Gold n' Stitches

New Year = New Projects

Happy new year to all.

My resolution for the year is to laugh more, stitch more and spend more time with friends and family (luckily most of my friends are also avid embroiderer’s and quilters!).

I managed to fulfil one of my holiday commitments – Finish off my Jane Nicholas project, Persian Peony Tile. 

I thoroughly enjoyed stitching this project, not just for the beauty of it but because it provided many of the elements I look for in a project i.e. new and varied techniques, the use of a variety of threads, wires and embellishments, and a challenge. 

The finished piece measures 16.5 cm (6 ½ “) by 11 cm (4 ¼ “).

Over the holidays, we had my two step daughters with us for 2 weeks, so there wasn’t much stitching going on and I was starting to feel withdrawal symptoms.

While I was stitching my Persian Tile, I was thinking about my next project and itching to get started.  And the perfect day dawned – a very wet rainy day – perfect for being indoors with needle and thread.  So today I began my new project – On Golden Pond.  But more about that tomorrow.

Before I leave this post I wanted to respond to a comment left by Carol-Anne Conway in relation to couching Or Nué style.  Thank you for the insight into the goldwork couching in Karahana.  I was very interested to read how you untwist and retwist the imitaltion jap when you turn the sharp corners.  I have not used this technique for turning or seen it mentioned in my goldwork books or come across it in any classes.  I will certainly give it a go in a future project.  Unfortunately, I don’t think this technique would be possible with the gilt passing thread as the gilt wire is very fine and very closely wound around the cotton core so it is quite stiff. As you have said, the flattened nature of the gold wrapping of the Jap makes it flexible and lends itself better to untwisting along the length of the thread.

I untwisted some of the Kreinik Imitation Jap No 7 (on the left),and gilt passing thread (centre) and placed them next to a single strand of Au Ver A Soie D’Alger (on the right).  I only included the Soie D’Alger to give an idea of the thickness of the other threads.  I hope the picture shows how these two gold threads differ in materials and thickness.

PS This piece will measure approx 7cm (2 3/4") by 15cm (6") when completed.

Or Nué - Filling the Gap

Merry Christmas to you all.  Hope you had a relaxing and safe festive season.  It was lovely to get away but I didn't get done as much as I thought I would.

The Or Nué piece has been occupying my thoughts and what little time I have been stitching.  Two of the circles have finally come together.

I couldn't wait to fill in the little gap.  The angle where the circles met was to sharp to bend and turn the passing thread so I had to dovetail the passing thread.

I started on the outside edge of the piece and worked as far into the corner as possible with the green silk.  I then cut the passing thread leaving a 2.5cm (1") tail which I took through to the back of my work.

I find it is easier to sink the thread to the back by unraveling the gold thread off the cotton core of the passing thread prior to taking it through to the back. I stop unravelling the gold thread about 2mm's from where I intend to sink the thread to make sure none of the cotton core shows through. 

Once the angle between the two circles became a little wider I then was able to bend and turn the passing thread.  The gilt passing thread is well suited to this method. It is made by by winding a flat, very thin piece of wire around a thread core in a spiral manner and produces a thread that is quite stiff and not fluid.  Consequently when it is bent it tends to hold its shape fairly well until couched in position.  A pair of tweezers with a fine point are very useful to bend and turn the passing thread.

It is quite a challenge concentrating on getting the corners right as well as creating the shape of the leaf.  As you can see by photo below, there is one stray stitch, which happened to be the last green couching stitch.  I can't live with this so will go back and "reverse stitch"(unpick) this little bit and redo it. 

 I am sure with more practice I can improve this technique.  I have been reading the posts on goldwork from Carol Anne Conway's blog Threads across the Web getting a few tips.
 Her work is exquisite  - just looking at the amazing execution of her piece titled Karahana inspires me to keep going.

 

Or Nué Blossoms - Detached Petals

I have started on the detached petals for the Or Nué blossoms.  I am not ready to attach them yet but am keen to see how they will look.

I have used 30 gauge wire on the petals and couched them with a single strand of silk, the same silk used to couch the gilt passing thread.

In Stage 1 I have simply couched down the wire in the shape of the petal.  You may notice that the wires to not meet at the base of the petals.  This is intentional for the shape of the petals.

In Stage 2 I have worked buttonhole stitch over the wire to form the edge of the petal. 

The little blobs of thread in the centre of the petal are the pin stitches I have used to start and finish each thread.  These will be covered later when the petal is filled with long and short stitch.

Before starting the long and short stitch I prefer to work a split backstitch around the inside of the wire. As I usually work my detached elements on quilters muslin rather than fabric colour matched to the thread (except with very bright/dark colours), this will prevent any of the muslin from showing through if there are any gaps between your long and short stitch and buttonhole edge.

Notice I have also worked a row of small split backstitch along the arch at the base of the petal.  This will prevent any fraying  when cut out.

Lastly I filled the petal with long and short stitch and added a few gold stitches. I think the gold stitches will help tie the petals in with the gold Or Nue background.

   

  If you find long and short stitch a challenge, or would just like to perfect your technique,  I can recommend Mary Corbett's long and short stitch tutorialon Needle n' Thread. The tutorial takes you through 9 lessons, starting with simple shapes and moving onto more complex shapes as each lesson progresses. The lessons are very detailed with excellent photos and diagrams accompanying each lesson.

 

Or Nue - Circular or Horizontal?

I recently started a piece of Or Nué, an embroidery technique where a fine metal thread, or pair of threads, is laid in close rows on the surface of the fabric.  The metal threads are couched in place using fine threads, usually silk or cotton to create a design.  The background, not covered by coloured threads,  is couched in a self coloured thread such as fine metallic thread or silk.

Traditionally Or Nué was worked in horizontal rows, however more recently  it has been worked in circles.

I decided to work my piece using circles as I love the way the light reflects and dances off the gold threads where the circles meet and angles are formed.

I designed what I hope will be a fairly simple pattern for my first attempt.

The design has been traced onto quilters muslin and shaded with coloured pencils.  The coloured shading is used to help disguise any gaps that may appear between the metallic gold threads as they are couched on the surface of the fabric.

You may be wondering what the wriggly black think on the lower left is.  That will be a butterfly with wings worked as detached stumpwork.  The centre of each of the dashed circles will also be filled with stumpwork petals.

So here's what I have achieved so far.

  
 

Because I am working a circular design I have used Gilt Passing Thread #6 as it will not unravel as it is coiled to form the circular design. I have couched with Au Ver a Soie & Madeira stranded silks to form the shading.

So far so good!  I thought I would get bored with working the same stitch over and over however it has been really exciting to watch the design grow and develop - it has also been challenging!  Or Nué is reputed to be one of the more difficult goldwork techniques and even with a simple design it has been an exercise of patience and learning.  But more on that later.