Wattle Tote

I’m making an effort, in between knitting projects, to diminish the pile of Ink and Spindle linen bags I have cut out. I began with this heavyweight Golden Wattle on Indigo 

My idea with all these bags is to embroider a couple of highlights but let the hand-printed linen speak for itself.

In this case I planned to cover some of the wattle bloom with Ghiordes knots. For those unfamiliar,  Ghiordes knots are made by creating and anchoring a series of loops close together then cutting the loops. 

The fun part is fluffing up the cut threads.

Creating the loops is exacting, and, to me, a bit tiresome on scale. I was pleased to get to the end of the small bunch I’d chosen.

The threads need to be brushed up with a small stiff brush. When I first worked these, some 15 years ago, I bought a boo-boo stick - a brush designed for removing mistakes in cross-stitch. It’s a while since I used it, and I couldn’t find it. It’s in that safe place.  They are hard to come by in Australia. I’ve ordered another one from Tasmania, a guarantee the original one will turn up!

In the meantime. I found an adequate substitute in the brush end of a dressmaker"s pencil.

Ink and Spindle linen comes in three weights, and I use all three for these bags. This one is heavyweight, which does give a lovely firm surface to work with.

I have a big pile of these bags waiting to be made, all cut out ready to construct once the embroidery is done. I cut according to the shape of the piece, which in this case was separate front, back and sides for the outside, but the lining was cut with the front and sides on one piece and the back and bottom on the other. It took me a while to figure it out! The strip left for handles was a bit thin, so I substituted some denim.

Once I figured all that out, it took under an hour to stitch the bag together on the machine.

I tested the result out on a couple of family members. As I feared they thought there should be a little more embroidery, suggesting  the lower right-hand corner.

I was inclined to agree.  While not ideal, it was possible to embroider through the layers of bag and lining, so I did. It won't hurt to hold the two layers of linen together there near the base.

It's a definite improvement. I'm now pretty satisfied with this one. 

I have no specific purpose in mind. No one I know needs another Ink and Spindle tote - but I'll add it to my stock, which will find a good home one day.

Native Colour Embroidery

Having bought the kit for Bev Stayner's "Native Colour" project in Inspirations 73, I have been pushing ahead to finish it before Issue 74 comes out - trying to at least not add to the backlog of projects I have lined up to do. I am very keen on this project, as it has some great techniques for creating Australian native plants, and I'd like to do more projects using them.

The first interesting bit for me was the method used to trace the design. The linen to be embroidered is backed with calico on to which the design has been traced in reverse. Sections are progressively outlined in running stitch on the calico side, then the fabric turned in the hoop and the outlined section worked on the right side.


I have used this technique before on simpler projects with less turning  - but it worked well here.

The first bit of work was on the wattle - stems and leaves in whipped double running stitch and open chain stitch. Then you add ghiordes-knot flowers before moving on to the bottlebrush - also ghiordes knots, but this time not cut.

It is very motivating to see each bit take on dimension and a recognisable texture.

The gum-blossom is a pleasing mixture of straight stitch and a section of cut-but-not-fluffed ghiordes knots. The gum leaves have an inspired red line against the main stem.







The grevillea, however,was the best fun to do, 

The curving stems are topped with olivy-brown French knots and then red  drizzle stitch between them, creating the spidery, somewhat chaotic sense of grevillea opening.



The piece de resistance was the full-blown grevillea created by what is in effect, French knots on stalks.
Mine is denser than it should be - I just got carried away making these ingenious little tendrils.




By then I was hanging out to do the waratah. There was a bit of too-ing and fro-ing to mark in the shape and create the petals before I got to add and stuff  the felt with fibrefill.

Seeing the waratah grow before my eyes as the bullion knots are stitched over the top of the stuffed felt gave me such pleasure. I couldn't stop smiling. I just love waratahs and it is a real joy to be able to create such a three dimensional image of one. I think in this design, it should be larger, even though it isn't in the foreground.

I was using a 20 cm hoop in my seat frame, which was beginning to squash some of the ghiordes knots, so I managed to really fix my 25cm hoop and transfer the work- making the last bits easier.


The last bits are the gum-nuts made by covering beads with thread, and two leaves stitched on stiffened gauze and attached via the main vein to give further dimension. I found these quite hard to cut out. Even with very sharp, small scissors it was really difficult to cut close enough to the stitching to remove all the gauze without also snipping a stitch.

I decided against adding the spider on a thread of web - I wanted the eye to follow the flowers rather than a spider.

Now I have to make up the bag. I think it will look good, but best of all I have learned some great techniques that I hope to use again for creating quite a range of Australian flowers.

I would certainly recommend Inspirations 73 for the range of Australian projects - great designs and great instructions.


I'm now trying to complete enough from my two Beating Around the Bush classes to report on them soon.