Gold n' Stitches

Enchanted Forest - Gathering Your Threads

This is the fun part!  Now that you have selected your fabric you can start getting the threads together.

If you have a thread stash, get it out.  If you don't have a stash, now is the time to start putting one together.

The threads you choose will be influenced by a number of things:

• The colour of your background fabric.  I started by selecting colours for the main elements ie the tree trunks and then built the colours around these.  I chose a lot of variegated threads for this project as they worked well with the many colours in the fabric.  The variegated threads also create a lot of the character of the finished elements such as leaves and stems.
• Availability of threads - what you have available to you in your local area and /or your stash.  I have used threads made in Australia as well as threads produced overseas.  Over my many years of stitching I have collected quite a variety of different brands, some for specific projects and others as an impulse because I couldn't resist them or they were on sale to walk by.  Of course this did not stop me from purchasing more for this specific project.
• Budget - I have used quite a lot of silks and hand dyed/over-dyed threads.  These can be somewhat more expensive than the more commonly available threads such as DMC and Anchor. Imported threads can also be more expensive so try using what you have available and then add just a few little treasures as a special treat.
• Texture - I have used silks. cottons and wools in a variety of thicknesses from stranded cottons and silks, pearl silks and cottons of varying thickness and silk ribbon.  This project is a great way to experiment with threads and try out some that you haven't used before.  Try combining different threads to create new textures.

Here is the list of threads I used:

ThreadworX (previously needle Necessities) Over-dyed stranded cotton floss

1041 Dust to Dust

1069 Spanish Olives

1070 Rocky Mountain

1090 Red Lipstick

DMC Colour Variations 4030, 4145, 4150

Colourstreams Hand Dyed Ribbons and Threads

Stranded Silks - 37 (Uluru), 50 (Blackberry Ripple)

Ophir -19 (Verde), 16 (Seascape), 23 (Rose Blush), 28 Carnivale

Exotic Lights - 21 (Purple Genie), 24 (Plum)

4mm silk ribbon - 17 (Jacaranda), 37 (Uluru)

Caron Waterlilies - 104

Gumnut Hand-dyed Yarns - Buds 589

Strand Crewel Yarn Wool Mohair - 253

Kanagawa Embroidery Silk - KNK - ? Oops can't find the number

30 gauge covered wire, felt

Enchanted Forest Tutorial – Getting Started

I started the Enchanted Forest over 12 months ago – it isn’t finished yet.  I keep adding little bits and pieces to it every now and again.  Kind of like growing a garden!

 

Once again it was the fabric that caught my attention first.  This fabric is batik – if you look really closely you can see the shape of trees in the fabric.  The blues, purples and teal colours were so rich and inviting.  That is the downside of working at a quilting and embroidery store – temptation is always lurking.  The upside is I am surrounded by fabulous threads and fabrics and exposed to wonderful creations from both customers and co-workers. 

I let this piece of fabric lie around on the coffee table taunting me to just pick it up and do something with it.  And then...

... It happened and I was inspired to “plant a garden”.    I had been fascinated by a few projects I had seen in issues of Stitch magazine, the UK Embroiderer’s Guild publication. 

The first one was in No 32 Dec Jan 2004/05, a piece titled Sunset through the Trees by Jennifer Rochester. I kept coming back to this project and finally gave it a go using even weave linen as the background fabric and silk threads.  It only measured about 5cm square and I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the freeform nature of the project.

A later edition of Stitch magazine (No 49 Oct/Nov 2007) featured two more projects that caught my attention.  The first was a hard anger and casalguidi pouch by Via Laurie of Chameleon Threads and a machine embroidered forest titled Enchanted Wood by Tracy Curtis.

 

That was it – I just had to give it a go.  So I set to work.

Here’s how I approached it. 

I searched the internet for a forest scene I liked.

I then went about simplifying the scene, sketching the main elements of the picture the large tree on the right, some background trunks and foliage, the pond, and some foreground bushes. 

Now remember I am NOT an artist, by any means and really can’t draw to save myself.  So if I can do it so can you!  The unicorn was way too complex for both my drawing skills and embroidery skills, so it had to go!  I put in another tree trunk on the left hand side to balance the scene.

Give it a go.  Find a picture that you like and have a play with it.  You just might surprise yourself.

I will do a clearer picture of my forest for you to trace if you are not happy with any you find.  I will post it with the next edition of the tutorial.

Oh and If you've got time check out the UK Embroiderer's Guilds Projects Online. Encrusting Calico, also by Jennifer Rochester,  is a great project to get you started with freeform stumpwork.

An Unexpected Suprise ... and framing made easy

A week or so ago I received a free copy of a craft magazine, Handmade Vol 27 No 11,   in the mail.

I wasn’t sure why I had received this magazine as I didn’t subscribe to it.  I figured it must have been a promotion as I do subscribe to Creative Embroidery & Cross Stitch, a magazine published by the same company, Express Publications.

So I put the magazine aside unopened and took it along to my stitching group that night.

As we were sitting around chatting, I decided to open the magazine and flick through it.

Suddenly I exclaimed “Oh my God!”

Now I knew why I had received a free copy of the magazine.  There, in print, was a design I had submitted back in 2006 - Cherry Blossoms.   Finally it had been published.

I had sent this piece of silk ribbon embroidery in along with a couple of other pieces which were published in Embroidery and Cross Stitch magazine.  I received the published pieces back in the mail but not the Cherry Blossoms.  I eventually rang to find out what was happening with it and was told that it had gone over to the editor of Handmade magazine.

The reason for my surprise was that nobody had contacted me to indicate it was going to be published.  Of course I was chuffed to see it in print ... and now it will come home so it can hang on the wall.

This was the first piece of embroidery I had attempted on a fabric with a patterned background.  It was a Japanese print and I really liked the fabric. I had purchased a fat quarter, with no idea what I would use it for.  The inspiration came from the other beautiful Japanese prints displayed in the store.

When I finished this piece, I dreaded the thought of having it framed as I had just had a piece of goldwork framed that had cost a quite a bit!  The piece measured 30cm by 40cm (12in by 16in) and I knew it would not be cheap.

I decided to get creative.

I purchase a blank canvas from one of the “two dollar” stores.  Are you familiar with these stores?  They are variety stores that sell many different products at low prices, usually two dollars and above.  I covered the canvas with dark brown silk dupion using a staple gun to secure it to the wooden frame of the canvas.

Next I laced the embroidered fabric to a piece of foam core.  Foam core or Foam board is a very strong, lightweight and easily cut material used for the mounting of photographic prints, as backing in picture framing.  It is generally available at art supply stores or picture framers.   I then attached the laced embroidery panel to the silk covered canvas using a hot glue gun. 

Cheap but effective.

Sorry there are no pictures of the process.  Next time I do one I’ll be sure to take some photos.

I have since completed a framing course at a local framing business.  What attracted me to this particular course was the added bonus of being able to use the business’s equipment and supplies once I had completed the course.

I just go in and choose the materials I want, prepare the frame, mount my piece and then just pay for the materials I have used.  It is an incredibly inexpensive way of presenting finished work.  I have also purchased some basic equipment for home so that I can mount my pieces using just the mounting boards.   This makes them light and easy to transport to classes.  The finish is not as professional as going to the picture framers premises to do the work but does the job when I am in a hurry.

Hoppin' to it

I have finally finished writing up the instruction for my Golden Lotus design. Now that the instructions are done,  I am concentrating on the second in the lotus series – On Golden Pond.

My last post described the process of making the gilt edged detached petals for the lotus flower.  I have since started to work on the surface embroidery.

 

I statred with the foundation work, applying the lily pads of silk dupion.  They have been fused to the base silk fabric using Mistyfuse ™.  It is a very fine fusible web, ideal for working with fine fabrics.  It doesn’t stiffen the fabrics excessively and the fine structure of the web means there isn’t any telltale results left after fusing.  It is great for fusing layers of organza!

Next came the layers of felt for the lotus flower. 

As you can see, once I started applying the threads and wires,  I have jumped all over the place.  I did some initial planning on what threads and wires I would use where, but was keen to see what the overall effect would be.  Thus there are lots of bits started and unfinished.

For the smaller lily pad I have couched Gold 376 couching thread from Benton & Johnson.  This thread has gold coloured synthetic strips wound around a cotton core. It is a very pliable thread and it is easy to manipulate into the tight corners.  I have used a silk thread, Matilda’s Own Daruma Silk Colour 149, for couching.  The thread is 50 weight, not quite as fine as the YLI silk threads that are commonly used for goldwork.  The Matilda’s Own silk is made is Japan and come in 60 colours.  They are distributed by an Australian company and are readily available here.  I use them for my embroidery as well as needle turn appliqué and paper piecing for quilting.  I like them a lot – they are fine, reasonably priced and high quality.

 

Today I plan on working on two smaller lily pads that will appear above the lotus flower and finish the long and short stitches on the flower.

I am using Madeira stranded silks for the long and short stitch.  The decision to use Madeira threads was really based on the availablility of colours.  They are also quite reasonably priced.

Oh - and I have started doing some online entry level studies in Financial Services and hope to do a bit of work on my next assignment too. My embroidery seems to have been put on the back burner and I am missing it greatly but I am trying to make it of equal priority.  So much to do – so little time.  Ah well we can only but try!

Hope you all have a great day.