Wildflower–Ribbon & Stump work, Panel 2 part 1

Panel 2 - Part 1.

A Daisy, wild Sorghum & a snail.

So we left this project with just a spider charm to add and are moving on to Panel 2 and using ribbons.
Materials used in this panel

We are using Groves & Banks Ribbons which you can get practically anywhere these days. Mint & yellow gold 3 mm ribbon & 2mtrs of each. Also DMC 729, 420 & 955

When working with ribbon you need a large eyed needle, for the ribbon to go smoothly through the hole the needle needs to be able to pierce a big enough hole, and the eye needs to be large to take the ribbon, if you create too large a hole you can always push the fibres back to close the hole at the end when tidying up.

I am using a chenille size 18 & 7 & crewel size 7.

we are starting with the daisy
so take the Mint ribbon, we shall be working on the stem & leaves Cut it to about a foot long (30cms) as its more manageable. Knot the end thread 18 chenille.
Come up at A at the bottom of the stem

Twist the ribbon and take to the back at B - just past the petals near the middle of the flower

This is a twisted straight stitch, easy eh  :D. See I said it wasn't too bad. This is the stem completed, so cut ribbon at the back and using DMC 955 secure the ribbon tail at the back. Bring the needle through the front (your using a normal needle now), just push the ribbon in to place hiding pencil marks and just catch it down here and there with some tiny stab stitches to hold it.

Now on to the fly stitch leaves.
cut a new length of mint and now on to the fly stitch leaves, starting at the top of the leaf come up at A

catch a stitch at B and come through at C

make sure the ribbon is under the needle, use a thumb to keep it in place and pull your needle through keep pulling till it's tight and then take the needle down again as close to C as you can, come up again at the tip of the next leaf down and do the same again, continue all leaves.

Secure your ribbon at the back and snip excess, then change to the Gold ribbon.

Now its on to the daisy petals, every alternate petal is a open daisy chain or detached chain stitch
bring your needle up at A & take it down at b

Come up at C

And down at D

Do each alternate petal like this, I tried to vary the lengths, the in-between petals are a twisted straight stitch, the same as we did for the first stem, it now looks like this

Now I filled the centre of the flower with French knots, using 1 & 2 wraps & 2 strands of 729

So its on to the snail ( i didn't finish this today as I had to go to my class)

Outline the shell with stem stitch using 1 strand of DMC 420
come up at A And down at B but don't pull thread all the way through

Come up at C and now pull the thread through 

take a stitch forward and then come up at C which this time will be right at the end of the first stitch

Pull through and keep going till you have outline the shell, the next step is padded satin stitch to fill the shell in

Satin padded stitch is easy, you outline a shape then stitch over it going outside the outline.
So
come up at A, Down at B (A Laying tool or spare needle used as a laying
tool works well here to keep the satin even)up at C & down at D,
and then just keep going following the curve.

So
this is far as I got, the next stage is to work the body of the snail, which we will look at next time. As you can see its not too daunting and  quite effective once you get going.

Hope I'm not boring you with this &  thanks for the comments so far.

Wildflower–Ribbon & Stump work Panel 1 part 2

Panel 1 - Part 2
I apologise for the photos, the light was weird in the lounge today even putting lights on didn't help.

So we left the panel with the Aloe's complete except for a bit of tidying up of the free floating wire stems.
And today we are looking at Woven picots for the leaves, French Knots for the ground & The Silver spider's web.

I am using Anchor 214 Perle for the leaves,

My book does not give you a thread list, and actively encourages you to use your own threads although it does give a colour swatch for each panel so you can match your own threads, ribbons, charms etc..

 

So To start with a woven picot, it is easy once you get the hang of it. :)

Take a long needle, I use my doll making needle and slide it in to the fabric from the tip to the base of the leaf in the centre like this

bring your needle up at A take it anticlockwise round the top of the doll needle & bring it down at B

Bring it up at C and take it clockwise round the top of the doll needle

then slide the needle over the centre stitch you just made & under the left hand stitch, then weave it over the left hand & under the middle, over the right hand, going back & forth until you get to the bottom, keep the stitches close together by sliding them up. To keep the shape of the leaf, I pin both sides out to the shape of the leaf drawn on the fabric and weave down to the pin, remove it and carry on. As you make the turns with each line, don't pull to tight as your squash the width of the stitch which you want to be as wide as the design.

The End result looks like this (I probably did not explain to well above)

Now you notice this leaf is now free standing, this is good, it moves so you can move it while you work, it means when all of them are done you can just tack them down with a couple of stitches, you can give each leaf a twist, but most of all you can cover your pencil marks. I found pinning each one back gave me more room to complete the ones hidden underneath

Ending with this

So now I used some DMC in a matching colour and just tacked each leaf down with a stitch top middle & bottom, spreading them out to cover the design.

So other than French knots & seed stitches under the Aloe its all but done, but I then moved on to the Spider web.
As I said before, I ordered some spider charms, they wont get here till end of march so that will be added later, but the spider web is easy.

I came up in the middle of the white space using 2 strands of metallic thread (Hemline silver sewing thread)and took one long stitch to the aloe came up in the same stitch in the middle and made long stitch spokes. Then used long stitch to do the inner spokes. The thread split slightly but the spider will cover that so I'm not too worried.

Once the web was complete I added some French knots below the aloe, using 2 & 3 wraps to the knot and 1 & 2 threads using DMC 420. The seed stitches (which is 1 back stitch) are also DMC420 and scattered about. Just to give the ground some depth.

So all that is needed to finish is the spider charm.

This panel is finished, we used wire work, Bullion Knots, French Knots, Seed stitch ,long Stitch and Woven picots.

Next time we start working with Ribbon as well as embroidery on Panel 2.

:D

Wildflower Ribbon Stump work Tutorial

So I thought I'd take you on a journey with me through the wild flower panel, some of these stitches are new to me so your have a ring side seat as I bugger it up. Pull up a chair grab your cuppa and lets get started

Panel 1

The Aloe & The Spider.

Design is transferred, backed with muslin and put on a frame

This is what I am using for the Aloe & Spider web - 26 gauge cake wire, DMC 966 / 3341 / 760 / Metallic Thread / Spider charm

Stems complete

These wires are not couched to the fabric, they are secured at the bottom then wound with 2 strands to the top then secured.

The Aloe is made with bullion knots
Bring the needle up at the front

Take it up and catch a stitch bringing the point out where you first started

I'm doing a 10 wrap Bullion so make 10 wraps around the needle

Keep your thumb on the wraps as you pull the needle through, as the thread bunches up lay the bullion in the direction you want then take the needle down where you want the tip of the bullion to go to secure it.

The first Aloe flowers

I can see a couple of gaps but I can fill them in.

So I'll complete the 3rd aloe flower and then move on to the leaves which are open based picots. I'm not happy with those free floating stems so once all the stitching is done, I shall go back, sort the stems and couch them down with invisible thread.

In the large area to the right of the aloe, there is a spiders web, the metallic silver will be used for that, I looked in my stash but couldn't find any spider charms and have had to buy some off eBay, hopefully they will arrive before I get to the web part.

So that's as far as I got, I'll post again when I start the leaves and show you these picots.

Tips:

For bullion knots always use a straw / Milliners needle, these don't taper so the wraps slip off easily when your pulling the thread through.

Wires - watch out for sharp bits as your working.

Transferring design by taping to a window - Beware its a killer on your arms.

Next Post - Open &; Closed Base woven Picot leaves.

Home sweet Home Update

It’s been a while since I worked on this project, But I have finally finished the 2nd side wall panel with just a couple of charms to add to the final finish.

 

I have enjoyed working on this, the stumpwork snail & ladybird were interesting to do as i have not done stumpwork before.

Stitches used on this panel include:

Straight stitch, Portuguese boarder stitch, whipped chain stitch, Hungarian Braided chain stitch, coral stitch, stem stitch, interlaced chain stitch, couching, colonial knots, ladder stitch, corded coral stitch, spilt stitch, satin stitch, Bullion knots, raised chain stitch, blanket stitch, padded satin stitch, raised cross stitch, granitos knots, feather stitch, fly stitch, pistil stitch, running stitch, backstitch & overcast stitch.

Teeny Tiny Bear

I recently turned my hand to making a miniature bear, 1 .5 Inch high. I found it difficult to turn the upholstery fabric so I will have to find a softer alternative, perhaps some kind of suedette for future bears.

This teeny Tiny bear, was sent off on a bear exchange with some stitchy friends, the recipient, Candy loved him.

Home Sweet Home Update

It’s has been a while since I last worked on Home Sweet Home Work box, but yesterday I picked it back up again and really enjoyed it.

I was working on a caterpillar & snail, the Caterpillar was a 30 wrap bullion knot, it was somewhat of a nightmare, I am not quite happy with all the colours on this project but it will do for me as Its just going to be my work box.

I then worked on the snail, this was most interesting, the shell is 2 pieces of felt appliqued to the ground fabby and worked with ladder stitch, raised chain stitch and raised button hole stitch, it didn't turn out that bad actually even if I do say so myself.

I am still working on the side panel, so will post a WIP photo when this wall is done.

Snowman Stocking

I am now working on a new HAED – Ruth Sanderson’s snowman in stocking form, this will be for Callum for his 1st Christmas. As he will be 1 by then, he will be old enough to participate.

The idea for this stocking is that it is something he can grow up with and will last him a lifetime.

The original

I started this on 3rd Feb., on the 14th I finished page 1

I hope this won’t take that long as there are other things I want to be getting on with.