Each of these flowers are arranged in the same way with one uppermost petal that slightly overlaps its neighbours which in turn overlap the next petal. There is one petal, opposite the uppermost petal, that is overlapped by both of its neighbours. As with the pointed petal blooms, the petals are padded with the fore ground petals having the most padding and the background petals having none.
© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway
As is usual in Japanese embroidery the uppermost petal is worked first. It must be padded and stitched before either of its neighbours can be worked.
© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway
I then usually work clockwise around the petals, padding and stitching each in turn until I come to the bottom petal which I leave until later. I then return to the petal to the left of the top petal and work anti-clockwise around the remaining petals, again padding and stitching each in turn finishing with the bottom petal.
© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway
I stitched the first of these mums back in September when we enjoyed an Indian summer in the south of England. I loved the warm sunny days, except for my stitching time in the morning. I have heard from others in warmer climates than the UK that silk can be difficult to handle in humid conditions but I had never experienced it before. I really struggled stitching these first few round petal mums and I’m blaming the weather!
© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway
Of course the problem may have been that these petals are smaller than the pointed petals but they are still done in diagonal foundation stitch. Same stitch but small and therefore, I find, harder. I’m not really satisfied with the first few blooms I stitched but I have decided to leave them until I have stitched all the other flowers. If I still don’t like them then, I will restitch them.
© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway
© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway
The centres of the round petal mums are done in gold so I will be leaving that until later, like all of the gold work.
© JEC/Carol-Anne Conway
The Fuzzy Effect website has started a new feature called Snippets. Their first snippet is on Chrysanthemums. Jane has put together a lovely selection of pictures show some of the many different ways chrysanthemums are depicted and some of the many different techniques for stitching them in Japanese Embroidery.
Happy Stitching
5 comments:
Humidity certainly does affect textiles, and while usually that's in the context of industrial processing, which is at high speed and high tension, it's perfectly reasonable to find it making a difference in hand work. The temperature and humidity will affect your hands, after all!
I have noticed a difference how the silk handles at different times of the year. Although, perversely I find when it is dry I have problems with the filaments becoming static and fly away - possible because I have very dry skin. I wondered if these petals need a thinner thread because they're smaller. There certainly aren't many stitiches in each petal but each one matters.
I am enjoying watching you stitch this step by step :) I had a question concerning the purple line inside each petal. What are they for? And do you trace the flowers again before you stitch them?
What do you use to trace purple line in your flower? Does it erase after time?
The design is marked on the frabic with very pale blue dots that are difficult to see, even with the best lighting. I draw the outline of each petal to give myself a clear line to stitch to.
The straight lines inside each petal are to show me the angle for the stitches.
I use a Pilot Color Eno propelling pencil in size 0.7. It comes in various colours but this purple is my favourite as it shows well on both dark and light fabrics (and I like the colour :-) It does fade after time but, none-the-less, I try to make my marks where they will be covered by the stitching.
Post a Comment