that the various fabrics were sturdy enough to make it quite an effort to stitch through them, this enterprise proceeded as planned. The instructions showed the slip simply outlined as a single piece, rather than having any details of outlining each separate section.
In real life, the slip doesn’t look as ragged around the edges as it does in close up!
Floral Glove Needlecase Finished
At long last, after much trial and tribulation, and after completely shredding my fingers because no matter how hard I try I simply cannot use a thimble, I have finally completed the finishing on the Floral Glove Needlecase.
I’m very pleased with it, and not just because it is finished. It is my first attempt at “historical embroidery”, the first time I have used many of the techniques, and the assembly of the final piece involved my bête noire, glue.
Textures In Floral Glove
The finishing has been full of little details, the spangles decorating the fabric, the gold lace edging the two cuff pieces, the gold-and-spangle edging we added to the silk ruffle. Then the gold twist suggesting the fingers on the hand of the glove, and two rows of gold cord covering the join between the upper and lower pieces.
I love the variety of textures in this piece, the silk thread, the purls, pearl purls, lizardines and spangles. Then there’s the ultrasuede (another material new to me!) and the silk ruffle, and the brocade inside.
Closeup Of Finishing
And I’m only about six months late in finishing it, after all!
I keep looking across at it, and thinking “Did I do that? Really?”
More Goldwork On The Sampler
I’ve been doing more work on the metal thread embroidery on the Spot Sampler. The photograph shows (top to bottom) Braid Stitch, Cable Chain Stitch, and Heavy Chain Stitch.
I’ve used the real metal thread and the Japanese needle for all of them, which may have been a mistake. At the very least, the Japanese needle is a tool that I’ve not got to grips with, and which has had unanticipated side-effects on my technique!
As you can see, Heavy Chain Stitch worked beautifully. There are only a couple of places where the thread has broken and shows the core, and it has created a beautifully smooth and glimmering line.
With the Cable Chain Stitch, I think I need more practice in keeping the tension correct when using a “stab-stitch” technique, which is necessary because Japanese needles are short. This stitch is one of my favourites, but it was actually quite a struggle here, precisely because I couldn’t take up a piece of fabric on the needle as I usually do.
This was even more the case with the Braid Stitch. In fact it is worse than that. It wasn’t clear when I was stitching it, but now I see this section enlarged in the photo, it’s pretty clear that I’ve actually got myself into a dreadful tangle with a couple of my braid stitches. I need to pick up my practice cloth, fish out all my books, and try again. And yet I know I can work this stitch beautifully – I worked it on the logo for the Teddy Bear Cot Blanket, and for the Prince’s Bow on the Persian Fantasy!
Rigging The Camberwell
At last I could get started on the rigging. I was hoping to get it right as far as it went, although I don’t imagine it is as complex as the real thing. The thread is a medium weight matte cotton thread in a mid toned grey. Essentially each piece of rigging is a single long straight stitch. The connections across the spars are made using a simple figure of eight knot, which interlaces across the spar. This creates the suggestion of a connection, without trying to give great detail.
I used some brown net to represent the shadows on the quayside (railings, I imagine, although the photo doesn’t give that much detail), and stitched another set of catching stitches just inside the quayside edge.
The cotton tape is simply there to give me an approximate idea of where the border is going to go, and thus the true extent of the design.
While I was doing this, I was also thinking – and discussing with my Client – the form that the border would take. We finally settled on a “Dedication” in Morse Code embroidered on to petersham ribbon.
That’s a lot of dots (French Knots) and dashes (Bullion Knots)!
Two Milestones Passed
I’ve been making good progress on the Christus Natus Est panel. I’ve had to re-stretch the fabric, which involved taking out all of the pins, and reinstating them. The stitching is much easier again now!
I’ve reached the point at which I decided to end the spiral, which has gone over the outline I originally drew for the panel but now delineates the new left-hand edge. This is rather an important stage, since apart from anything else just following the spiral was an easy thing to do, whereas now – as the gold thread along St. Joseph’s back is hinting – I’m moving on to the part in which I need to create a flowing effect which is linear rather than spiral. The points at which the gold changes direction, and the way in which the lines run will make or mar the design, I think.
I’ve also worked a little more on the Christ Child’s halo. If you zoom in on the picture, I hope you will see that there is now a gap, an incomplete pattern in the halo where I’ve outlined it to come back and fill it in later. I felt it was more useful – and more important – to work out where the edge was to be than to keep the infill going.
Close Up - All Colours
The close up shows the blue of the Virgin’s robe, the first hint of red of St. Joseph’s robe, and the combination of white and purple that represent the Christ Child. As someone hinted in the early comments on this project, this is a very addictive technique. I find myself trying to finish “just one more row” before the light fails, and muttering discontentedly when I have to stop.
It may even be finished in time to be used as the family Christmas card!
Interlaced Ladder Stitch In gold Thread on the Spot Sampler
I finished the silkwork on the Spot Sampler some time ago, but then ran into a problem, largely one of priorities. There have been so many other things I fancied trying, and so I’ve been working on the Amarna Map, the Christus Natus Est Panel, and a whole host of others. I’ve also been feeling just a bit jumpy about the real metal threads, and wanted to wait until I was feeling settled enough to read the instructions and make sense of them.
I have at last made a start, though. I even managed to thread my Japanese needle with thread from the Real Metal Thread Pack that arrived in the post a few weeks ago. Perhaps the practice thread I was using was quite simply fractionally too thick for the eye of the needle.
I started with Interlaced Ladder Stitch – which wasn’t necessarily the best or easiest starting point, but it is area number one on the chart! I’m a little disheartened that the gold thread has broken up quite as much as it has, here, but I’m leaving it there for now to act as a basis for comparison as I do other stitches. I’m going to try using even shorter lengths, and maybe even use a stiletto or similar tool to keep loops open while I pull the thread through.
