Floral Glove, Spangles and Pearls

All that is needed to complete the embroidery is a little embellishment with a few seed pearls and spangles.

One seed pearl is stitched into the centre of the gold leaves on each of the outer roundels. Nothing too difficult here, I just had to select pearls that would fit into the available space and that had a big enough hole to fit the beading needle; these are teeny tiny little pearls.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

A cluster of pearls is added to the centre of the rose. I thought that the gold outline made this rose but the pearl centre really makes it. I think this is so pretty.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

Finally, tiny gold spangles are stitched into the empty spaces between the embroidered motifs. I wasn’t feeling too well when I did this. I had enough interest/energy to do a little mindless stitching but I could not be bothered to redraw the outline of the glove or to measure where they should go. I guestimated their position and a couple are outside the seam line so I will have to reposition those.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

It is difficult to capture the sparkle of the spangles on camera but they really glitter and glint as the embroidery moves in the sunlight.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

And this is the back!

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

Floral Glove, Rough Purl Leaves

On the remaining roundels the tendrils are couched sections of Gilt Super Lizardine that has been stretched to about 30 per cent more than its original length.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

The leaves are then covered with pieces of Gilt Rough Purl, which is a tightly wound spring made from a round wire. It has a slightly matt finish that gives a nice contrast to the bright check used in the central roundel.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

I found the rough purl slightly easier to handle than the bright check but found it more difficult to cut the pieces to a precise length even with the aid of a magnifying lamp.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

Floral Glove, Bright Check Leaves

When we demonstrate Japanese embroidery, people often say "that must take a lot of patience". I enjoy embroidery so much, become so absorbed in the process, that I find it more relaxing than something that requires patience. But the next step on Floral Glove certainly did take a lot of patience!

I’d had a taste of how painstaking this process would be when covering the calyx with coloured purl. The leaves in the middle roundel are covered with bright check – a triangular shaped wire formed on a three cornered needle. If anything, the bright check is even more springy than the purl and the leaves are very much smaller that the calyx. Measuring and cutting the tiny pieces needed to cover each leave was very fiddly.

An even greater test of one’s patience is sewing the pieces into place. Bright check is made from a very fine flattened wire and it is near impossible to cut without leaving a small tail sticking out. Silk threads have an amazing ability to snag on the slightest thing so sliding the ‘beads’ of bright check onto the silk thread is rather like trying to put silk stockings onto barbed wire!

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this part but it really did test my patience. But, boy was it worth it. The triangular segments spiral around the wire creating a faceted surface that glitters and sparkles like no other thread. This is the blingiest of BLING!

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

Happy Stitching

Progress Report - July

Perhaps I should write a progress report on the decorating since most of my days off have been devoted to that! I’d love to report that it is finished but alas it is not. It is however very nearly finished.

I had one day out to play with beads with a friend. I also had an entire weekend of stitching when I managed to finish the gold work on Floral Glove. I then had a couple of days off sick but felt so lethargic that attaching a few spangles and seed pearls was all I could muster enthusiasm for. I even managed to get a few of the spangles in the wrong place so I will have to redo those! All of the embroidery on Floral Glove is completed; I now have to make it up into a scissor case. I am far more motivated to do the embroidery than the finishing so this has languished the last few days. However, I am determined that this will get finished so have banned myself from starting anything new until it is done.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

I have also made significant progress on my Japanese bead embroidery, although I have not actually attached any beads! I did the finishing on Poppy Pouch and removed it from the frame then moved Floral Melody from its temporary frame onto frame three. This is a psychological milestone rather than physical progress. It means that I can now begin beading Floral Melody in earnest and frame 4 is also available for a new project but I haven’t decided what that is going to be yet!

© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway

On the subject of Poppy Pouch, I have been working on a crochet rope handle for the pouch in the evenings. My friend Sue taught me how to make a crochet rope a little over a year ago. Since then I had been making a rope with Black FAB (frosted aurora borealis) beads that appear to be dark denim blue. Initially, I really struggled with the technique and made very slow progress. I kept the beads and crochet hook in my handbag and worked on it when I had some time on my hands. When we broke down in the snow last December, I whiled away the hours waiting for the tow truck with this project. A few weeks ago, I started doing some in the evenings; it doesn’t require too much brain activity so is nice to do when I am too tired for anything more demanding. Somewhere along the line the penny dropped and I finally crocheted a length long enough to make a necklace.


Buoyed by that success, I threaded the beads for the handle in a 2 white, 1 gold repeat on white thread. I’m not entirely sure when I started work but I managed to make a couple of inches every time I worked on it and over the course of the month made enough rope for the handle.


Looking back at the first post in this series, I am reminded that my aim was not merely to report what I had done but to actually set myself some goals. My goal for frame 1 was to finish Loving Couple so that the frame was ready for Camellias. I met that goal, so my new goal for frame 1 is to complete Camellias by February 2012. That seems easily achievable but I know how things can languish so must keep reminding myself of this goal. For now though, Camellias is resting!

Embroidery Bridge Between East and West on frame 2 is also resting. The goal for this project is to have it finished by the end of the year. Again, that seems easily achievable but this dead line is a low priority so it may not get done.

Floral Melody is now on frame 3. My goal is to complete this by the end of the year. This deadline is my highest priority.

My immediate priority is to finish the Floral Glove.

Happy Stitching