Lest We Forget - Part 3

On projects such as this, I like to try stitches/techniques that I have not done before or ones I have tried without great success. One of the stitches that came up in Sharon Boggon's Take A Stitch Tuesday was oyster stitch. At that time, I completely failed to learn the stitch but I thought that it was the perfect stitch for the flowers around the heart so I thought I would give it another go. I reviewed Sharon's instructions. I also took a look at Mary Corbet's oyster stitch video guide and looked up the stitch in the stitch directories I have. When learning something new, I find it helpful to consult as many resources as possible, what is not readily understandable in one may be clearer in another. On this occasion I found Mary's video guide to be most useful but I had to watch it several times before I put all of the steps together and I had to make quite a few stitches before it could do it without reference to the video.

The first step was never a problem for me, it is just a twisted chain stitch.

© Carol-Anne Conway

The next step was the one that foxed me originally. You slide the needle under the bottom 'leg' of the twisted chain then take the needle down inside the loop just formed. This, apparently, makes a rosette chain stitch.

© Carol-Anne Conway

© Carol-Anne Conway

Pull the thread through but leave a nice loop around the rosette chain and ring the needle back to the front of the fabric inside that loop. Take a small stitch over the loop thus making a chain stitch around the rosette chain.

© Carol-Anne Conway

© Carol-Anne Conway

What I learn was that it helps if you leave the loops bigger than you want them until you insert the needle into the fabric for the next stitch, and then draw up the loop until it rests against the needle. I experimented with how much space I left between the point were I came up through the fabric and the point were I went down to give me plumper petals.

Happy Stitching