The gold couching is going in slowly on this current project. The sky background is worked in long satin stitch, with flat silk, in a gradiant of blues. Over this, I'm couching gold passing.

While I like goldwork, and I do like the effect of the gold couched over the silk, this evening I'm just not too enthused over my efforts. Perhaps this is because it is so much couching!



I still need to straighten out a few of the lines. I'll do this with a laying tool or melore, just nudging them into place a bit. The most tedious part of this type of work is securing the gold after it has been plunged to the back. Different instructors advise on doing this whole plunging thing differently. In Tanja Berlin's instructions, she says to plunge after the gold has been couched. In Ruth Chamberline's Beginner's Guide to Goldwork, she says to plunge as you go. For the majority of this, I plunged my threads to the back as I went, catching them in the couching stitches to secure them. In the smaller spaces, though, I found it easier to couch the gold, leaving the ends lying on the front of the work, and then plunging them after the gold was couched. But then comes the most tedious part of all! Securing the gold after plunging it!! The left side of the design should go faster, though, as there aren't as many small broken-up spaces.



Here's a side view, so that you can see the "gleam" of the gold, which you don't get from a straight-on shot. If the light is right, it does gleam straight on, a little bit. But from the side, it really shows up.

The gold really tones down the sky - almost too much - but I don't think I will be able to judge the overall effect until the entire piece is finished.

The technique, by the way, is called Italian Stitch, which I first learned about in Lucy Mackrille's book, Church Embroidery and Church Vestments. This book is a rare old gem, fetching prices up to $125 on Amazon and ABE Books. It's hard to come by, but if you are interested in church embroidery, it really is a wonderful resource. I haven't seen this technique by this name in any other book, although I'm certain it must have been rather frequently used in different church embroidery projects. In Lucy's book, she used this technique on an Agnus Dei design as well, which gave me the idea in the first place. She does the entire background, though, including the grassy hill, in flat silks couched over with gold. The only things not couched in gold are the banner and the lamb. Her design also lacks the book at the base of the quatrefoil. And her design is smaller - probably about 8" square, tops.

So, there's my update for now. Hopefully, I'll get the gold done this week so I can move on to more colorful aspects of the design.

If you want to see the progress of this project, you can check out the following phases:

• Embroidery Project Underway - the very beginning, from nothing to some grass
• Embroidery Project Update 2 - the grass and book finished
• Embroidery Project Update 3 - the silk in the sky finished

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, pictures, silk, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, March 12, 2007
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The members of our embroidery guild are embroidering baby quilts as a fund-raising project. The quilts are made out of flannel in baby colors and designs. Right now, the guild ladies are finishing up their blocks so that the quilts can be assembled. When they're finished, I think they're going to be really cute! So I thought I'd share a couple photos of one of the blocks for now and tell you a little bit of how we're going about it, and I'll show the completed quilts and other blocks when they're turned in.

The first quilt block is an embroidered Little Dutch Girl, done in pinks rather than blues. The embroidered squares for the baby girl quilt are pink quilter's flannel (with the nap of the flannel on one side, smooth on the other). Most of the ladies used Solvy to transfer the designs, which is better, I think, than using the blue transfer pens, although some did use those, too. I've heard a lot of horror stories lately about blue transfer pens!



The stitching is all done in simple stitches. Here, the majority of the stitching is stem stitch, with a few straight stitches thrown in here and there. You can see a version of Algerian Eye on the skirt (six-pointed). You can see the Solvy in the photo. It'll be removed before squaring up the blocks.



Here's a close-up on her little embroidered cape, which is worked in two strands of DMC in stem stitch. She did a really nice, precise job with her stem stitch!



The skirt is detailed with these little six-pointed Algerian Eyes. You can see the permanent marker on the Solvy behind the stitches. This will rinse out when the Solvy is dissolved.



Here's the waste-line of the little dress, worked in stem stitch. I like the selection of colors - the light pinks and dark pinks for the dress. It's just so... girly!



What embroidered Little Dutch Girl would be complete without embroidered tulips? Here's her little face, with pointed nose, and little purple tulips.



And some blonde hair in a little pony tale to top it off, with a little pink bow.

The ladies are doing a great job on their squares - most of the members of our little group are beginners, but they're starting to "branch out" and take on challenging projects, which is great to see! We're lucky to have a great group of talented and devoted ladies! It's such fun!

We're going to be raffling a boy's quilt and a girl's quilt to raise funds for future projects. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll post some pictures as the quilts go together.

Labels: beginner embroidery, guild, Hand embroidery stitches, pictures, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, March 11, 2007
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This embroidery project has me fully occupied! I have been working around the clock, trying to meet an impending deadline, and finally, after this week, I've got the sky in (more or less). Here some photo updates of this project, which includes lots of teachniques: needlepainting, Italian stitch, goldwork, couching, etc.


Worked in semi-flat silk in very long satin stitches that will eventually be couched over with gold passing thread, the sky in this project consists of four colors of blue in a gradiant going upwards. You can see it in the photo below:



Overall, I like the effect, but there are some adjustments that I will be making this week. For example, considering the gradiant from light blue to medium (the first color change going upwards), the change is too sudden, and the right side of the design does not match the left as well as I would like it to. So I will blend some of the medium colors into the light and some of the light into the medium, hopefully correcting the problem.

You can also see a few buckles here and there in the silk. That is the difficulty of working in such long spaces of satin stitch. Normally, you wouldn't cover this much of a distance in a continual strand of thread. But since I will be couching over with the gold, this will secure the silk. In the meantime, the silk is in a precarious situation, and the slightest thing can catch it: hands, fingernails, loose threads lying on the work - the whole endeavor is rather strenuous when it comes to taking care of that silk!



My favorite part of the sky is the very top. I like the way this gradiant worked - it looks natural, and the blend is very gradual. I also like the color of blue here. I'm not super-keen on the very light blue at the base of the design, but as it works upwards, I like it better.



I began working on the nimbus, or halo, while I was waiting for the rest of my silk to arrive. The red portions of the halo are worked in long and short stitch, in three shades of red. the outer, darker shade will provide a slight "shadow" when the goldwork is done around the outside of the halo.



A close up on the long-and-short stitching. This technique is not as difficult as it seems, although beginners seem to shy away from it. Once you get the basic technique of long and short stitch down, you will find it's really a very "forgiving" stitch. You can sneak stitches in here and there to even things up or fill in tiny spaces, etc. I love this stitch!



And here's another close up on the beginning of the long and short stitch on the halo. The longer stitches worked in the middle are my directional stitches - you can mark these on with a pencil, but I occasionally stitch them in with one of the shades of thread I'm using. I can cover them up completely or work them into the color scheme, depending on the design.



And, finally, the beginning of the couching over the silk. To keep the spacing even, I originally marked off quarter-inch sections around the top and bottom of the quatrefoil. However, approaching it this way, I'd have to stretch my gold passing down the length of the design and match up the marks. I didn't like that idea because it seems to me that it may lead to waste. So instead, I'm counting off the threads in the linen (it's an even-weave) in the middle of the design and at the top of the design, and lining the passing up this way.

Before couching, I run my couching thread (Au Ver a Soie 100/3 in gold) through beeswax to give it extra strength and to protect it from the gold.

So there it is so far. I'm certainly open to any suggestions or constructive criticism!! Thanks!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, goldwork, needlepainting, pictures, silk, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, March 05, 2007
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Silk and gold are perhaps the most luxurious and beautiful of hand embroidery mediums, especially when combined. I've set out on a commissioned work of ecclesiastical embroidery that will be worked entirely by hand, in silk and gold. I decided to experiment with what is called, in old books from the 1800's, the "Italian Stitch." Italian stitch is basically stitching in flat silks (that is, untwisted), and then couching over the stitching with tiny gold passing thread.

I wanted to do some test runs before I got underway on the serious work. So far, with this project, I've designed the emblem and chosen colors. I prefer to work with Soie Ovale by Au Ver a Soie, which is their flat, untwisted silk. However, Soie Ovale does not come in a large range of colors, and I can't quite get the shading I would like. In addition to this, it does tend to be rather expensive. I am convinced it's the best silk on the market, but .... I need subtle shading for this project, so I may go with Eterna Silks from Yodamo. If you're looking for Chinese silk, you can order it here, and get a pretty good deal on it.

Anyway, I ordered some stranded Eterna Silks to test whether or not I will like them. I've used them before - they are high luster silks, but they don't give the coverage that the Soie Ovale gives. I'll let you know which silks I go with as this project progresses.

Back to the Italian Stitch. Basically, you work long straight stitches (or satin stitches, or long-and-short stitches) in flat silk. Then, using the smallest possible gold passing thread, you couch the gold down over your silks. This helps hold the long stitches in place, it gives longevity to the silk (it won't get worn from rubbing), and, of course, the gold adds dimension and beauty to the whole piece.

As you lay the silk for this stitch, you might find you need to use a laying tool. The silk should be perfectly flat and untwisted. I wasn't using a laying tool here, and, with the Soie Ovale, I find I don't need to as often, but it's a good idea to have one handy. If you are trying this type of stitch and don't have a laying tool, you can use a large needle. Run the needle under the length of the thread that will remain on the surface as you pull the thread through and complete the stitch.

As I mucked around with it this afternoon, I took a couple photos of the concept, so you can see what I'm talking about.



I'm using 2% gold passing thread, size 4, which I ordered from Tanja Berlin. You might wonder why I ordered it from Canada - simply because I can't seem to find the 2% gold available in the States. (If anyone knows where it can be found, I'm all ears!) Tanja Berlin offers an excellent selection of gold, and the prices are not unreasonable. I prefer the "real gold" for ecclesiastical work, rather than gilt. 2% gold is the highest quantity of gold found in goldwork materials. If you're interested in how this stuff is made, check out the history of gold wire found on the Benton and Johnson website. It's pretty interesting!



For my project, the whole background of the piece will be worked in Italian Stitch. In the foreground will be the image of a lamb and banner, the Agnus Dei image often found in ecclesiastical symbols. You can find, for example, a typical image here. The lamb and the banner will stand out from the background, as the couched gold threads will only cover the background area. The lamb will be worked in "wool stitch" (a variation of French knots), with long-and-short stitch needlepainting for the banner, the legs of the lamb, and the face. The halo (or nimbus) around the head of the lamb will be worked in couched gold and red silk.

The Italian Stitch varies depending on how the embroiderer wants to use it. For example, the gold could be couched over the silk in swirls and curves, etc., or in lines. I will be couching straight lines, one eighth of an inch apart from each other, as shown in the samples here.



After laying each line of gold and couching it at the correct interval, I'll plunge the threads on the outside of the embroidery. Then I'll surround the entire design with a 1/2-inch border of gold couching.

So that's my latest "big project" which will probably occupy a lot of my stitching time. At the same time, I hope to be keeping up with Sharon Bogan's Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge. If you haven't read about it, do! You might be interested in joining up and exploring some embroidery stitches.

Labels: goldwork, historical needlework, silk, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, January 02, 2007
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The cover for my needlebook (or, as some may call it, a "hussif") is coming along. I've almost finished embroidering the back of it, and then will only have one more panel. Then I can add the inside layer, embroider the book spines, and start on the little inside accessory spaces.

The whole project is developing according to practically no plan at all, so I don't actually guarantee the finished product! I have an idea in my head of what I want it to look like, so hopefully it will turn out the way I want it to. It's nothing fancy. It started as a road trip project, and I've posted a couple updates, here and here, along the way.

So, here is a photo of the front and back, side by side:



The space between the two panels is about three quarters of an inch. This will serve as a spine, into which I will stitch another "page" in the book, and then I'll cover the spine with some decorative stitches. The left side in this photo will be the back.



Here's a close-up of a good bit of the back panel, and you can see that some of the stitching is not yet complete. For example, I still have to fill in a few of the flowers, add leaves, etc.



This little section is made up of a variety of stitches. The bold blue line is Portuguese knotted stem stitch. On the outside of this, in light blue forming the little pointed outline, is a fly stitch border. Inside the "wave" are a few rows of open buttonhole, and then a stem stitch filled area (in green), and the center of the motif is filled with lazy daisies with French knot centers. On the right side under the tip of the wave is a ribbed spider web wheel, surrounded by chain stitch, with some feather stitching filling in.



Here's another close up of a part of the back panel. The waves or swishes are stem stitch, used as filling. There's a little cluster of French knots filling in down at the base of the photo, and some seeding can be seen above the dark green chain stitch band.

I've been using a variety of threads in the whole thing: regular stranded DMC, variegated DMC, Caron Collection Waterlilies (overdyed silk) and Watercolors (overdyed cotton), DMC Perle #5, Eterna silks - twists and minitwists, some (but not much) Soie d'Alger, and some YLI silk ribbon.



Towards the bottom of this photo, the green band with the blue isolated chain stitches, is a length of YLI ribbon, which I stitched down and then worked the isolated chain stitches over. Directly above that line is a whipped stem stitch, which began with a coral-colored stem stitch, whipped with green. Directly above this is a blue band of heavy chain stitch. Directly above this, I couched some yellow DMC Perle #3 with some pink Perle #5, in a kind of bricking pattern. Some of the stitches have been joggled about a bit, due to carelessness in holding the project (I'm working in-hand, as opposed to on a hoop or frame).

Above the couched line is a buttonhole line in pink, topped with purple French knots, and floating above all that is a random selection of leaves worked in fishbone stitch. The leaves adorn the purple flower, which is made up of two layers of lazy daisy in dark purple and light, and which hasn't been filled in the center yet.

The "V" directly above this is worked in cretan stitch, edged with stem stitch in purple on the bottom of the band, and chain stitch on the top of the band. Another spider web wheel surrounded by buttonhole stitch is worked inside the "V."



This is a close-up of stem stitch used as filling. You can also see, in the distance in a variegated pink / yellow silk, a flower worked in bullion stitch.



And, a final shot, this is back to the front panel, looking at my favorite part of it. I prefer the front panel. I think I got carried away on the back panel, so that things look a bit too thick for me there. The front has a crisp look to it, despite the crowded areas, whereas the back seems to jumble together a bit too much. Still, I'm having fun working on it. I've got a commissioned project, though, that's demanding my attention now and probably into March, so I'll just be snatching a few stitches here and there on this one, as time allows. It may be a while before the project is completed! But I won't relegate it to the deep interiors of the closet just yet!

Again, all these are pretty much what I would call "basic" embroidery stitches (although the bullion stitch takes a little practice), and you can find video tutorials for most of the stitches in the Video Library of Stitches Index.

Labels: beginner embroidery, Hand embroidery stitches, needlecase, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, December 28, 2006
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This embroidery project started out as something to kill time on a road trip, but as I keep stitching, it becomes more and more addicting! My plan is to turn the whole thing into a large needle / sewing book, with space for scissors, a magnet strip, threads, and, of course, plenty of needles! I thought I’d show you my progress on the front cover…

… and eventually, I’ll share the back cover, too, which will be entirely hand-embroidered in crazy patterns as well.

Basically, as I explained earlier, my plan was just to stitch whatever stitches came to mind, using whatever threads I happened to pull out of my stash. I modified the plan only a little bit, by attempting to balance some of the colors in the larger areas. I also picked out a line I didn’t like (the puffy couching) and replaced it with a running stitch whipped with ribbon. You can see the puffy couching in this post, where I gave my last update.

Here’s a photo of the front cover, finished. You can click on the image for a close up.



So that’s what I’ve been occupying my evenings with while on vacation, although I have managed to finish and mail one embroidered Christmas present, and, in the next three days (working mostly in the wee hours, so I don’t get caught red-handed!), I have high hopes of starting and finishing a little bird as another gift. I might even be able to get it framed before Christmas! We’ll see! I’ll be sure to snap some photos before I give it away.

Back to the needle ‘n thread…

Labels: Hand embroidery stitches, needlecase, sampler, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, December 20, 2006
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It's a busy time of year for hand embroiderers, as many work on preparing Christmas gifts and decorations - along with all the other holiday prep that goes on between now and Christmas (3 weeks from today, I might add!)

Sharon Bogan has a couple posts on her site, Inaminuteago, about Christmas preparations - specifically card making and ornament making. And in fact, these are the things that I've been mulling over lately - specifically, embroidered Christmas cards. I've got some scraps of card-making supplies around, and I even have a handy-dandy pricker for fine holes in paper stock. I'm pretty sure my stash includes some metallics that will do for the embroidery. I should be able to drum up some Christmas cards before the season is completely over!

And speaking of over, the weekend is exactly that. Unfortunately, for me, it was an off-schedule sort of weekend. We had to take a road trip, so, with a six hour ride in front of me early Saturday morning, it occurred to me that I should be able to take something productive along. Stitching in the car is generally out of the question for me - I practically always have to stitch on a frame, and my projects generally require good light and exceptional precision, not to mention the use of gold for couching and all that stuff. Not exactly the kind of stuff you can open up and spread out in the car!

But as the prospect of the drive overcame me on Saturday, I figured I could manage something - so I foraged through the scrap bin and came up with a long strip of red wool felt.

I grabbed my "class bag," which contains a good stash of disorganized thread that I use specifically for embroidery class.

And we set out.

The first thing I did with my wool felt was block out four panels on it, using a greeting card envelope. Between the four (with two on each side) I left about a one-inch strip. Think book cover. The one inch strip would be the spine.

Then I pulled a micro marker out of my bag, and scrolled off a bit of a basic design, just to get the thing going.

Then I stitched! My method was really simple: reach into the bag, pull out some thread. Using whatever stitch that comes to mind, stitch! And so that's what I did.

I didn't get that far - I figured with a six hour drive I should've been able to finish the front of a panel - but things never happen the way we expect. The finished product will have two panels stitched, and then I'll fold the outside panels under the embroidered ones, put a light cardboard insert between them and stitch them closed, and then add an inside felt page, with flanel squares - to make an extra-large needlebook.

There's quite a ways to go on the embellishment on the front. It's a bit too standard right now to be "interesting," and I'd like to play a bit with texture and shading here and there on it.

I'll let you know how it goes! and I'll give you a run-down on the stitches used once I finish the front. Here's the progress so far:

Labels: beginner embroidery, Hand embroidery stitches, needlecase, sampler, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, December 04, 2006
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