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.

Attaching gold threads to the edge of detached stumpwork petals

I had a request to put together a tutorial for attaching gold threads to the edge of stumpwork petals.  I had mentioned this method in a previous post.  This method can be used for attaching various goldwork threads to the edge of detached petals.  In the example shown I have used gilt smooth passing thread No 6 and filled the petals with Anchor Marlitt Stranded rayon floss.

Work the detached stumpwork petals. 

The gilt passing thread is applied while the petal is still in the hoop.

Thread a no 12 crewel needle with clear monofilament thread and secure the tread at the back of the petal.  (I have used a single strand of gold tread in this example so that you can see the thread as it is being worked!) Bring the needle up through the first buttonhole stitch between the button hole beading and the covered wire edge of the petal.

 

Lay a piece of the passing thread along the buttonhole beading leaving a 2.5 cm (1”) tail.

Take the needle down over the passing thread and through the same hole where you brought the needle up.  Continue couching the passing thread in this manner every 2 mm (1/8 “).

 

When you have couched all the way around the petal secure the couching thread at the back of the petal.  Cut the passing thread, again leaving a 2.5 cm (1”) tail.

 

 Cut out the detached petal.  I like to work from the back so that I can see the stitches used to attach the gold thread.  This way I can avoid cutting any by mstake.

I just love the Kai Ultra Sharp scissors for this job.

 

 

To attach the detached petal to your main fabric, Insert a large needle e.g. yarn darner, through the main fabric at the point where you intend to position the petal.  Push the needle down until just the eye is above the fabric.  Thread the wire tail of the petal through the eye of the needle and the hole created by the needle. 

Gently pull down from the back.  Pull the needle all the way through.

Reinsert the needle into the same hole as above and thread one of the tails of passing thread into the eye and pull the needle through to the back of you work.

Repeat for the second tail.  Secure the wire and threads on the back of your work.

Happy stitching. PS sorry some of the pictures are a bit blurry - I'm a better embroiderer than I am a photographer.