SMockerySmArt's TASTy Bits - experiments with embroidery stitches

TAST 2012 - combining with Cretan!

2012-01-25T11:52:00.001Z

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Cretan stitch is one of my all-time favourites. It's got rhythm! I use it a lot on my textile figures and I like to lace it or combine it with other stitches.

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It's only Wednesday! What am I going to do for the rest of the week?

Add a couple more rows!

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TAST 2012 - buttonhole and feather...

2012-01-23T09:58:00.000Z

One week late with the buttonhole. Although it's probably my favourite stitch, I think I flogged it to death in previous TASTs!

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Buttonhole at the top, feather at the bottom.

TAST2012 - A little bit more fly stitch

2012-01-09T16:41:00.000Z

You can use it for applique!

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A very simple design with shapes cut from washing up cloths, just to try out the effect of using fly stitch for applique.

TAST2012 - stitchin' on the fly!

2012-01-08T11:42:00.000Z

It's the first week of TAST2012! Find out all about it here.
The first stitch for the challenge is an old favourite - fly stitch.

This time around I concentrated on stitching in rows:

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Here are some close-ups:

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I didn't count the stitches carefully, because this linen is a finer count than I would normally use. To help to keep the rows straight I withdrew a thread.

Perle cotton on medium count evenweave linen.

Sharon B's Take a Stitch Tuesday 2012

2011-11-18T15:25:00.001Z

Sharon B is asking if people would like to have another TAST Challenge next year.

I had such fun with the last two that I started this blog for all the samples I made.

If you want to practice your stitches, learn some new ones or need an incentive to keep your hand in, click on the link to read all about it and leave a comment to register your interest.

TAST 2010 - Lock Stitch

2010-11-28T12:30:00.007Z

Bit more catching up - lock stitch. You can change the look of this stitch by varying the length of the satin stitches, and by changing which stitches you "pinch" together with the lacing.

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Lock stitch worked in a block; short satin stitches and alternate pairs of satin stitches "pinched" together by the lacing.

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Longer satin stitches in a lighter weight of thread. Pairs of stitches "pinched" at both bottom and top.

I haven't tried it in wool yet. And I also think it would look good worked over a block of solid satin stitch.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

Bringing up the rear! TAST 2010 Eastern Stitch

2010-11-22T17:23:00.004Z

Way, way behind now. I didn't do much with this stitch, so I had another go at it:

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An exercise in scale, using different weights of cotton threads.

I think it has a "blackwork" look about it.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

Fallen behind, but not yet by the wayside.......

2010-10-23T21:59:00.003+01:00

a bit of catching up:

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A bit more vandyke stitch, raised this time, worked in a block. Eastern stitch as spot motifs.

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Chained cross stitch. Raised vandyke leaves.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - just about caught up!

2010-09-16T17:37:00.006+01:00

On here: raised chain stitch, woven trellis

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I did both methods of raised chain, but only one row in each because I wanted to keep the spiky look. Raised trellis flowers led to a bit more needleweaving.

I decided it was time to have a look at this and decide where to go next.
Here it is on my batik frame, waiting to be stretched:

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It looks a bit pale, because the light is behind it.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST2010 - Triple chain and Wave Stitches

2010-09-07T13:11:00.008+01:00

Still catching up:

A bit more siennese stitch, worked in a block:

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Wave stitch - first bit with cross stitch

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and then with sword stitch and french knot:

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Triple chain stitch:

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I worked a little bit but decided it wasn't spiky enough so I substituted fly stitches for the second and third chain.

Here's a photo of the sampler as it is now:

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To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - Siennese and Vandyke stitches

2010-09-06T12:52:00.006+01:00

Lacking and slacking! Catching up, but not taking the stitches in the right order:

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Both stitches worked on a curve. The Siennese stitch embellished with fly, the Vandyke Stitch embellished with trellis on the inner curve.

It's a bit of a challenge to make all the TAST stitches fit into this piece now - I think I shall pick and choose the ones most suitable, and finish the challenge on another piece of fabric.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - Sword Stitch

2010-07-18T11:53:00.002+01:00

Back and catching up.................

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To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - italian border stitch

2010-06-20T21:25:00.004+01:00

Here's a couple of shots of this week's stitch:

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Basically a row of fly stitch with a knot at the bottom instead of a straight stitch. I've done it in a circle. One normal row in grey perle cotton, and another in blue, with a long legged knot stitch at the bottom.

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The photo above is to show the stitch in relief.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - ladder stitch

2010-06-16T22:36:00.003+01:00

Just a little bit of ladder stitch:

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To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - buttonhole herringbone stitch

2010-06-07T06:38:00.005+01:00

Just a little bit of this weeks' stitch added to the sampler. There are some family problems taking up a lot of my time just now, so I'm likely to get a little bit behind at times.

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To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - backdated!

2010-05-31T11:35:00.004+01:00

Added a bit of knotted loop stitch here:

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To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - getting better with the camera!

2010-05-30T08:22:00.004+01:00

This piece has a lot of texture in it, but when I photograph it flat, so show the stitches, you can't see it. I tried to photograph it to show some 'relief'.
Here's a sideways shot:

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I put a bit of diamond stitch, from a previous week, on it too.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - sorbello stitch, raised cup stitch

2010-05-29T10:26:00.004+01:00

Still catching up.

I rummaged in my reject bin and found some more scraps of this fabric, so I've made it a bit bigger. While I was at the sewing machine, I stitched some scraps around the edges, so that I can work right to the edges and to make it easier to hoop. You never know, it might last the year out.

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You can see, if you enlarge the photo above, a couple more bits of sorbello stitch in there. And I did a little bit of raised cup stitch too, but really this piece isn't 'flowery', so I left it at that.

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To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - bullion buttonhole stitch

2010-05-22T10:41:00.004+01:00

Well, it's Belated Bullion Buttonhole! I've been a bit busy with family stuff, but I'm catching up. Here's last week's offering:

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I decided to save a bit of time by alternating the bullion with a standard buttonhole stitch on the inner row. I like the effect.

Here's what the sampler is looking like now:

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You can see I've just started to put in some of this week's sorbello stitch. This ratty piece of fabric is filling up. I think it is the messiest piece I have ever produced, but I'm having fun with it nevertheless. I don't think it will last until the end of the 52!

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - cloud filling stitch

2010-05-11T19:05:00.004+01:00

Just in time, because it's still Tuesday here! Cloud filling stitch:

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Slowly filling up this piece of fabric. I'm experimenting with using a restricted colour palette, unusual for me. Very tempted to add lots and lots of bright colours.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - raised herringbone band

2010-05-01T11:24:00.006+01:00

This week's stitch is Raised Herringbone Band, sometimes also known as Raised Lattice Band. I've tried out some different lacing variations on the herringbone stitch. I also laid down some horizontal foundation rows for the satin stitch to raise it a bit more.

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I've separated the raised band rows with a double row of herringbone stitch.

The first two rows are the basic stitch. Row three and four are two rows of herringbone stitch in crewel wool laced with cotton perle. Row five is laced double herringbone stitch.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - Fancy Hemstitch

2010-04-27T10:52:00.003+01:00

This week's TAST stitch is fancy hemstitch. It is quite easy to do and I can see lots of possibilities, although having been struck down by a vicious virus, both me and my computer (McAfee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I haven't tried them all out. I put it on last weeks sampler:

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Not a great photograph - but I'm sure I will do more to it and take another in the not too distant future..........

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - 2 in 1

2010-04-17T11:16:00.004+01:00

I almost missed the buttonhole wheel bullion flower - I wasn't keen on the stitch, probably because I didn't have a use for it. But when I saw the work done by other Tasters, I thought I really ought to have at least one sample. I put one in with the latest challenge, rope stitch.

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The fabric is a piece of muslin that I used as a slop cloth beneath a nappy (diaper) liner marbled with oil paints. First I stitched a circle in knotted buttonhole, just because I liked that stitch so much. Then I did two smaller circles in buttonhole stitch, and I finished one in trellis and one in bullion knots. I decided that although I wanted a raised effect, I didn't like them 'sticking up', so I tied them both down with fly stitches.

Then I did another circle in rope stitch in perle cotton and some lines in 3 strands of embroidery floss.

In an attempt to be both economical and co-ordinated, you can just see that I've done another circle in rope stitch, ready for the next few weeks.

Then I got bored sitting in front of the TV, and filled up some of the spaces with bullion and french knots, fly stitch and back stitch, just to keep my hands busy.

TAST 2010 - knotted buttonhole stitch - UPDATED

2010-04-03T15:27:00.008+01:00

I found this week's knotted buttonhole stitch under a different heading in one of my books - "German knotted buttonhole stitch" - and a different stitch under "knotted buttonhole stitch" in several places I looked. I find this often happens, stitches being known by different names in different countries or by different authors. I decided that the best way out of my confusion was to do them both - so I did!

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The version of the stitch with two "ears" had a nice rhthym and was quite easy to do. The other version was much more difficult. It was hard to keep the tension even and get all the knots the right size and I found it very difficult to work the stitch in one smooth step. In the end, I gave up and worked it in two parts and that was much easier.

I found the "other" version of knotted buttonhole stitch
here.

UPDATE******

I did a bit more to my sampler:

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UPDATED again ******

thanks to Lakshmi and Walden, I looked again at my sampler and Sharon's instructions and realised that the two stitches, German Knotted and Knotted are different. I did a bit of the correct stitch on my sampler:

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The knotted row is the dark row near the top. You can see that it makes a much more definite line.

TAST 2010 - Portuguese Border Stitch

2010-04-01T09:08:00.004+01:00

I'm a bit late with this week's Portuguese Border Stitch:

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Still with the same piece of fabric and threads - I've filled it up now!

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - beaded hedebo edging stitch

2010-03-17T13:48:00.011Z

Another new one for me:

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so I carried on working with the same piece of fabric and set of threads. This looked complicated to me and I thought it would be easy to count it and keep it even if I worked it along a row of cross stitch. I worked it first with the beads in the way Sharon described. Then I worked a row without the beads and decorated between the scallops with a cross stitch.

Then I tried working it, without beads, along a row of herringbone stitch:

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and got this nice lacy effect.

Then I thought if I stacked several rows they might look like waves:

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and they did! (sea, fish scales, mermaid's tail?) Then I found that if instead of taking the stitch at the end of the scallop through to the back on the bottom of the cross stitch, you take it through at the top, you get a kind of a twist and a more raised scallop, like this:

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I decided I liked that effect after I did it with the bright green row with the red beads, so I did it again with the light green and the green beads!

I made the green row at the bottom by varying the position of those beginning and ending anchoring stitches, so that the scallops face alternate ways.

TAST 2010 - knotted loop stitch

2010-03-12T21:29:00.006Z

Here's this week's TAST sample - knotted loop stitch:

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This was another new stitch for me. It is loop stitch with an added buttonhole stitch, but I had to work a row in loop stitch first, before I could see the difference! I played around with the spacing, and the length of the "legs".

The green row across the bottom, decorated with orange buttonhole stitch, is loop stitch. All the other rows are knotted loop stitch.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

TAST 2010 - diamond stitch - UPDATE

2010-03-08T11:00:00.011Z

TAST 2010 starts this week!

I had real problems with this stitch until I went to look at Mary Corbet's video and found out I was doing it all wrong! So, I started over again. It's a new stitch for me, so I gave it a good workout in different weights of thread.

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I found I had to be careful not to pull the the knot too soon. If you make a mistake it is quite difficult to unpick because of all those knots. There's lots of opportunity for embellishment with this stitch because of all the spaces and points. After finding out how to to it properly, it is less complicated and quicker than it looks, but I don't think it will be a favourite of mine.

To find out all about TAST 2010 click
here.

and to find Mary Corbet's excellent stitch demonstration videos go to her blog, Needle'n'Thread and click on the link for Video Library of Stitches. Thanks Mary, you make it look easy!

Update:

I found I had a bit more time, so - I did a bit more:

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well, I couldn't leave it naked and unadorned, could I?!

TAST 2007 - cable chain, thorn, pekinese, pistil, seeding

2010-01-04T22:08:00.003Z

Still catching up!

I saw this Icicle Doll Swap and of course I immediately wanted to make one, but I wanted to catch up with TAST too. The answer was obvious, icicle dolls embellished with TAST stitches.

I haven't joined the swap, but I've started on these three:

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The green one with the head on has knotted cable chain, thorn, pekinese and pistil stitches along with some seeding for texture. The white ones have pekinese and pistil stitches and seeding.

I feel much better now! It was so nice to sit and do some hand sewing just because I felt like it!

I've finished two of them now:

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I keep forgetting to give sizes. The 'bodies' of these measure about 7 inches or 17.5cm.

TAST 2007 - knotted buttonhole band, reversed buttonhole bar

2010-01-04T22:03:00.003Z

Knot and bar the buttonhole!

Here's my combined sample for knotted buttonhole band and reversed buttonhole bar.

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Worked mostly in knitting yarns on a coarse evenweave fabric with a sprinkling of french knots, a little laid work and some simple counted stitches.

I worked the two rows at the top in zigzag fashion, over two rows of alternate straight stitches. I also used the straight stitches to work reversed buttonhole bar in green, instead of the foundation buttonhole row.

I went back to the first, rejected sampler I started for knotted buttonhole bar, reverse buttonhole and rice stitch.

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I'm not at all pleased with it, but I couldn't waste the fabric and all those empty spaces! I do like the circle with the laid work inside it, it's almost crewel! And I like the ribbon threaded through the knotted buttonhole bar.

TAST 2007 Still Catching Up.......cable chain, rice stitch

2010-01-04T22:00:00.004Z

I'm still catching up. This is cable chain, I thought it looked plain, so true to form I added some french knots!

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Then I added some shapes in rice stitch. Some in thick threads, some much lighter. Not sure where I'm going with this now, but you can bet there won't be much empty space left when I've finished it!

Here's an example of where I have used rice stitch before:

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This is a bluebottle. The back is made from canvas with rice stitch in black and blue/grey.

TASTY rice dish

Here's my finished sample for cable chain and rice stitch. Its not really a tasty dish, more of a pig's breakfast! I had fun playing around with the rice stitch, but this might well be one for running under the embellisher and adding some more on top.

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TAST 2007 buttonhole wheels, portuguese knotted stem, crested chain

2010-01-04T21:51:00.006Z

I'm catching up with the TAST challenge, starting with Portuguese Knotted Stem. I love this stitch. Mostly I use it to divide rows of stacked stitches, like this sample I did for Sharon Boggon's Personal Library of Stitches course:

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Here, I've started a new sample, using portuguese knotted stem worked in variegated stranded cotton and knitting yarn to make curving lines.

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Crested chain and buttonhole wheels.

I've added some more stitches to my portuguese knotted stem sample:

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There are some lines in crested chain and some buttonhole wheels. I have started to fill in the gaps with simple counted work stitches. I've used a variety of weights of thread, some matt and some shiny.

I think it looks a bit 1970s psychedelic!

I think this is done for now - I like the few empty 'negative' spaces that are left -although I feel I will probably come back and do something else to it later.

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TAST 2007 - bullion stitch

2010-01-04T21:49:00.002Z

This weeks' stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday is bullion stitch. I think I got all bullioned out when I made this fly.

Here are some close-ups of the stitches:

TAST 2007 - half chevron stitch

2010-01-04T21:47:00.001Z

Here we are at week 26, halfway through. This week's stitch is half chevron. I have added it to my butterfly chain sample.

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I've used thicker threads here. The red is linen unravelled from a piece of fabric. The green is crepe knitting yarn and I've also used a length of multi-coloured knitting ribbon. I've worked the stitch in lines, stacked and back to back. I've also used single half chevrons as spot motifs in the spaces between some of the stitches.

TAST 2007 - french knot

2010-01-04T21:45:00.001Z

Wouldn't you know it? I found some spaces on my butterfly chain sample. So I filled them with french knots, long legged french knots and a few running stitches.

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TAST 2007 - wheatear stitch

2010-01-04T21:38:00.002Z

I put my crossed buttonhole sample through the needlepunch machine and used it again for this week's stitch, Wheatear.

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I worked lines of wheatear stitch in 2 strands of crewel wool, and some single wheatear stitches, with an extra pair of 'ears', in a single strand. Then I added a few french knots.

I put the crossed buttonhole/wheatear sample through the needlepunch machine again.
Then I added a few more stitches.

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I was planning to cut this up to make a mini padfolio cover, but I've decided to keep it until I find something else I can use it on without losing too much becuase I like it now!

BLOG FLOG

Elizabeth at Quieter Moments gave SMockery SmArt a mention. Thank you Elizabeth. If you like counted thread work, you'll love Quieter Moments But I warn you, get yourself a drink or a cup of coffee and make sure you are sitting comfortably first, because you will be there for quite a while. Elizabeth is a mistress of stitch variations and her blog is thoughtfully arranged so that the 'TASTers' among us can go there and find exactly the stitch we want to review.

What is TAST? It's the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge run by Sharon B.
Take a look at the Take a Stitch Tuesday Flickr Group you'll find a variety of stitch techniques and styles and some amazing pieces of art!

TAST 2007 - satin stitch

2010-01-04T21:36:00.003Z

The stitch for week 22 of Take a Stitch Tuesday is Satin Stitch. It's a stitch you can do so much with. I've just done a little.

Worked on canvas, varying the length of the stitch and the colour to make a pattern.

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Adding a different type of thread, in this case variegated knitting ribbon, for added texture and interest.

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Worked on evenweave fabric satin stitch is one of the main components of Hardanger embroidery, grouped into kloster blocks.

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Or used as design motifs.

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And satin stitch can be used to make a really nice edging.

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TAST 2007 - crossed buttonhole stitch

2010-01-04T21:34:00.001Z

Crossed buttonhole stitch in variegated stranded cotton used to couch down wool and knitting ribbon.

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The background fabric is scraps of silk and bits of fleece needlepunched onto a piece of black muslin. Then I 'quilted' it with a programmed machine stitch in alternate rows of black cotton and metallic thread, to give it some texture and sparkle. The shiny knitting ribbon is couched down with toning variegated stranded cotton.

TAST 2007 - butterfly chain stitch

2010-01-04T21:32:00.002Z

after an uneventful hefty course of antibiotics, the GP has announced that the vengeful bacteria is in fact a vengeful virus. He told me to rest - I told him that if I rested any more I would start to get younger!!!** So, 'symptomatic treatment' and patience are his order of the day. My order of the day is 'it's a virus, you can't do anything about it, so ignore it and catch up on TAST.

Here is my butterfly chain sample. It isn't very exciting, and at first I forgot to twist the chain, but it was very relaxing to sit and stitch it, so I am sure it did me some good!

TAST 2007 - basque stitch

2010-01-04T21:30:00.002Z

What a nice stitch this is!

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Sometimes it's nice to just sit quietly and do some 'traditional' stitching. And that is how this stitch made me feel, although I can see possibilities for using it more creatively. The stitch was new to me, so I started with a simple line to get the feel of it, then I couldn't resist adding a small straight stitch in each loop. That set me off investigating filling in gaps and lacing rows of the stitch together. This is worked in crochet cotton on coarse aida.

TAST 2007 - woven wheels

2010-01-03T17:27:00.006Z

I've turned last week's textile vessel running stitch sample inside out and started to cover the higher back part that shows when you look at it straight on with this week's Take a Stitch Tuesday, woven wheel and variations thereof:

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I've mostly used dyed crochet cotton and woven on wheels and in lines. I'm adding beads for a 'crustier' look.
Here's a close-up.

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Here is the finished vessel, complete with firm base stitched in.

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and here is a close-up of the stitching inside

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TAST 2007 - running stitch

2010-01-03T17:25:00.004Z

I wish it was more exciting...........:(

I started with this scrap of dyed and discharged linen/viscose fabric.

I outlined the shapes in running stitch in variegated perle and stranded cotton. Then I thought it needed more and I decided to stuff the lines with yarn and some of the other areas with wadding, trapunto style.

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I didn't think ahead, and I stitched right up to the edge, not leaving myself a margin so that I could use this sample later on.

I wish I hadn't bothered!! Never mind, you can't win 'em all....

Well, I couldn't leave it like that!

I had to do something with it:

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I'd stitched right to the edges of the piece, so I wondered if I could add an extra strip by applying it to a piece of felt with the needlepunch machine. That worked OK, although I broke my first needle in the process. Then I wondered if I could recreate the stitched and stuffed effect with needlepunching, so I added a bit more on one end using felt, wool tops (roving) and some scraps of silk and tried to harmonise it. That worked quite well too. (bottom picture)

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To help the new bit to blend in better, I needle punched some of the unstuffed areas of the original piece and added more running stitches. (middle picture)

Then I decided to make it into something - that turned out to be a textile vessel. There is no back seam, because I needle punched the pieces together before I had finished decorating it. I needle punched wool tops (roving) onto a piece of muslin (scrim), cut it to shape and stitched it in as a lining.

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I was about to stitch in a covered cardboard circle for the base, when I read the Week 18 TAST stitch. Now I am tempted to turn it inside out first and add embellishment to the lining with woven wheels.

TAST 2007 - double knot, palestrina stitch

2010-01-03T17:23:00.003Z

Still carrying on with the same piece of 'embellisher' fabric from Week 15, I have added palestrina stitch (double knot) to last week's oyster stitch sample.

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I added a sparkly blue bead to the centre of the yellow flower, just to finish it off.

TAST 2007 - oyster stitch

2010-01-03T17:20:00.003Z

I had a real struggle with this stitch at first. I have used a piece of 'embellisher' fabric. I outlined a design based on curves and circles in back stitch in variegated perle cotton.

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Oyster stitch is a rosette chain stitch, surrounded by a simple chain stitch. Both rosette chain and oyster stitch were new to me, so I started with a couple of rows of rosette chain in wool. Then I filled in the gaps with single oyster stitches in perle cotton.

TAST 2007 - bonnet stitch

2010-01-03T17:19:00.003Z

Another new stitch for me. First, I played around with the stitch a little to get to know it:

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Then I reached for a piece of 'embellisher' fabric and started work on this sample:

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This was a piece of felted and dyed wool blanket, needlepunched with scraps of silk cut from sari remnants. I added random blocks of bonnet stitch in a mixture of variegated perle cotton and crewel wool.

This is now ready for further 'treatment'. I'm going to machine stitch all over it to blend in the stitching a little, then I may hand stitch over the top again.

and that is exactly what I did! Rows of bonnet stitch in perle cotton and crewel wool, with some french knots added.

TAST 2007 - knotted cretan stitch

2010-01-03T17:14:00.003Z

Here is my sample for this week's Take a Stitch Tuesday. Knotted cretan, buttonhole and a little bit of backstitch. There's room for lots more, but its so late, I thought I would post it as it is.

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Knotted cretan done to death!

I couldn't leave all that space, could I?

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Jowynn put a comment on the last post asking if I designed this piece. OK, I guess its confession time! I put a piece of mucky old drip cloth from a thread dying session in the hoop because I wasn't sure about this stitch. It was new to me and fiddly! Then I just drew a few wiggly lines and a circle in freehand in what I thought was a fade-out pen, but it wasn't. So I buttonhole stitched along the lines to hide the marks. Then I just started filling it in, playing with the stitch and using different spacings and threads. To fill up the hoop ( I do like to do that!) I got out the correct pen, the fade-out one, and just drew guide lines to keep the stitches in check as I went. By design or by accident? BOTH!

TAST 2007 - couching

2010-01-03T17:12:00.003Z

Just in at the last minute! This week's TAST stitch is couching....

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The background fabric is dyed linen (not evenweave). Knitting yarns and torn strips of muslin are couched down with knitting yarn, perle cotton, crochet cotton and stranded cotton. I have used ten of the eleven TAST stitches featured so far.

TAST 2007 - up and down buttonhole stitch

2010-01-03T17:06:00.003Z

This week's TAST challenge stitch is up and down buttonhole.

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The background is made by needlepunching scraps of silk onto a piece of felt. One of the silk scraps was sheer with silver threads through it and this did not needlepunch at all well. To help with this, and to blend the colours together, I added a very fine layer of cotton and silk cocoon waste on the top. To increase the sparkle, I then needlepunched some short lengths of silver and pink metallic yarn. Finally, I 'quilted' the piece with alternate rows of programmed machine stitching in light pink and a light copper coloured thread. The buttonhole stitching is done in variegated stranded and perle cotton. At the last minute, I added the sequins and beads just for fun! It's pale, but pretty. It's about A5 size.

More ups and downs...

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I like this stitch. It goes beautifully around curves. You can make it neat or stitch it very freely. The stitching here is done in variegated perle and stranded cotton. I had a go at three-pronged up and down buttonhole, but I just couldn't get it right. I wish I had seen Elizabeth's tutorial first - it's easy when you know how! See it here:

http://quietermoments.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/step-by-step-on-a-three-prong-up-and-down-buttonhole-stitch/

For the background fabric I used bit of painted cotton from the reject bin. I put a piece of turquoise felt behind it and needlepunched it from both sides. The fibres from the felt came through the copper coloured fabric and gave it a nice verdigris look. I cut circles from a piece of dyed wool and needlepunched on - then I was sorry, but it was too late to do anything about it. To try and blend the circles in I machine 'quilted' over the whole lot in a copper coloured thread.

The final piece of fabric looked quite dull, so I tried using complementary thread colours to pep it up a bit. It wasn't really a success, I wish I had stayed with the copper and greenish blue colour scheme, but never mind, it was only a sample! Having decided I didn't really like it much, I carried on with gay abandon and added beads for good measure.

TAST 2007 - barred chain stitch

2010-01-03T17:01:00.004Z

Here's my sample for TAST Barred Chain.

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I did the hand stitching in variegated perle and stranded cotton, and crochet cotton.

The fabric was scraps of organza and chiffon needlepunched to a washing up cloth. Then I straight stitch 'quilted' it on the sewing machine and finished off with lengths of fancy knitting yarn needlepunched on top. I've backed it with a piece of gold coloured satin and neatened the edges with a programmed machine stitch. I'll probably fold and stitch it into a little box.

I did, here it is:

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As for barred chain stitch. This was a new stitch for me. I think it will have to go into the 'tried it once and didn't like it' category. I don't know why, it just seems to me to be a very untidy stitch, although I do like the way it goes round in a circle. I think the CQers will like this stitch a lot more than I do!

TAST 2007 - cross stitch

2010-01-03T16:59:00.006Z

This week's stitch is Cross Stitch. Here is my first interpretation:

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The background fabric was one of those experiments that go wrong, so you try and save it, and it goes on.....and on......and on..... This is scraps of silk, organza and tops (roving) free machined onto a washing up cloth and then needlepunched. I overdid the needlepunching and it just looked a mess - so I put a layer of animal print chiffon over the top and needlepunched that. It still looked a mess, so I further insulted it by zapping it with a heat gun. It still looked a mess. In desperation, I used it for this week's sample. The cross stitch is worked in variegated stranded and perle cotton. The sample is postcard size.

Another postcard sized sample:

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This is done on dyed curtain interlining with scraps of silk and washingup cloths needle punched on. The cross stitch is in variegated stranded and perle cotton

TAST 2007 - fly stitch

2010-01-03T16:50:00.007Z

This week's stitch is fly stitch. I used it on this postcard:

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This is snippings of perle cotton that I unpicked from a previous disaster, needle punched to a piece of commercial felt. Then I added accents of fly stitch in the same thread.

Fire and Ice - a typical English February!

Fly blown!

This is a postcard based on an Egyptian theme from an old research project. During the Develop a Personal Library of Stitches course, I did lots of fly stitch and fly stitch variations - but when I saw this week's Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge my mind leapt to the winged instead of the fibre variety.

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The background fabric is a piece of dyed wool curtain interlining. The motif is a string print on suit weight polyester. The fly stitch is worked in variegated stranded cotton, the buttonhole stitch is in crochet cotton and the running stitch is in perle cotton.

Green fly

I've definitely got flies on the brain this week. While I was digging around in my bits and pieces of samplers, looking for likely victims for needle punching, I found this rejected fly body from an old project.

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This was to be a green fly, but at the time I decided on a blue-bottle and used an alternative body. The top is synthetic dark blue velvet printed with sequins and applied plastic coated fabric in silver with couched metallic threads.
This week's TAST is Fly Stitch. It seemed appropriate, and I fear Sharon has steered me back to the bugs for a bit, so I have just added fly stitch in green and blue perle cotton for texture. Now I've started, I'll have to finish!

(The completed fly is here.)

TAST 2007 - feather stitch

2010-01-03T16:39:00.008Z

Plain and simple. Worked on a piece of 'embellisher fabric' in stranded and perle cotton.

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And then I made this with it:

Top view

Side view.

TAST 2007 - eyelets

2010-01-03T16:21:00.012Z

I'm not very pleased with this.

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The fabric is a piece of wool and polyester curtain interlining with a very pronounced weave that I used in the bottom of a tray to catch the drips when I was dyeing some stranded cottons. I used it as evenweave. The stitching is done in stranded cotton and perle. The stitches are too loose on the largest eyelet. I mangled it to a piece of craft vilene with the embellisher, but it slipped so it isn't straight. For some reason, I found counting these very difficult.

Could do better.....

Eyelets in pulled work.

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The fabric is dyed butter muslin, very fine. The thread is DMC variegated stranded cotton. This is a good example of how they get a bit wobbly if you use too many stitches. Also, I should have used less strands for the smaller eyelets. I think I'll have to go away and do it again!

TAST's more like it..............

I've added another section to my Develop a Personal Library of Stitches sampler. I took this 6 week course last year and really enjoyed it. My sampler had nine sections in all, so I'm occasionally finishing it off with TAST stitches.

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At last I managed to count those diamond eyelets, but there was an awful lot of unpicking involved. I plan to see if stitching them through a piece of net makes it any easier - I think my brain just doesn't work on the diagonal.

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I tried it and it works. The net is hexagonal, so it's like the isometric paper you use for planning hexagonal patchwork designs.

For me, this week's TAST efforts have not been an altogether unqualified success!

Oh dear! Even more eyelets...

TAST should carry a health warning.....this activity may be habit forming and some weeks may carry a serious risk of addiction!

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The background fabric for this is window cleaner's scrim. The window cleaner washes it before use to remove the dressing and make it soft and absorbent. I've left the dressing in it, so it is almost like coarse canvas to stitch on. The stitching is done in variegated stranded and perle cotton, crochet cotton, crewel wool and torn muslin strips. I threaded a length of toning twisted cord through some of the eyelets. I managed to loosen up a bit here and didn't worry quite so much about counting or perfect placing of the stitches! This sample is in a 6 inch hoop.

TAST 2007 - chevron stitch

2010-01-03T16:14:00.002Z

Trying to loosen up a bit here, but it's difficult, because I do like things to be neat!

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On one of my practice embellisher bits, felt with wool tops (roving). Chevron stitch in cotton perle and stranded cotton.

Still on chevron. Got bitten by the postcard bug.

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The background fabric is hand dyed muslin. In the centre, one torn strip of muslin is used to couch down another, with a row of chevron on each side in stranded cotton. The little piece of applied aida fabric is to show chevron stitch worked on evenweave fabric.

TAST 2007 - cretan stitch

2010-01-03T15:53:00.005Z

I used one of my 'embellisher bits' to make a postcard with cretan stitch.

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The background is a piece of dyed and boiled wool blanket. The pink motif was left over from an earlier project and is a piece of pink washing up cloth with threads bonded to it. It looks like felt, but I found it tends to flake a bit when it is needle punched. The purple bit underneath the motif is a scrap of silk. The cretan stitch is all done in stranded cotton.

Another postcard

I made this fibre postcard with a piece of my practice embellisher fabric. Cretan stitch is one of my favourites - I like it because it is versatile and has a rhythm to it.

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The fabric is a piece of a kind of polyester poplin, (feels very plasticky, I wouldn't want to wear it) sponged over with bronzing powder mixed with fabric medium. I needlepunched pieces of dyed and discharged velvet on to it with the machine. The bright patches were punched from the top, the less distinct ones were punched from the back. Then I needlepunched the rest of the piece from the back. The needles pushed the fibres of the blue polyester through the fabric paint and left a textured surface. The cretan stitch accents are worked in stranded cotton and some of them are laced with metallic thread. Finally, I stitched it to a piece of craft vilene and zizagged on some fancy yarn to make a corded edge.

This sample shows the versatility of this stitch:

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TAST 2007 - detached chain stitch

2010-01-03T15:49:00.008Z

I use this stitch a lot, but not usually on its own. I'm finding it difficult to do a 'resolved' sample exclusively in detached chain. So far, I have just been doodling, getting the feel of the stitch. I marked some guidelines with a 'spray away' pen and I forgot to remove them before I took the photo.

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My favourite bit is the criss-cross couching with long tailed detached chain at the top.

Still wrapped in chains...

Still playing around with detached chain. This sample also includes buttonhole and wrapping:

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I wanted to have a go at Sharon B's padded detached chain and detached chain medallions. The background is a piece of hand dyed, discharged and painted muslin. Stitching is in perle cotton, crochet cotton and variegated stranded cotton. The wrapped piece is string wrapped with fancy silk and cotton knitting yarn. There's lot of room left yet for more stitching, beads, embellishments.............................

I continued with this, adding some herringbone stitch, some more detached chain and finally some cretan stitch. I resisted temptation for a while, but eventually I gave in and added some glitz - gold ribbon and metallic thread. I think perhaps it has got a little BUSY!

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Datched chain, some examples:

I did these a while ago but there are some good examples of using detached chain,
here in the tree foliage

.............and here in the tree foliage, the bluebell flowers and also the bluebell leaves:

TAST 2007 - buttonhole stitch

2010-01-03T15:28:00.011Z

This week's stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday is BUTTONHOLE. (here's the link for the TAST Flickr Group: http://flickr.com/groups/56846286@N00/)

Its one of my favourite stitches because it is so versatile. Here it is on a box I made some time ago.

Buttonhole stitch worked in rows and around curtain rings. The edges of the box sections are buttonholed and laced together where they meet.

Buttonhole stitch used to couch down other threads.
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I decided to add the TAST Week 2 buttonhole stitch to the sampler I started during Sharon B's Personal Library of Stitches Course on Joggles last year. I have two more sections on the sampler to complete after this one.

(Visit Sharon's Blog to find out about TAST and the Joggles Course: here ).

I have room for three or four more rows on this section.

Buttonhole gets bolder

Here's my completed effort for TAST week 2 - buttonhole stitch:

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Worked mostly in wool on evenweave natural linen, with some cotton perle, metallic thread and fancy knitting yarn.

The first three rows concentrate on using different heights of the stitch to make patterns.
The last three rows are laced together with herringbone, laced in turn with a contrasting colour.
The middle of the last three rows is buttonhole stitch worked 'head to toe' to make a row of dense stitching with knotted edges.

...and a bit more buttonhole

Buttonhole is often used for insertion stitches. I tried some out without the insertion bit and found that they make nice patterns. The bottom row was buttonhole head to toe, with tied herringbone over the top and finally french knots.

Then I got out a piece of felt, some shaded stranded cotton, some left over bits of crochet cotton and did a bit of freestyle, just for a change.

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....even more buttonhole

Well, I couldn't leave all those gaps, could I?

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Maybe I should get out more?

TAST 2007 - herringbone stitch

2010-01-03T15:26:00.006Z

Here's my first effort for TAST. The background fabric is left over from making a fibre postcard. It is black synthetic felt, scraps of brightly coloured organza and silk overlaid with animal print chiffon, held together with a machine stitched grid and then cut back in places with a soldering iron. The final insult was me trying out my new eyelet tool. I thought I would try over stitching with herringbone.

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The herringbone is worked in variegated stranded cotton and metallic thread.

This sample shows some variations you can make with herringbone stitch, by changing the width or scale, by lacing and by layering.

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This was worked on evenweave linen with a variety of threads.

The third row is a herringbone variation, but I got so carried away with the embellishment that the herringbone stitches are difficult to pick out. It is two lines of herringbone in tapestry wool, then two smaller lines worked across in perle cotton. I tied the stitches of the top line with a contrasting colour to see the effect. Then I got excited and filled in all the gaps with beads, bullions and French knots.

The fourth row is a line of laced double herringbone. The first line was worked in perle cotton and laced in fancy yarn. Then the second line was worked on top and laced, all in perle cotton. Then, inevitably, I added some beads.

The fifth row is a line of herringbone worked through a line of evenly spaced vertical straight stitches. I thought it looked a bit plain so I added some french knots. The straight stitch foundation is in soft cotton, the herringbone lacing and the knots are tapestry wool.

What is TAST? Take a Stitch Tuesday, see here for the flickr group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/56846286@N00/

and here for information about the 2007 challenge