Mr Bear Progress

Haven't had too much time stitching over the last few days.  But I've made a bit of progress on the bear.

I think I see a whole lot more unpicking in my future.  While I was really pleased initially with the dark area under his muzzle.  Now that I'm actually filling in the stitches around his shoulder area I've discovered some problems.

1.  I've taken the stitches too low under his muzzle

2.  Those same stitches are too small and are not going to blend into the other stitches

3.  Also I'm not liking those triangular areas on his 'cheeks'.  They're definitely supposed to be a bit closer in that area... but I think its too dark.

4.  Not a big one but I think I need a few more stitches under that left eye, its just not blended enough out to the lighter stitches.

I am enjoying stitching him, and thats what counts at the end of the day and Miss P has already called dibs on him when he's done.  The big battle (for me) will be getting those eyes right.  I am dreading those.

Thats it for now.  Thanks for stopping by.

Mr Bear

Well I've made a start on the bear.  I've done a rough attempt to trace out the darker and lighter sections onto my fabric (calico again).  That in itself was a bit of a mission as even using a lightbox trying to figure out where the area changes are wasn't that easy.  But I was only after a rough idea and hopefully what I've marked out will be enough.

I had a quick play on a scrap of fabric and decided that the lighter stitches will be done with 1 thread and the darker 2 threads.  And I'll just change the size and closeness of the stitches to get the diff 'textures' of the pen strokes  That and try and follow the direction of the pen from the original image.  And if that doesn't work then I'll just make it up as I go 😀

I've already discovered that when you're sewing in just one colour its very hard to see the picture appearing.  And I guess with this type of image the close up view is not what you're actually aiming for.  You need to step back from it to really see the image.  Its funny how much better it looks in photo form than it does sitting on my lap.  I guess thats just down to that extra distance.

I'm still pondering the nose and eyes area.  I'm thinking of a black felt to get that really dark colour.  But then the debate will be whether I just stitch them down or I cover them with stitches.  Hmmm something to ponder over.

One thing I have found since I took this photo is that running stitch is too orderly for this image.  The strokes of the pen I believe are done in rows across an area not up and down.  I discovered this the hard way of course.  So I unpicked it and am now back doing straight stitches.  I'm not sure if that makes sense so I've tried to illustrate it below.  Not that my running stitch is any where NEAR that precise.  But it does illustrate the columns of running stitch versus the rows that I mean.  

Anyway I better go and get my day started. Until next time!

Chicken Little #100 - Drizzle stitch

Here she is, Chicken Little number 100.  I think this is my favourite chicken yet.  

Drizzle stitch is of course usually an upright stitch but in order to get her hair to sit 'nicely' I gently tacked each drizzle down in a couple of places.  If I was going to moan about anything it'd be the second 0 in one hundred, it just didn't want to be the same size as the other numbers.  But if thats my biggest complaint then I reckon it came out OK.

If you go to the Chicken Little page above you can see the whole flock.  (next to Home)

Kantha

Just thought I'd throw another photo in of the Kantha piece now its washed and ironed.

Whats Next?

Well yesterday I found a cool sketch of a bear, basically done in just dashes.  So with my running stitch kick I'm currently on I thought I'd have a go at translating that into stitch.  Spent a good wee while finding the right image, making my pattern, having a think about how best to go about it, getting my fabric all ready and then.... NO black floss!! Argh.  I used it all up on the Kantha piece and  didn't have any spare.  Insert rude words here!.

So what to do?!?  Well I spotted some pictures of embroidered cheese cloth the other day, or what we call here Muslin.  Very thin, very loosely woven.  The idea being that you can pull your stitches tighter of looser depending on the look you're trying to achieve.  Now I'm not a big fan of buttonhole stitch (well the whole family of them actually) but this kind of thing doesn't require any great tension, you definitely don't want your stitches to be of a uniform size.  The piece I saw also used running stitch just to pull various areas together but I actually liked the look of buttonhole wheels best.   No idea what I'll do with it (and now I'm out of white floss as well), but maybe it can form part of my fabric book if I ever get that off the ground.

No plan, just making buttonhole wheels until I'm done with it. 😁

Kantha Progress

Well its done.  All bar the washing of the pens marks, ironing etc, so I guess what I mean is the stitching is done. 😀  And yes I unpicked most of it and re-did it, even the white birds at the top which I liked. But I like them even better totally filled in.

Some things I've discovered about myself during this:

• I like embroidery thats 'coloured in', all my Chicken Littles for TAST are generally outlines, but I prefer embroidery that fills its space.  It doesn't make sense to do that for my chickens because I just wouldn't have time to crank one out each week and I'm not trying to create a 'work of art' I'm just trying to display the current weeks stitch.
• While this isn't a great example of Kantha at all, I really like the simple design.  I love the fact that I've created something with a simple running stitch.  And I'm eager to do more.
• Straight lines are for even weave fabric only.  Not cheap calico.  Enough said.

TAST - Drizzle Stitch

Well we're finally here, the 100th stitch of this round of TAST - Drizzle stitch.  I actually played around with this stitch a few months back while working my way through the various stitches/techniques in the A-Z of Stumpwork.  And I then used it quite a bit for my encrusted piece.  

I did have a chicken image all picked out for stitch 100, but when I saw it was Drizzle stitch I knew just the image to use and it wasn't the one I'd picked out.  Oh well, the best laid plans and all that.

I've made a start on it and I'm pleased so far with how its turning out.  I think it may well end up being my favourite chicken yet!  🐔

The tutorial for Drizzle stitch on Pintangle is here and I've borrowed one of Sharons images below.  It looks a bit weird sitting there all by itself, but they're usually sewn in groups and can be as long or as short as you like.

What Next?

So yet again, I'm back around to what next?  I'm still feeling quite enamoured with the whole running stitch idea.  But I'm also keen on the blackwork idea, in particular showing shading with only black.   So I'm thinking I might start some experimenting with both/all of those.  Black, shaded running stitch.  What could possibly go wrong?!!? 😜

I'll post Chicken Little Number 100 in a day or two.  Until then Ciao!

Chicken Little # 99 - Woven Chain Bar

Quite a fun wee stitch this one.  I believe in theory it's supposed to be a considerably longer chain used to couch down threads, ribbons etc.  In this instance I actually couched down the threads using a single strand of floss so they were fairly secure and then used the woven chain over the top of that.  They make pretty good chook feet I reckon.  :-)

TAST Stitch # 99 - Woven Chained Bar

Number 99 this week... sigh...  what am I going to do without TAST each week?  I haven't got a definite plan for this weeks stitch but I'm thinking the woven pieces look a bit like feet.  So some chicks perching on a bar maybe?  The tutorial on Pintangle is here and I've borrowed Sharons photo below.

Kantha progress

This was initially going to be the first piece for my fabric book but now I'm unsure.  

I think I've probably done more unpicking than stitching on this so far.  There seems to be a lot of books available, but not a lot of information online unless you're making a quilt, rather than a picture style embroidery.

What I know:

• Running stitch using two strands of silk thread (I'm using DMC floss because its what I have)
• Colours - traditionally reds, rusts and golds, but as time progressed any colours.
• Stitch length, no real guide to actual stitch length but the gaps between stitches should be half the length of the stitches.
• You can pile the stitches up side by side, or slightly offset between the rows.
• Seems to be a lot of work where the outlines are done in black.

What I've found:

• Getting my stitches to be of an even size is hard, but no doubt just practice.
• Getting the stitch rows close enough together is also hard, but again probably just practice.
• Not sure that 2 strands of DMC floss translates to the types of silk threads traditionally used.  It seems a bit thick, especially for the outlines.  I wonder if a single strand would work better.
• I've decided rather than placing the rows of running stitch slightly apart (almost like seed stitch filling) I prefer more of a double running stitch for the filling and thats what I'm going to go with now for the filling (hence all the unpicking).

The image I'm using as my 'pattern' I found on the internet, although I can't find a proper source for it.  The best I could do was an Indian folk art blog that once you get there takes you off somewhere else.  Anyway the image is out there, its not a great quality image so I had to tidy it up.

Now the perfectionist in me after about half an hour was going crazy and I was already thinking about needle painting it instead to get a smoother finish.  But I persevered thinking its practice, my stitches will get more even, etc, etc.  As you can see the top birds bodies have rows of running stitch and I actually quite like them like that (although I'm going to unpick those wings).  But I was much happier with the larger fish bodies where the two colours have in effect created a double running stitch.  So after I had sewn the lower birds in the same method as the top birds I decided to try the double running stitch for the bodies in a single colour and I think it looks much better.  (I've no idea if thats 'allowed' but oh well)  So I'm going to go and unpick all the various running stitch fillings and do that I think.

I actually really like the picture, yes its a crude simple design but its supposed to be.  There is something about it that really appeals to me and I can't put my finger on it.  And yes I could start again and needle paint the life out of it, or fill it with fancy stitches but I think it'd lose its charm.  Hmm.. dunno.  Time will tell I guess.

Right back to the unpicking 😁

Chicken Little # 98 - Triple Chain

Another cold and dreary day here today, which is the perfect excuse to sit and sew.  Who am I kidding? It doesn't take much to convince me its a good time to sew, but at least on a cold and wet day I feel less guilty about it.  😄

So close to the finish line now, number 98.  Triple Chain, tutorial on Pintangle here.  

Triple Chain almost has a feather look to it I thought.  Although it'd also be good for leafy stems I imagine.

Kantha

One of the ladies in the Year in Stitches Facebook group posted a photo recently of a piece of Kantha work she'd done and it was amazing.  So I've been doing a bit of googling about Kantha and have come up with a project of my own to try.

Kantha embroidery is basically a style of running stitch embroidery originating in West Bengal.  Its used for both artwork and quilt making.  Often done in yellows, golds and reds, but any colour goes really from what I can make out.  What I like most about it is the beautiful designs achieved with the simple running stitch.  Although I'm sure once I get started I will soon find out that achieving a consistent look with a running stitch is not that simple at all!

Part of the appeal of Kantha is the texture created by the multiple layers of fabric and how the running stitch creates an almost puckered look.  (Crazy that I've spent the last couple of weeks crying over puckers in my embroidery and now I'm trying a style that creates them!! I'm fickle, what can I say).  For this, my first foray into Kantha, I'm not using multiple layers of fabric.  I want to just try the technique and see if I can create something even close to the beauty I've seen created with this style of embroidery.

There's a link here to a short article about it and some beautiful Kantha embroidery photos.