Diamond challenge

In June the Embroiderers' Guild of South Australia celebrates its 60th Anniversary. As part of the celebration all members were given a square of pink silk with which we were challenged to make something. The results will be part of a Diamond Anniversary display in July. 

Around the same time as I collected my square, several months ago, my (cheap) black silk lipstick holder frayed and I got the idea of remaking it with the pink silk. I got as far as taking the lipstick holder apart last year, but then other projects took over. After the Evil Eye mandalas, I thought the pink silk time had come.

I cut my silk square in two and joined the halves into a long strip, slightly wider than the lipstick container, and mounted  it on some old sheeting so I could place it in a hoop. I used Madeira silk thread and stitched through the backing sheet as well as the silk.

I marked a series of diamond shapes by hand, in pencil, on the section of the silk that corresponded to the curved part of the holder. I kept to colours I already had in the pink range with a bit of gold for good measure.

I began with long and short stitch, but switched to satin stitch when I couldn't get it smooth enough. It still looks rough.

The embroidery, however, was the easy part. 

I had kept the dismantled original lipstick holder, opened out (unfortunately I didn't think to photograph it) and wrapped the silk around it. This meant folding narrow hems, pinning and then stitching with machine thread. Inside the original black silk was a metal cylinder and cardboard frame.

I had trimmed a bit too closely at one end,  but managed to compensate with the excess at the other end.

I had allowed for a couple of strips to cover the ends. 

These needed to be folded in to cover the inside. I stitched the outside, but used half a velcro spot to anchor the inside component as getting a needle in there was impossible.

I had not originally thought to embroider the lid, but it looked out of place, so I used the last strip of silk. 

Working on such a small piece was a bit tricky.  I pinned and tacked before 

holding it in my hand to embroider more diamonds, then appliqueing  it to the lid.

The original fastening was an embedded stud. the male half of which was missing. I thought of working around it but in the end took the remaining half out and devised a wrap-around cord, with a shell end that is secured through an embroidered loop.

It's a bit strange. I don't think I can call it a thing of beauty and it is nowhere near stitching perfection. 

It uses the silk, has diamonds and is ready for the challenge. More important to me, it challenged me beyond an obligation to the Guild. I do feel obliged to contribute, but this also holds a lipstick, recycles a container, uses every last bit of the silk fabric and will go in a handbag after July, satisfying my personal creative drive.

Evil Eye Mandala 5

 

Yesterday I finished the fifth, and last, of the Evil Eye mandalas I bought through Etsy. I have really enjoyed stitching them. 

The centre of this one, where I began, gave me a bit more trouble than the others. I worked again in a spiral arc of satin stitch, but made the arc a bit small so had trouble getting coverage. I ended up using most of the thread and only just had enough to finish the other area.

I’m not sure if the oval shape surrounded by the first layer of beads is intentionally wonky, but it seems to add interest - perhaps another devise to divert the Evil Eye from its target!

I love the way each round of embroidery is not only different in stitching, but in colour, and transforms the look.

Beading is not my favourite technique, mainly because of the care required to keep the hoop perfectly horizontal so the beads don’t spill and the tedium of spearing and securing them one at a time. In this case, with two colours and shapes of beads, I did two rounds. The placement was marked, so few decisions required.

Once again, on the outer layer, I used buttonhole stitch rather than a stem stitch edge with straight stitch. I think a perle thread might have been better than stranded but I went with the kit provision.

There was enough of the Japanese fabric I used last  time within reach, so I took the easy backing option.

This is, at the moment, my favourite of the five, but perhaps I tend towards the most recent! 

These were stitched to illustrate a talk I am scheduled to give in May on The Evil Eye in Embroidery. It will be interesting to hear what the group has to say about them.

It’s a cushion!

This morning I spent time trying the Nordic Square against fabric in my stash. The best option was a patterned piece of Ink and Spindle linen. I was tempted, but perhaps a bit of overkill.

I had also done quite a bit of searching online, to see if I could find a suitably coloured cushion back, to save me constructing one. No luck with that.

I did, however, find a lot of cushions. and began to wonder if I could find a suitably coloured cushion cover to which I could add the embroidery.  None of them appeared to be the right shade of navy, until I came across one in an Adair's sale email. 

So this afternoon I headed to Adair's with the embroidery in hand to look at their Navy Belgian Vintage Washed Linen cushion. I couldn't locate it on their shelves but a helpful assistant went to their storeroom and came back with one. When I placed the embroidery on it, the assistant suggested I buy a lottery ticket - it was clearly my lucky day!

It is 50cm square and lovely quality. The filling is feather. Even better, I don't have to make it!

Back at home, I ironed the square, folded in the edges to 4cm all around, pinned the square on the cushion - yes, I did measure in all directions rather than judging by eye. 

I considered whether to attach it using just the same cream colour as the existing border or whether to add some brown and blue. I had a variety of ideas 

I started with the simple option. It was a bit tricky to get the tension right. Obviously I had to take the cover off and work it in my hand. It wouldn't go into a hoop or frame.

I liked the result and decided against further embellishment.

My decore isn't navy and I would be open to gifting it to any family member with a matching colour scheme. In the meantime, I'm pretty chuffed with this result  and it's not out of place on my Alison Snepp -designed Men of Skyros chair. The cushion is, after all,  a Japanese pattern of a Nordic design embroidered in Australia and mounted on a cushion made from Belgian linen. 

Sometimes it's a wonderful world (and I just bought tickets in the Deaf Lottery, which closes in 3 days).

Nordic Square: Is it a cushion?

I have been working on the second of two kits I was given for my birthday in January and finished the stitching today. It was packaged as a placemat, with tassels on the corners. At 20 cm square, I think this is a bit small for that.

It is counted cross stitch on very dark navy Aida. I took the finish photo (left) against a black cushion to show how dark it is. Against dark blue it looks black.

The accompanying notes are entirely in Japanese, but the chart is clear and the threads limited to three colours.

I began with it in a square stretcher frame with drawing pins, and marked in the centre lines and outer edges. I decided, however, quite quickly, that this was not going to work well for me, especially as my right hand index finger was recovering from an operation.

I therefore worked the cream outer borders in the four corners, then transferred the piece to a 10" seated hoop. It cut off the corners, but I could work almost all of it in the hoop, much more comfortably, beginning in the centre.

From there I moved to a quadrant. That convinced me that the most challenging part of this was the deer, 

so I worked the other three.

Some of this was worked while I was on hostess duty at the Guild. As those visiting kept warning me, working on such a dark fabric was not ideal. I am also not a huge fan of Aida.

Nevertheless, this was enjoyable to stitch, mainly, I think, because, although it is all the same stitch, the elements are varied and rewarding.

There were a couple of places where I had to correct a miscount, but for the most part I was accurate. When I finished in the hoop I took it out and filled in the final stitches of the corner squares as reflected in the opening photo. There are, I now notice a few missing stitches on the border. 

I had thought to make this into a pouch, with a zip closure. I'm not sure now. It fitted so well on the black cushion when I went to photograph it that I'm considering a cushion option. I need, whatever I do, to find the right colour backing. It doesn't look right on any black or navy I have in my stash. I'll report back.

Sashiko bag construction

By now I should be able to construct a bag on auto-pilot but there were a couple of tricky bits to this one. While there were cutting diagrams, there were no instructions for insetting the magnet closure, other than  to stitch it on by hand.

I had misplaced the magnet supplied with the kit so ordered more from Spotlight.When they arrived I cut the fabric, added the pocket to the lining and stitched the side-seams on the bag and lining. I then played around trying to work out how to place the magnets between the lining and the outer bag, before putting these together. I got them in the right position, but the wrong way around. .

I had attached the interfacing to the fabric before embroidering it, in contravention of the instructions. I think this was a good decision. It improved the embroidery and simplified construction. In the end I removed the magnets, pinned the lining in place, then tried again: successful.

I thought a lot about the strap. A strong 65cm woven webbing strap was provided. I considered inserting a side release buckle so it is adjustable. I decided it was overkill and proceeded to add reinforcement to the attachment point and insert the strap. The result still seemed rather long, so I found a buckle I had recycled from a shoe some 40 years ago and worked out a way add it to the handle so it creates a loop, which can be secured by a button on the side of the bag.

This seems to have worked. The strap now has two lengths. If more variety is needed I can add more button loops.

I also decided against a gusset at the base of the bag. It seems to hang well without it, and shows the fabric to advantage.

This has been an adventure - a step outside my norm. I really like the result. I did a lot of adapting, but I like that it demanded that. I'm not sure how it will be put to use, but I''m sure it will be.

SashikoTote Embroidery

This kit was a present for my birthday in January, and I am trying to stay on top of kits as I get them, rather than adding to my much-too-large stash, so once I finished the fourth Evil Eye Mandala, I got to work on this one.

The kit consists on a single piece of Shima fabric, a piece of interfacing exactly the same size, lining fabric a little larger to allow for a pocket, thread and a woven strap. Instructions are brief, mostly amounting to suggestions. Suits me.

My first problem was finding my sashiko needles. I had one I was using on my tablecloth project, and  I knew I had a packet somewhere..... Eventually I gave in and bought some more. Create in Stitch was waiting on a shipment but Riverlea Quilts had a supply. A couple of days later I realised I had a good set of sizes in the harp I had made with Jenny Aiden Christie back in 2019! They would probably benefit from use!

In the meantime, I had begun rows of running stitch straight along one edge - an easy feat to accomplish while talking or being Desk Hostess at the Guild.

Circles were a bit more challenging. I dug out a circle-maker (far left) that you anchor in the centre with a pin, then insert a chalk pencil into the relevant hole and rotate, but the chalk kept breaking. The colour wheel proved more useful.  I used it to make three concentric circles using the outer edge and the top and bottom of the cut-out sections, then drew circles in between freehand.

I varied them, single row, 

double,

triple, and overlapping.

I have now added some more straight lines and finished the embroidery. Construction should be relatively straightforward, but I mislaid the magnet closure and am awaiting a replacement. I'm also thinking of adding an adjustment buckle in the woven strap.

  

      Rather than wait for these I will post this and add the construction story later.

Evil Eye Mandala no. 4

There are 5 designs in this series. I thought three of them would be sufficient to demonstrate when I talk to WES Group about The Evil Eye in Embroidery, but after stitching those three, I ordered, so I thought, kits for the other two. When they arrived, I discovered I had made a mistake, and ordered one I already had. I have hopefully rectified my mistake, and in the meantime stitched the fourth design.

I began, as always, with the central black iris and worked it in satin stitch arcs that overlap to give a slightly raised effect. I used long and short stitch for the light blue oval rather than the recommended satin stitch, and, once again, I worked the section of long straight stitches (this time dark blue) in buttonhole stitch.

The white ring between the two blue colours is not embroidered. I was hesitant about this, but it does create a difference in texture, a dimension. 

This time the beads are mostly tiny opaque rose gold, with a smattering of the usual larger coloured ones. There is some unexplained thread of a similar goldy-brown colour, which I’m assuming was provided to attach the beads, but I wasn’t tempted. As before, I used my own nylon beading thread.

Also once again, I used an alternative to the metallic provided, this time a roll of gold I had come across on the Guild trading table, a softer thread with a fine cotton core.

This design  has an outer border of white. As before, thread for the predominant colour, in this case white, was almost exactly enough, while all other colours had excess. 

I mounted it in the display frame using the same fabric on the back as last time.

Again, I enjoyed stitching it. 

I don’t think the predominant white border works as well as black, but it provides an interesting, discussable contrast.