Meadowsong: Mountmellick pouch

I'm beginning this post with the finished product. Getting to it was a bit of a process, so I want to reassure any reader (and myself) that I did get there! 

This was a kit I bought from Inspirations 122, A Mountmellick pouch which the creator, Deborah Love, named Meadowsong.

I had not, as far as I can remember, attempted Mountmellick before. The kit came with the fabric - described as white jeans material -along with 3 threads of different thickness wound on cards, white machine cotton and needles. From reading Yvette Stanton, I gathered Mountmellick always uses non-polished white matt cotton, usually sold in three thicknesses.

The first challenge was to transfer the design. The fabric was too thick to transfer the design by tracing on to it, even using a light table.  In the end I used the old pencil method. A is the printed design sheet. B is my pencil copy onto tracing paper and C is the pencil design transferred to the fabric by rubbing over the reversed tracing.

It gave me a clear image of the end motif ( yes, I stitched the design in reverse) to work with and a single line around the length and breadth of the piece to be embroidered.

I knew that the thread would pick up graphite from the drawing as I stitched. I also knew it would annoy me, so prepared myself to be patient.

I began working in the recommended place (the rose) and generally stuck to the suggested order, deviating a little to use up the thread left in my needle when it was still in good condition.

Most of the stitches were familiar to me, but the methods of stitching a couple of the leaves were new, as was the linked chain stitch stem.

I was right about the thread getting grubby, but I held off washing it and moved on to the border. which I had only marked with one pencil line.

         It was a long way around with two-length blanket stitch border topped by french knots, but soothing, if a little hard on the hands without the aid of a hoop.

This is followed by an inner border of herringbone and detached chain.  I just had enough of the recommended medium thread to finish the herringbone and a few detached chains. I worked the remainder in the heavier thread until it also ran out. Rather than use a polished thread, like coton-a-broder, I found a roll of vintage matt thread. It is a 3ply knitting thread and too thick but I removed one of its plies to finish the last 15 detached chains. Might as well try to be a purist!

As soon as I finished the stitching  I washed it and blocked it. Blocking wasn't in the instructions and didn't work very well. It did help to show heavily embroidered areas where the pencil hadn't come out. I washed these again, using a nailbrush to get into the thread layers. Once I was sure the pencil had gone, I ironed it.

I opted to line the pouch. It seems to me that to be really useful, the inside needs to be smooth, without the risk of contents catching on stitches. It also, I think, is better not being white.I chose some pink silk. 

I cut it slightly larger than the embroidered piece, folded the extra under as a hem, ironing as I went, and pinned it. The curves were a bit tricky, but OK.

I stitched it down all around with pale pink machine thread.

The kit included white machine thread for joining up the sides of the pouch by hand with running stitch. I thought I'd get a better finish on mine (especially since it is lined)  using a buttonhole stitch and the remaining fine white Mountmellick cotton. I had enough of the thread to use it double.

The result is the introductory photo at the top of this post. 

The back view when folded and the front view opened are shown here.

I'm very pleased with it. I learned quite a bit, improvised a bit and have a(nother) useful pouch. It may end up holding jewellery - an idea at the back of my mind when I went for silk lining.

Veronka by Kasia Jacquot

I bought this Kasia Jacquot kit from the Art Gallery of South Australia on one of my visits to the Radical Textiles exhibition. It is part of a series stocked by the shop, along with lots of other goods relevant to the extensive, long-running exhibition. I certainly didn’t need another kit, but loved the look of the series, the particular relevance of this one to my family, and wanted to support the Gallery.

Inside the box was the design printed in full colour on linen, a full-size colour diagram, two sheets of instructions, the threads, needle and, generously, a very clear black and white copy of the design in case I want to work it again on another piece of fabric.

Most of it fitted in a 10" hoop so I went with that in my seated frame, and took the linen out to finish the edges - the best solution for my hands.                               

I began in the centre and followed the suggestions for both stitches and thread. The designer's preference is for 6 strands of cotton, which worked.

It was a long time after stitching this central heart that I realised the outer border was meant to be dark blue, not green. It looks fine, and I’m not undoing it. Fortunately, I had a hank of the same green in my thread stash. The error meant I needed a whole extra hank!

While stitching I was thinking about how I might use the finished piece. I remembered some cotton craft bags I had bought a couple of years ago when I saw them in Spotlight. At the time I thought they'd be handy for painting. I dug them out. Veronka sat very nicely on one of the red bags. That spurred me on. I could now see a use!

It is a nicely varied design for stitching. Some motifs are paired but others are single. Although the stitch range is limited, the colours and placement vary, so there isn't a lot of simple repetition.

I stitched as far into the corners as I could

then removed it from the hoop and worked the corners in hand, followed by the borders. 

Before working the latter I folded in the raw edges and worked the borders through the double thickness as far as possible. As can be seen here, the horizontals are entirely through two layers, the verticals have two of the three through two layers.

At the last minute I decided to block it rather than iron it. It was 32C when I decided, so it dried in a few hours.

I stitched it to the bag by machine. I thought about another row of red herringbone over the edge but don’t think it’s needed. 

The bag came with a loop that can be used to hold it together folded. I’ve attached it to the bag in case someone wants to fold it to carry in a handbag. It’s tight, but works. It does crumple the bag - but shopping will soon fix that!

The cotton bag is not as strong as the embroidered linen square but it’s sturdy. If and when it wears out the linen can easily be removed and repurposed. This has been a really enjoyable project - and I've ordered more in the series.

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.