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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Stitch Fun: Rolled Woven Picots

 

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On Monday, we looked at how to make a really long woven picot without using a pin or needle.

Today, we’re going to look at one thing you can do with a long picot. We’re going to roll it!

For this first foray into rolled woven picots, I’m not using a very long picot. I did use a moderately long pin to create the picot, but overall, the picot isn’t much longer than one that you’d make with an average quilting pin.

Let’s take a look at the rolled woven picot!

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

The rolled woven picot creates a dimensional stitched element that can be used in all kinds of needlework applications, from stumpwork to canvas work, to … wherever you want to use it!

Its rolled, bud-like structure opens up a lot of flower-related possibilities. Once you start playing with the basic element, you’ll probably find yourself thinking of ways to add more layers, ways to dress up the roll, and so forth. I think there’s loads of scope here for some stitch play!

For this tutorial, I’m working on linen using DMC perle cotton #5. I had some DMC Variations (variegated threads) on hand, so that’s what I used.

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

We’re going to start with a medium picot – perhaps about 1.5″ – 1.75″ long.

These little chick pins are slightly longer than average pins and they worked well for this exercise. But any longer quilting pin will do, or you can use the anchor stitch method that we employed on Monday if you don’t have any longer pins.

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

Work the picot just as you would when following the woven picot tutorial.

It helps greatly to use a tapestry needle as you weave the picot, because the blunt tip is less likely to snag on the foundation threads.

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

When your foundation threads are fully woven, take your working thread to the back of the fabric as if you are going to end the picot, but don’t cut the working thread! You’ll need the rest of the working thread to anchor the rolled picot to the fabric.

Remove the pin from the picot (or cut the small anchor stitch, if you used an anchor stitch).

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

My favorite part!!

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

Manipulate the picot so that it lies on its side. You might have to wiggle and jiggle some of the foundation threads, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to the turn the base of the picot so that the base is somewhat perpendicular to the fabric and the picot is lying on its side.

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

Then, roll the picot around itself, with the base in the center, rolling the rest of the picot around the base.

It will look like the inside round of a cinnamon roll at this point – which is not a bad thing!

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

Use a pin to anchor the picot to the fabric, by sticking the pin into the end of the picot (the tip) on the outermost roll, and down into the middle of the roll through the fabric. This should hold the picot in place for a little bit while you anchor it.

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

Using the same working thread you used to weave the picot, bring the needle and thread up into the fabric under the outer edge of the picot roll, and take the needle through the tip of the picot or the edge of the picot very near the tip, and then back down into the fabric, to anchor the tip to the fabric.

You want these anchor stitches to be as subtle as possible, so try to bring your thread up just underneath the edge of the picot roll, and go down just underneath the picot, so that you can’t really see the stitches.

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

Slip the needle between the woven stitches on the picot when you make these anchor stitches.

Work around the outside of the roll, anchoring in about four or five equally spaced spots, to fix the roll to the fabric.

For a small roll like this, anchoring around the outside will work fine. If you have a much larger roll, you’ll have to anchor the picot a little differently – and we’ll look at that on Friday!

Rolled Woven Picot - embroidery stitch

Here’s the little rolled picot, ready to go!

This variation of a woven picot opens up some fun possibilities. We’ll look at once of those on Friday, as we explore the stitch a little farther.

Take some time to play with some rolled woven picots and see what you can come up with! Hope you enjoy it!

If you’re looking for more Stitch Fun! tutorials, you’ll find a whole list of them here.

I’m currently away on a short trip, but I’ll be back soon. If there’s a delay in publishing blog comments or replying to email, that’s why! Feel free to leave comments on the website if you’d like, though. I’ll get to them as soon as I can! If you can hold off on any email question until next week, it’ll be easier for me to address them then. Thanks!

 
 

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(7) Comments

  1. This is brilliant, it almost looks like Irish Crochet, thank you so much Mary! Your explanations are always clear and easy to understand. Such creativity and talent is quite inspiring, especially since I hadn’t done (no time) any hand embroidery in decades.
    When I discovered your site with those great explanations, exquisite work, well I had to buy myself some threads, needles hoops and what not. I could kick myself for giving away my extensive equipment .
    But that’s fine I got myself a standing hoop and muddle along, on 8″ projects. Good for the arthritis and moral.

    Keep it up dear, there is no other site as inspiring and useful as yours

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  2. Dear Mary

    Great tutorial on the rolled woven picot. I really like these stitch fun tutorials and the woven picot looks lovely rolled up like a bud. The variegated thread is a good idea and has lots of possibilities in creating different effects. I’m looking forward to Fridays fun and exploration and possibilities with woven picot. Thank you for sharing with us the different techniques of the rolled woven picot.

    Regards Anita Simmance

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  3. How cool is that. I don’t appear to have received your blog for a while. If for some reason my name has dropped off the list, could you put me back on.
    Thank you . I really enjoy your blogs. I have been looking for a buttonhole stitch with a bullion picot and shall go looking in your stitch video section
    Cheers
    Ada

    3
    1. Hi, Ada – You may have to sign up again for the newsletter, unfortunately! Sometimes, if an email service provider flags or filters automated newsletters, after so many attempts of my system to deliver, it will drop your email from the list. You can find the sign up form on the main page of the website (www.needlenthread.com) in the left column, or, if you’re on mobile, use the “hamburger” menu in the top right to scroll down to the newsletter subscription line. Thanks!

  4. Hi Mary,
    This version is so beautiful. I’m curious: did you invent the rolled woven picot?
    Thanks!
    Melina

    4
    1. I’m glad you like it!

      No, someone sent a photo of it because she couldn’t work out what it was or how to do it, so I played with it until I got it right. 🙂

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