Monday, September 10, 2007

Embroidery Mistake - YUCK!
If you've been keeping up with the silk work sampler I'm ever-so-slowly working on, you might want to see my latest addition, which I don't like, and which is coming out at the next opportunity!

I finished the leaf worked in split stitch (it's the one on the right) and decided to launch into the third flower.

One drawback was that the stitches were supposed to run horizontal in each petal, towards the center line down the petal to create a "voided" meeting area. Well, I figured to get the full effect of the void, if the stitches met anywhere else, you really wouldn't notice the voided line down the middle - or it would end up looking too sectioned off.

So I thought I'd just change the tones of red as I worked down the petal, creating horizontal layers of color, and forgetting about the "shape" of the color (rounded arches of color in each petal.)

And so I set about to do that, and this is the result:



I don't like it one tiny bit. If the color change were more gradual, it probably wouldn't be that bad. But in order to get a gradual color change, I'd have to split the Japanese silk and work in a few strands of the lighter shade as I worked down. Um... I've done that before, with the sky in my Agnus Dei.... it takes a bit o' time, if nothing else. I don't want this project to be frustrating, because I'm afraid if it reaches a high frustration level, no one will finish it!

The other problem is that the straight horizontal lines, when worked around the circle of the flower, would really look angular, which wouldn't really match with the rest of the sampler.

So I'm going to pick that silly looking petal out and go back to the arched color changes.

You may wonder why it's a big deal to go horizontal on this flower, when we worked the other one vertical. Well, it's a matter of seeing how the light catches on the stitches, depending on the type of stitch and the direction of stitch.

For example, you can see a difference between the two leaves - yes, they're the same colors, but they look slightly different, because the light plays off of them differently. The one on the right is worked in small split stitches while the one on the left is worked in longer long-and-short stitch.

Well, when I get around to picking the thing out and re-attempting it, I'll let you know how the alternative works. In the meantime, I seem to have contracted the Creepy Crawly Crud (sinus / bronchial stuff), so embroidery's not on my list of priorities - actually, the only thing on my list is BED!

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, September 10, 2007
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Thursday, September 06, 2007

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler - an Update
During the summer, our adult embroidery group began a silk work embroidery sampler. We started from absolute "scratch." We traced our designs, pricked them, mounted the linen on frames, and then pounced the designs, tracing over the pounced lines with watercolor paint. We meet just once a week, so our progress is relatively slow!

I thought I'd share a few photos of the second flower, which is worked in flat silk in satin stitch, and the second leaf, which is worked in twisted silk in split stitch.

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler


Here's a view of what I've completed so far. It isn't much! The threads I'm using are Au Ver a Soie, Soie d'Alger for the twisted silk (one strand), and flat silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center. The colors are not a perfect match, but they are at least complementary. I would have preferred a perfect match!

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler


This is a close up on the flower in the flat silk. It has a much higher sheen than the twisted silk! The satin stitch is used to fill in each gradation in color. The outline of each petal (and also the line between each color) is worked in stem stitch.

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler


Here's the second leaf, which is worked in llines of split stitch. The color blend is greated by "dove-tailing" the lines of split stitch, so that the edge of each finished row of color resembles the edge of a finished row of long and short stitch. This way, the colors work into each other gradually and blend better.

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler


Here's a close up on the finished half of the leaf. You can see how the split stitched lines work into each other. In fact, it's hard to follow one complete line of split stitch in the picture. They're a bit crowded, actually.

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler


And here you can see how the lines are kind of "dove-tailed" so that the next color will blend in with them.

So that's as far as I've gotten! I'm pretty determined to finish it.... before Christmas!

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, September 06, 2007
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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler Update
The silk work sampler that our embroidery group is working on is coming along. After spending a lot of time on set-up, we're finally stitching! Here are some photos of progress on the embroidery sampler so far.

We started with the middle flower, working it in long and short stitch. This was an adventure! I chose to do my flowers in reds, and first, the plan was to work from light on the outside to dark on the inside. I worked the first petal that way and didn't like it at all, so I picked it out and worked from dark on the outside to light on the inside. I liked it much better!



So, the center flower and the top left leaf are worked in long and short stitch. The idea is to work towards the "growth point" on flower petals, leaves, etc., when working with long and short stitch. Down below, I'll show you some close ups where I messed up!



This is the center of the flower. The image is a bit fuzzy (!) This is how I stitched it: I began with a light gold Soie d'Alger, and backstitched around the circle. Then, inside the backstitch (so, on the inside of the circle), I stitched one layer of loose satin stitch in the Soie d'Alger. Then, I satin stitched the whole circle (going outside over the edge of the backstitch) in a flat silk, in gold. Then, I worked a square lattice in the dark red, and couched the intersections with the lightest coral in the flower. Then I worked a stem stitch around the circle, using two strands of Soie d'Alger in the medium red.



Here's an odd angle on the flower, so you can see the "dimension."



The leaf is worked in long and short stitch in three shades of green, light on the outside, and darkest by the central vein. The whole leaf was first outlined in the light green in a backstitch. The long and short stitches should be directed towards the central vein, and slanting downwards (to the growth point of the leaf). If you look closely, you can see where I messed up! But if you can't see it here, you can here:



The central vein is worked in a stem stitch, in the darkest green. The problem in the leaf is in the lower left-hand corner of this photo. I marked the difficulties in red in the photo below:



The three middle red lines show how the stitches angle too far up. I should have taken that out and restitched it.... but I had too many layers in before I realized how far off it would go. In the scheme of things, it's not "too" noticeable, but it still bugs me! Live and learn!

So that's the progress so far... Next, we'll be working the flower on the left, which is worked in satin stitch, in flat silk. The shades change according to the lines in the pattern, and there's a "voided" line between each shade. The satin stitching will be vertical, without any radiation, so it will be a completely stylized flower. I'll let you know how it goes!

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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Saturday, June 30, 2007

Silk Work Embroidery Sampler Under Way
 
For our summer project, our embroidery guild is learning to work with silk. We'll be using different types of stitches in our silk work sampler, many of which will be some sort of "shading" technique. If you want to see the pattern we'll be working with, I posted the silk work sampler pattern some time back.

During each embroidery guild meeting so far this summer, we've gone one step at a time in setting up the sampler, and we will all be working one step at a time in stitching it, so that everyone has time to get the different techniques down.

We haven't started stitching yet! We aren't taking any "short cuts" - we each framed up our pieces, then we traced our designs, pricked them, pounced them, and finally, using a fine paintbrush and watercolor paints, we painted in the design.

So here's my pattern, transferred to the fabric and ready to go:



The sampler itself is about 7.5 x 10 inches. We're using Legacy linen (Alba Maxima), and we purchased 18" x 18" squares, to mount up on 16 x 16 frames. We're using stretcher bars, with the fabric tacked all the way around. The linen was pre-shrunk and ironed before mounting. I like using the larger frame for this kind of project (a 14 x 14 or even a 10 x 12 would have sufficed), but it's good to have the extra space to practice a bit on the side lines if necessary.

Here are the threads we'll be using:



The top row of tubes is flat silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center. We're working with 5 shades of green, 3 shades of red or of coral, 3 shades of blue, and gold. We'll also be using a little bit of reddish-brown, for different stems. The silk in skeins is Soie d'Alger.

I picked out the colors from the thread sample binder of the Soie d'Alger. Then I matched my colors of Soie d'Alger to the thread palette of flat silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center. I was so happy to find a practically perfect match for all colors! Of course, the colors will still look slightly different, because the light will play on the flat and twisted silk differently. The stitches used will also change the look of the threads a bit, because of the way the light plays off different stitches.

We're starting with the middle flower at the top, which will be worked in long and short stitch in the twisted silk. The center of the flower will be a lattice work filling, in the gold and either red or blue, depending on the color of the flower. The side flowers will each be worked in different stitches, but they will be worked in flat silk.

I'll keep you posted as we progress - right now, I'm going to work up a sample section for Monday's class!

I'll be posting updates and explaining the stitches we're using as we go. If you want to stitch along from a distance, feel free!

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, June 30, 2007
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