Tulip Slip

When I go away, I like to take a small embroidery project with me – even when I am on a stitching break! I had a couple of Needlework Nibbles not done so took one of those with me to Atlanta. It may have been a little ambitious to think that I could have the energy to do anything on top of the beading and certainly for the first week, I did not even think about stitching in the evenings but during the second week I made a start on the Tulip Slip.

The whole design is outlined with brown silk so I began by stitching that. I have to concentrate hard on counted techniques and even though I counted, recounted and counted again, I managed to create a different outline to the one charted. I decided not to worry about it as my version still looked like a tulip and I figured nobody would be checking my finished piece against the chart.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

After the outline was complete, I did the details on the petals and leaves one colour at a time until eventually I had only to fill in the spaces with the last colour. It is a while since I have done counted work and I quite enjoyed it. The tulip design is rather sweet and the colours are lovely.

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

Then came the finishing! I did not enjoy any part of finishing this other that the fact that the materials were gorgeous. First the stitched slip had to be cut out and appliquéd to the velvet back ground. I had read on Rachel’s blog that the slip had a tendency to creep on the velvet. Fore warned is fore armed, right? I positioned the linen on the velvet with the tulip in the centre and secured it with plenty of pins. I then trimmed away the excess linen a small bit at a time and began trimming away the excess linen, turning the selvedge and stitching the slip in place a little at a time. I did a little bit on the left, then a little bit on the right, and when the central section was secure, bit by bit I worked around the whole slip. It was horrible! The linen frayed, the little sticky-outy bits didn’t want to turn under, and some of the stitching was in danger of unravelling. But I eventually got there and after all of my painstaking care ... the slip had slipped down and to the right some considerable amount! There was no way I was going to redo it so I trimmed the beautiful silk velvet to re-centre the tulip.

The next step was simple enough, I hand stitched the silk backing to the velvet front, right sides together (I nearly got the silk the wrong way round!), turn, stuff and close. And attaching the gorgeous gilt fine Grecian Twist was not difficult except for the decorative corners which I found extremely difficult!

© Thistle Threads/Carol-Anne Conway

All in all I am pleased with my Tulip Slip. It is smaller than it should be, which is a shame and I would have liked to do a better job of the appliqué but this was my first attempt at this technique.

Happy Stitching