January TIF - Stitching 3

Gosh, this section has boggled my eyes! I’ve needed my clip on magnifiers and my task light to see properly and even then I’ve gone wrong several times. One row of stitches looked wrong as I was working it, so I took the stitches out and re-did it. I did this three times before I worked out that I had gone wrong on the previous row and that was the reason the current row would never look right. It probably would have been easier to see if I had used one of the stronger colours but I wanted to see how the stitch length affected the value of the colour and thought this would show more clearly with a paler colour.


The first three bands are running stitch, with each row of stitching stepped to form a chevron pattern. The first band (left) is stitched 2 over/2 under, the same as all the stitching in the central motif (ratio 1:1); the second is 3 over/1 under (3:1) and the third 4 over/2 under (2:1). As the second band has the highest ratio of thread on the surface to background colour, I would have expected this band to be the most prominent.


The remaining bands are all stitched 2 over/2under with alternating areas of thread and background to give a chequered effect. There are not many variations on this pattern you can do with a single colour, so I introduced the pale green (966) into the mix.


Happy Stitching

January TIF - Stitching 2

I started stitching the outer part of the design with the lavender (211) but the stitches were barely visible, so I removed them and started again with the darker mauve (333), I like the way the colour intensifies where the stitches double up around the inner motif.


Again, the colours changed when I added the dark green (520) stitching. The stitches are exactly the same as the inner motif - 2 over, 2 under - but their position is shifted to create a different pattern. I find it interesting that this area looks more densely stitched than the centre even though the coverage is exactly the same.


Happy Stitching

January TIF - Stitching 1

Wow, it is amazing to see the stitched sampler coming out exactly like my (modified) chart. I guess it’s not so surprising with such a simple design, but I hadn’t expected them to be so alike.

I found working out the starting point a little taxing, in fact my first attempt was one thread out so I had to restart, but once I got going I really enjoyed the simple rhythm of two over and two under running stitches.

One thing that is fascinating me is how much the second colour affects the first. The deep purple (333) stitches (vertical) looked violet on their own, but when the deep green (520) stitches (horizontal) were added the colours appear to blend to form a different colour. I plan to explore this a bit more when I add to the design. I wonder how this would have looked if I had used the paler green to give more contrast?


I planned to do the outer areas in the paler shades but when I started stitching with the lavender (211) they were barely visible, so I removed them and will continue with the darker shades for this part of the design. These are exactly the same stitches with the same spacing but arranged in a different pattern; I am interested to see how that affects the appearance of the colours.


I will be using the other shades but in a more densely stitched pattern so that the colour is not lost. All stitching (so far) is done in a single strand of DMC stranded floss.

Happy Stitching

You Make My Day

I have been tagged by Hideko, Elizabeth and Melissa for the Make My Day Award. Thank you, ladies; I am flattered that you included me in your lists.

The Rules are to "Give up to 10 people whose blog brings you happiness & inspiration and makes you feel happy about Blogland." Beware! You may get the Award several times! Let them know by posting a note on their blog so they can pass it on. As others have found, it is a difficult task to hone my list of favourite blogs down to just 10 but here goes, in no particular order.

At the risk of making this sound like a mutual appreciation society I am sending the award straight back to all three of you.

Hideko of Wind from the East was the first blog I found and started visiting regularly. Her stitching is so pretty and I adore her use of colour.

I discovered Elizabeth’s blog Quieter Moments through TAST and have found her stitch explorations fascinating. I am really please that Elizabeth will continue exploring stitches and blogging her findings for us.

Melissa has only been embroidering for approximately 18 months and blogging for about the same time. Her enthusiasm for embroidery is delightful and she generously shares all she has learnt on Honey Bee’s Bliss.

I’m not sure how I found Allie’s blog, I expect I followed a link from another blog. I can’t remember how many times I’ve read "Do take a look at her wonderful quilts on Allie’s in Stitches" or something similar. As much as I love flowers, at first I didn’t get Allie’s quilts but over time they have really grown on me. Stunning work and a fascinating blog.

Again, I’m not sure how I found Judy’s blog, Possibilities, etc, but I think it was something to do with Allie’s. It was Judy’s needlepoint interpretation of Allie’s crazy quilting that first got me hooked.

There are so many reasons not to miss Mary’s Needle’n’thread; the video stitch library, masses of information and, of course, her stunning embroidery.

Nuido - A Student's Journey is a fairly new blog and the only one I know of dedicated to Japanese Embroidery. Jane is passionate about JE and freely shares all she has learned about her craft. Jane is an exquisite and prolific stitcher.

The Beaded Journal Project is made up of 241 women and 1 man who are dedicated and committed to creating 12 bead journal pages, one per month, for a year. I couldn’t pick one individual bead artist from their number so have included the project’s blog.

Pat Winter’s blog is certainly worthy of inclusion in any blog but I want to include her spin off blog Comfort Dolls Project. Seeing the dolls that so many textile artists have made and donated to this project really does make my day.

Finally, I want to include a blog that currently has me gripped, The Embroiderer’s Story. The Plimoth Plantation are recreating a 17th Century Embroidered Jacket, and watching it progress would be reason enough to follow this blog but the information about the research behind the project and the development of materials is fascinating.

So there you have it, just 10 of the many blogs that make me happy and make my day!

Happy Stitching

TAST, TIF and Tagged

It doesn’t seem right to move on to TIF without a final word on TAST.

I began the year very well and worked a sampler for each stitch, more or less within the week. The problem was that I set the bar too high; it was taking all my stitching time to complete the sampler and I was not getting anything else done. Between taking breaks for holidays or other projects, and taking longer to do each sampler, as the year progressed, I fell further and further behind.

I don’t see not completing all the stitches as failing TAST, I never actually dropped out; I simply didn’t keep up. Besides, I’d rather focus on the positive things that came out of participating. First, I really enjoyed the stitches I did do, and my samplers included some of the stitches that came up later in the year (so really I was ahead, rather than behind, LOL). Second, I have done more stitching this year than ever before and I attribute that to TAST. Also, I have followed the progress of many who have participated and learnt much from their endeavours (thank you to all those who took the time to blog or upload pics to Flickr, you’ve given me hours of pleasure). And finally, TAST was the reason I started my blog; for that reason alone I am really pleased I signed up for the challenge. Sharon, thank you so much for organising TAST and all of your hard work this past year.

So, on to Take it Further! I am hoping that I will be able to keep up with this challenge better but already I am wondering if I have time to do this as well as the other projects I want to do! I am trying to resist the temptation to do a bigger project just because I have more time. When TIF was first announced I had several ideas for themes or formats I could adopt throughout the year. I am also trying to resist them. It is in my nature to want everything to be co-ordinated or matching but for this challenge I want to treat each month as a totally separate project to allow myself complete freedom of design. I am not a designer so I will be satisfied to take small steps with this challenge and try not to expect too much of myself each month.

The key concept for January is the feeling of admiration for another. How hard is that? I can think of many people I admire and the reasons why but at first I could not imagine how I could translate that into embroidery. I rejected a lot of people on the grounds that I don’t know enough about them on which to base a design but two names people occupied my thoughts for several days, my Nan and Mahatma Ghandi. I did a mind map for each, writing down the things I admire about them, things I identify with them and my feelings about them. Despite a long list of words, I was not getting any inspiration for Nan. I looked up Ghandi on the web and started writing down key facts, quotes and more words, including their Sanskrit translations and gradually began to form an idea. I had one real sticking point, although I don’t want to tie myself to both the key concept and the colour scheme every month, I really like this month’s colours and want use them but I could not envisage them in a design based on the Father of India.

While searching for information about appropriate stitches to use, I remembered that Stitch magazine had published an article on Indian embroidery. Looking through my back issues, I came across a feature about darning. I remember the article had struck me when it first came out in December 1999 as not long before I had seen some wonderful darning samples at the Witney Antiques Center. It also triggered a memory of an occasion when I was staying with my Nan. Just as I was about to leave the house, I snagged my tights. As I went upstairs to change them, Nan said I should bring that pair to her so she could darn them for me. I laughed and said "Nan, nobody darns tights these days. I’ll just buy a new pair". Of course, my Nan still darned tights and socks, she also patched on the knees of trousers and elbows of shirts and jumpers. She grew up in an age of mend and make-do and probably thought me very decadent for throwing away a perfectly repairable pair of tights.

Last night I started to chart a darning sampler in memory of a woman I loved and admired greatly.


Happy Stitching

PS. I have been tagged by three stitches that I admire. Thank you, I am very flattered. I will compile a list of 10 blogs (just 10!) that make my day in the next day or two.

Flutterbies - The Final Stitches

It is usual to sink the ends of the couched threads after all the other stitching is completed but I had already sunk the ends whenever I thought that they would not interfere with any remaining stitching. The exception was the antennae on the Blue Eyed Boy. For some reason I had decided that I would leave them until the very end - it seemed fitting to finish were it all began back in June. I don’t know why, but I sometimes make these subconscious choices and they become strangely important.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

Actually sinking the threads is a simple task but it felt as if I were performing a ceremony or ritual - I took my time and savoured the final moments.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

After working on this for six months and having invested so much thought and emotion in it, I had mixed feelings about finally completing the stitching. Like coming to the end of a good book, I was eager to finish it yet, at the same time, I felt a degree of sadness that it would soon be over. Quite apart for the pleasure that I have had designing and stitching each butterfly, I have become emotionally attached to this particular project.

And here they are ... (by the way, if you didn't already know, when you click on any of the pictures, you will get an enlarged pic)

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

Even though the stitching is complete the piece has to be ‘finished’ before it is removed from the frame. Finishing is the only part of Japanese embroidery I do not enjoy. It’s not that I don’t like any of the steps per se; it’s just that I am terrified that something will go wrong and my months of work will be ruined in an instance!

While working on my Japanese embroidery, I treat it with great reverence. I apply liberal amounts of hand cream to keep my hands as soft and smooth as possible. Before starting work, I wash my hands thoroughly and wash them again whenever they feel hot and sticky. I go through a little ritual of laying out my tools and materials, and usually I mediate for a few moments to rid myself of any tension before I commence stitching. When I am not working on it, the embroidery is covered to protect it from dust and even while I am working on it I only uncover the area that I am working on. Food and drink are not allowed anywhere near it. I regularly check the tension of the silk in the frame and tighten it if necessary and I checked it again before starting the finishing process. All of my tools and materials are carefully put away and the protective cover removed. Let the finishing commence.

First I take a velvet pad and firmly beat the embroidery to remove and dust or particles. Then, on the reverse of the embroidery, I apply glue made from wheat paste to all the stitched areas, taking care not to get any on the silk fabric. Traditionally most of the embroidery was done on kimono, obi or fukusa (a gift covering), which are all items that are worn or handled, gluing the stitching fixes it. I have wondered if it is necessary to glue embroidery that is to be framed, but until I know for certain that it is not, I will continue to glue mine. Then you take a damp towel and wipe first the glued parts to even out the glue and then, with a clean part of the towel wipe the underside of the unstitched areas to dampen the fabric. Now, with the work right side up, you steam the entire piece from the underside. The steam brightens the silk and really makes it shine but having kept anything remotely wet well away from the embroidery until now, this feels totally alien. Finally, you begin drying the embroidery by moving a very cool iron across the surface, which is covered by a piece of finishing paper. This is done on each side. The embroidery is then set aside to dry thoroughly.

This is a brief account of the process to illustrate the rough handling the embroidery receives after months of mollycoddling. This is in no way a tutorial and I seriously recommend you don’t attempt this based on this description alone.

Happy Stitching

Flutterbies - The End is Nigh

Over New Year, we went to stay with J’s sister in Amsterdam. We've had a lovely time but I have not been able to blog and there is something I’ve been itching to say. I have finished the stitching on Flutterbies!

After my Good Stitching Day, I only had a few details to complete and over the Christmas period, I managed to find an hour here and there to gradually do them.

First I completed the final Flutterby. As I don’t feel I know my youngest brother very well, I decided to keep this butterfly simple and not add any fussy details. Like my brother, I think he has turned out jolly fine.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

I did however want to add some detail to the hind wings of the purple butterfly. Earlier I had stitched a spot in #1 metallic gold but was not pleased with it. I found it rather difficult to remove the metallic thread stitching without damaging the silk foundation. I thought for a long time about how else I could add a gold spot to each wing. Then, while tidying away some things before Christmas, I came across the materials for The Plimoth Jacket sampler. The kit included some gold spangles for stitching onto a scissor fob I have yet to make. On their blog, The Embroiderer’s Story, there is a fascinating account of the research and investigation into reproducing spangles for the Jacket (and currently, the tale of the Gilt Sylke Twist is being gradually revealed). The spangles in the kit turned out to be just the right size and it was a simple job to stitch them in place with a 1-2 twist of pink silk.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

The Shibori Samurai has waited patiently to receive his antennae. I knew what I wanted to do, but was not sure if I would succeed in creating the look I wanted. I had put this task off until there were no more excuses for not doing it. I stitched the left antenna first and it came out exactly as I intended.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

When it came to the second antenna, the bulbous end came out a strange shape. The second time I stitched it, it came out exactly the same again and although the third time it was slightly less bent, it was more or less the same shape. There comes a point where you think, this thing ‘wants’ to be this shape and you have to go with it. Curiously, it reminds me of my Dad’s eyebrow, so it’s staying.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

I wanted the antennae to be strong and proud, like my Dad, and for them to bring a little more emphasis to this butterfly, which was in danger of being overshadowed by those around it.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

To be continued ...