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Year: 2018

TAST Catch Up 5 out of 5. I Did It!

Welcome to my very last post about the TAST 2015-2017 challenge! Today I feature two non-TAST stitches and revisit two old favourites.

I didn’t think a collection of embroidery samplers would be complete without Cross stitch, so I worked two. One sort of freestyle  on plain cotton and one on evenweave fabric.

Cross stitch is a great stitch to “sketch” with so I started with some scribbly and textural samples (top left and top centre). Then I tried various fillings and seam/border treatments in a range of different threads. I drew a lot of these first with a water erasable marker. I usually use Hemline water erasable markers because they’re easier to find locally but I prefer the Clover Chacopen Water Soluble Marker as the Hemline markers smudge a lot and get all over my hands when I’m drawing. They’re fine once they dry though.

Borders and fillings embroidered using cross stitch.

For my evenweave cross stitch sampler I used a scrap piece of linen I found at the op shop (charity thrift store). The patterns are from an Ondori embroidery book from the 1970’s. I used six strands of embroidery floss and crewel wool for the most part, although the sky is some vintage knobbly knitting yarn couched down with cross stitches worked in floss. I’m afraid I have no idea what count this linen is as I’ve never been much of a cross stitcher. I do love working small motifs here and there with waste canvas though.

Counted cross stitch sampler worked with a variety of threads.

Revisiting stitch 8: Chain stitch

Since I’m going to use my collection of TAST samplers for future reference, I decided I had to record using chain stitch as a filling. I used 3 strands of embroidery floss throughout (I think. I might have used 4, although I didn’t want to pick at it with a pin to try and count the strands).

The yellow in the flower centre is variegated, as is the centre of the paisley. For the other sections I worked darker outlines, then a medium shade, and finally lighter towards the middle. Chain stitch as a filling is remarkably fast to stitch and is a great way to fill in large, simple shapes like these. This is one of my favourite samplers, even though it’s one of the simplest.

Flower and paisley embroidered with chain stitch filling.

I came across canvaswork stitch while browsing videos on YouTube (that’s a link to the video, BTW). As you can see, I tried it in lots of different threads, and found that something smooth works the best. It would probably be a lot neater worked on an evenweave fabric or canvas (duh) rather than my quilting cotton, but hey, I’m a rebel. I really loved playing with all the different colour combinations on this one.

Canvaswork stitch worked in a variety of threads.

Revisiting stitch 10: Running stitch

My many investigations into running stitch simply would not be complete without a little sashiko. (see week 10, running stitch, revisiting running stitch, and this post from August last year for more running stitch samplers. I love running stitch).

If you’d like to learn more about Sashiko stitching, I recommend the Creativebug class, Sashiko Sewing with Lisa Solomon for beginner embroiderers, or for more experienced stitchers, The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook. Lisa makes drawing the designs on the fabric look so easy that I’m itching to try more designs from the book.

Embroidered sashiko sampler on red check fabric.

And that completes my collection of samplers for the 2015-2017 TAST embroidery challenge! Now that I’ve ironed them all, and shown them all off, I just need to bind them into fabric books and they’ll be ready to peruse any time I need them. After I embroider a few covers.
😉

If you’d like to see more, click on the “TAST challenge” tag under this post, or come back in a couple of days for the beginning of my “Beyond TAST” adventure!

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TAST Catch Up 4 out of 5

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Welcome to part four of my, “Oh crap, I forgot to blog about all these TAST samplers” catch up series.

Revisiting stitch 86: Knotted cable chain

I only worked a couple of lines of knotted cable chain when the stitch was first announced, so I took an opportunity to go back and work it the way I had originally intended. I used every type of blue thread I had to work an ever decreasing square spiral, starting with the thickest threads and working towards the thinnest. I also worked the chain much closer to the “knot” than I did the first time. I much prefer it worked this way. I think every type of thread looks great, and it has a great texture that I was missing the first time. I filled in the spaces with a spiral of yellow running stitch because a little contrast always looks nice.

A square spiral of knotted cable chain, worked in a variety of threads.

Revisiting stitch 45: Portuguese border stitch.

I really like Portuguese border stitch, so when I saw this video on YouTube, I knew I wanted to try embroidering it in a flower shape. I used a range of threads, working one, two, or three lines of the whipped part of the stitch to fill (or not), the petal shapes. For one leaf and part of the border, I added beads to the stitches that form the ladder part of the stitch and left just enough space to work the whipped section at either side.

I’m glad I revisited this stitch as it’s gone from “that’s pretty”, to be one of my all time favourites.

Portuguese border stitch worked in a flower shape using a variety of threads.

Leaf stitch is not a TAST stitch, however, when I saw this video on YouTube, I knew I had to try it. I found that it looks best in smooth threads. I’d love to try it with a thread similar to the one in the video. The colour changes are a lot more fun than any threads I had at the time. Have you noticed that I like flowers just a little bit yet?

Floral sampler worked in leaf stitch.

Stitch 95: Zig-zag coral stitch.

I had an absolute blast with zig-zag coral stitch. I did little more than try out a load of different threads and a little bit of couching, but it looked great in anything I tried. I particularly like the way crewel wool turns the knot of the coral stitch into a little loop. (The peach line on the left, 8th row from the bottom if you don’t count the border).

Zig-zag coral stitch worked in a variety of threads on red even weave fabric.

Come back tomorrow for my final TAST 100 stitches instalment!

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TAST Catch Up 3 out of 5

Welcome to part three of my “I can’t believe I finished the TAST 100 stitch embroidery challenge” catch up series. I accidentally published two posts yesterday (oops), but never mind, I have a feeling there will be a lot more embroidery going on around here to tell you about!

Braid stitch wasn’t a TAST stitch as far as I can remember. I tried it with a few different threads and I’m really not a fan. I just couldn’t get it to look nice, no matter what I did.

Stitch 99: Woven chain bar

Once again, I tried this stitch in an assortment of threads. It didn’t work well in wool because of the crimp or bounciness of the thread. Cotton lays nice and flat, however and looks pretty good. I’d reserve this for graphic elements worked in straight lines. Ever shortening rows stacked on top of each other for a roof, for example, or perhaps a single row for a window box.

Woven chain bar and braid stitch worked in a variety of threads on quilting cotton.

Rosette of thorns is another non-TAST stitch. I had to try it because I love pretty much all variations of blanket stitch. I tried lots of different threads, from my finest perle cotton to thick knitting wool/silk mix. I love how useful this stitch is. It makes great grass and flower stems, eyelashes and geometric borders. It also works well in straight lines, spirals and curves. I think my favourite, however, is the top of the border where I alternated which side of the line the stitches were formed. Worked vertically in green it would make an amazing fern-like plant.

Embroidered motifs and border treatments worked in rosette of thorns stitch.

Stitch 80 revisited: Double whipped chain stitch.

I worked a few different lines of whipped double (or double whipped) chain stitch back when it was first announced, but I had a lot more variations and threads to try out. When I came across this great fabric in my stash, I knew they’d go perfectly together. I tried just about every thread I have in both wools and cotton, whipped triple rows, spaced rows apart, whipped the centres and the edges and whipped in both directions to make cross stitches up the centre. This would be a tricky stitch to work in circles, but it’s a great one for border treatments and seams.

Whipped double chain stitch worked in a variety of threads.

Stitch 38: Revisiting cloud filling stitch.

I recorded cloud filling back in August 2016 but didn’t experiment with it at all. In this sampler, I tried lots of different ways of spacing the ground stitches the yarn is woven through, as well as lots of different yarns. In the pale pink area I started more spread out on the left and gradually made the vertical rows of stitches closer together, which gives a lovely sense of movement and perspective.

Cloud filling embroidered in a variety of threads.

I then used cloud stitch to embroider most of this little picture.

Sunny day tree scene worked in cloud stitch.

I’m particularly fond of the beaded section in the sun. After working the cloud stitch, I stitched a gold bead into each diamond shape.

Beaded quarter sun worked in cloud stitch

Well that’s it for part three of my five part TAST catch up. See you tomorrow for more!

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TAST Catch Up 2 out of 5

Welcome to part 2 of my TAST catch up series, where I’m showing off the last of my samplers for TAST 2015-2017

Stitch 98: Triple Chain

For my triple chain stitch sampler I used a range of cottons and wools on quilting cotton. Triple chain is a very graphic stitch so I used it to embroider some 1960’s mod style flowers on appliquéd wool felt. Changing the angle of the stitches that stick out either side can change the look quite dramatically. My favourite is the green “bamboo” worked in variegated green floss. I also wove some little grass bits with just one repeat of triple chain.

My final assessment of triple chain stitch is that it’s great for dramatic looking borders, graphic flowers and stalks of bamboo.

Three flowers worked in triple chain stitch on quilting cotton using a variety of different threads.

Stitch 63 revisited: Triangular feather stitch

I didn’t do much with it, the first time I worked triangular feather stitch, so I decided to try it again. I chose to experiment with border treatments, layering and working circles.

For the border treatments I worked the stitch on alternating sides and tried different ways of combining two rows while also changing the lengths of the feathered part of the stitch. I quickly realised that this is one of those “chameleon” stitches that looks great no matter what you do with it.

Triangular feather stitch embroidery sampler showing borders and layering.

Stitch 97: Feather and chain stitch

At first I thought feather and chain stitch was a bit boring, just feather stitch with a loop. But I wanted to see what I could do with it that might push it a bit beyond that. I decided to work just on border treatments combining feather and chain and other basic stitches to create something that might look good on a crazy quilt (even though I don’t sew crazy quilts). My favourite ended up being the pink flower bud border on the right. I worked two rows of feather and chain facing outwards, butted up against each other. Then added pink french knots to the feathers “stalks”, and a darker pink detached chain in the diamonds formed by the zig-zag part of the feather and chain stitch. (You can click the photo for a closer look). I’m still undecided about the red row with woven chain. It’s tick season here at the moment and they look a little buggy to me…

Feather and chain stitch borders embroidered on bright blue even-weave fabric.

Stitch 37 revisited: Triangular buttonhole stitch

Triangular buttonhole is another stitch I didn’t explore much the first time I worked it, only having added beads. This time I sketched out some motifs to try, and different ways to combine rows to make border treatments. I also worked a row with the triangles on alternate sides. I really like all of these experiments but I think the row with triangles alternating on the top and bottom  is my favourite.

Motifs and border treatments worked in triangular buttonhole stitch.

Stitch 100: Drizzle stitch

Drizzle stitch is one of those “helper” stitches that really don’t work well on their own. I struggled a bit with deciding what to do with it, but then I found a scrap of Barbie doll fabric in my stash and this idea was born. Barbie just isn’t my thing, plus the top of her head was missing so I gave her a makeover.

In this sampler the drizzle stitch is worked as the foliage for the flowers in the window box, the outer layer of Barbie’s hair (her fringe is bullion stitch), the seaweed in the fish bowl, the petals of the top and bottom flowers and the centre of the middle flower. I added a bead to some of the drizzle stitches. I think it worked great for all these purposes and might use it in the future if I work something really textural.

Embroidered sampler with drizzle stitch details

Well that’s it for part two of my five part TAST catch up! Check back tomorrow for part three.

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TAST Catch Up 1 out of 5

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Whilst rummaging through my boxes full of TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday) embroidery samplers, I realised I had over 20 that I hadn’t shown you yet. So this is the first in a series of five posts showing everything you haven’t seen. (BTW, TAST has started afresh for 2018 so if you’d like to join in, visit the TAST FaceBook group for details).

These are in the order I embroidered them (sort of). Or at least the order I grabbed them out of the box when I ironed them. Click the photos to make them larger if you’d like to view details up close. Here goes!

I didn’t really give raised chain v1 & raised chain v2 much of a chance when I first embroidered them so I went back and had another go. This time I tried threads from the thinnest (a fine cotton) to the thickest (worsted weight knitting wool). I stitched rings (the flower centres are filled with other stitches), leaves and clouds and even added beads to the ladder stitches with raised chain either side.

Embroidery sampler with two versions of raised chain stitch.

My conclusions after working raised chain 1 & 2  is that they make great ring shapes, look fabulous in just about any thread and are wonderful stitches for borders and “grounds” in garden scenes.

Next up was Italian border stitch, which I don’t think was an official TAST stitch for the 2015-2017 TAST challenge. Again, I tried lots of different threads. I even used it to stitch down a giant leaf sequin.

I think my favourite uses for this stitch weren’t the borders at all. I really love it for making circles and leaves.

Embroidered sampler featuring Italian border stitch on beige quilting cotton

Next are a bunch of stitches that definitely weren’t TAST stitches but after completing all 100, these were stitches I wanted to record for  future use. Frilled buttonhole stitch (from Let’s Learn Embroidery), Kiko’s flower stitch and cast on stitch.

As usual, I tried lots of different threads. I found Kiko’s flower a bit tricky when it came to getting the bullion stitch to sit nicely. It’s a very pretty stitch but one I’d use sparingly. I like the purple blue-bell looking flowers the most. Frilled buttonhole is a definite favourite though, as is cast on stitch.

Embroidery sampler featuring lots of different flowers

Next up are more “not TAST’ stitches. Shisha stitch and Gujrati stitch on a medium weight wool.

I used a few different methods for working shisha stitch. A google search will reveal many different tutorials but if you like working from books, I highly recommend “Shisha Mirror Embroidery, a Contemporary Approach” by Jean Simpson. It contains no less than 10 different ways to work shisha embroidery and has an amazing collection of motifs that include mirror work.

I used a couple of mirrors, but mostly experimental things. From left to right –
top row: sequins trapped behind a square of plastic, laminated playing card, laminated book page
middle row: a button, flattened bottle cap, mirror
bottom row: laminated playing card, mirror, old sequin.

Shisha and gujrati stitch embroidery sampler on wool.

I worked the Gujrati stitch in cotton on the left half and wool on the right. These are two of my favourite stitches that I’m definitely going to use a lot more in the future.

Next up, TAST 2015-2017 stitch number 96 was reversed buttonhole bar.

I worked single rows on on the buttonhole (or blanket stitch) foundation, all the way up to filling it completely. This is another stitch that makes really great rings, borders and grounds. I’m especially fond of my little sun and the left hand cloud, which is worked in some of my very first handspun cotton.

Garden scene embroidery sampler worked in reversed buttonhole bar stitch.

Well that’s it for the first TAST catch up post! I’ll be posting one a day for the next 4 days, then showing off a recently finished project and the first month of embroidery for “Beyond TAST” 2018 so look out for a whole week of stitchy goodness.

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