April Challenge - Hand Embroidery

Well March came and went and I didn't get around to setting a challenge and April has almost gone the same way!  Although I didn't post about it, my challenge to myself for April was to do some hand embroidery.  I've seen so many beautiful examples on Instagram and Pinterest, which inspired me to get some of my own embroidery done so I went back to TAST, which had fallen by the wayside.  I haven't achieved as much as I would have liked but at least I did something...

TAST 9 - Couching

I've never tried couching before.  After struggling for a while to figure out how to use it, I settled on using it to create some script.  I used some salmon pink mercerised cotton yarn (by Patons I think), couched down with gold thread.  To avoid having to stop and start I decided to mimic the way I would write the word, which involved doubling up the yarn in places.  The 'd' and the 'a' look a bit weird where I've doubled up the yarn side-by-side, but for the 'm' I went on top of the existing yarn and it's a much neater look.

TAST 10 - Running Stitch

For my first running stitch sampler I was inspired by Japanese Sashiko embroidery, which uses running stitch to create geometric patterns.  The resulting shapes traditionally have a symbolic meaning.  It is simplicity itself, but produces some really beautiful results.  My attempt is a far cry from the defined, precise stitching of traditional Sashiko, but in my defense I drew my pattern freehand so didn't have the benefit of super-straight lines.  That's my excuse anyway.

I thought it would be fun to try a freestyle, doodle type of thing as well.  On its own in a small hoop it looks like it could use some additional embellishment, but it might work better on a larger surface, like a cushion cover for example.

It was good to dig out the embroidery hoop and do some stitching.  For more information about TAST take a look at the Pin Tangle blog.

TAST 7 & 8 - Chain Stitch and Detached Chain Stitch

We usually put our Christmas decorations up on 1st December, which is today! Last year I wasn't satisfied with the decorations. The living room looked great but the rest of the house was a bit sorry. So I have been trying to make a load of decorations to spread festive cheer throughout the house.

I found some felt circles that I had cut and forgotten about and decided to make some felt baubles. And what better way to decorate them than with TAST stitches.  So bauble no. 1 is sporting detached chain and chain stitch, along with feather stitch and running stitch.

TAST 6 - Chevron Stitch

My love affair with paisley goes on and so here's another example, this time stiched with Chevron Stitch.  It takes to curves pretty well and has potential as an interesting feature by varying the size of the chevron and the direction of the straight stitches at the v points.

I'm working my way through the full list of TAST stitches on the Pin Tangle blog.

TAST 5 - Herringbone Stitch

I've been working on this sampler for weeks! Having said that you might be expecting something spectacular, but it's only because of a lack of time and a bit of stitcher's block. I didn't just want to do a line of stitches but I couldn't for the life of me think of any other way to present the stitch.

For the top row I stitched a line of herringbone stitch then turned the work upside down and stitched the other side to give a nice laced effect. 

In the middle I used the stitch to couch down some ribbon.

At the bottom I started with a tall herringbone stitch and stitching over the top, got progressively shorter. Then I filled in the gaps with a couple of rows of herringbone stitch.

For a full list of TAST stitches head over to Pin Tangle.

TAST 4 - Cretan Stitch

I've used the Cretan stitch to make a festive wreath.  I went around the circle three or four times in different shades of green, and once in brown to give the effect of twigs. To prevent too much uniformity in the greenery I slanted the arms of an open Cretan stitch and inadvertently discovered the similarities between Cretan and Feather stitch.  I've since discovered that Cretan stitch is also known as Long-armed Feather Stitch, so it wasn't exactly a breakthrough discovery!  It's a nice stitch to stitch, if you know what I mean, having a nice rhythm once you get going.
For more about TAST, to join in or to see what everyone else has been stitching, head over to Pin Tangle.

TAST 1 & 2 - Fly and Buttonhole Stitches

I joined TAST at stitch 36 with every intention of keeping up with the weekly 'challenge'. But alas, life and other crafty interests got in the way and it fell by the wayside.  Thankfully, Sharon at Pin Tangle has made it easy to stitch along regardless of where you are in the list of stitches.  I really do want to improve my embroidery repertoire and it's nice to have a visual record, so I've gone back to the beginning and will work my way through the list. Eventually!

The first two stitches are Fly stitch and Buttonhole stitch.  My Buttonhole offering was inspired by Wallachian embroidery which resembles satin stitch, but is worked purely in Buttonhole stitch. Mine has quite a few gaps and is a bit uneven.  I just didn't have the patience to do the technique justice!

Work-In-Progress Wednesday

I've taken a real shine to stitching little embroidered hearts, and lately other shapes too. I'll show the ones I've completed another time, but here are my latest creations.

I've gone back to the beginning of the TAST list and started incorporating those stitches into the designs. I do like the red & white heart. I just need to trim off the excess and fix a felt backing to it. The butterfly feels like it's lacking some pizzazz, but I'm not quite sure what to add. I was hoping the metallic thread (which isn't showing up very well in the pictures) would lift it a bit. Maybe I should have used gold. Any suggestions?

Work-In-Progress Wednesday is a chance to show what you are currently working on, and hopefully encourage you to keep moving forwards with your unfinished projects. Join in with Sharon at Pin Tangle.

TAST 67-68: Fancy Hem Stitch and Slipped Detached Chain Stitch

I've decided to make my own Christmas cards this year. I like the idea of embroidering some of them so this TAST offerings has a bit of a Christmassy theme.  I've made a little Christmas tree with the Fancy Hem Stitch and Slipped Detached Chain Stitch.  The sparkly thread is Anchor metallic. I found it a bit tricky to stitch with as it sort of unravelled when pulled through the material, but I found that if I let it unravel the final effect was still OK.

For more information about TAST pay a visit to Pin Tangle.

TAST 64-66: Top Knotted Buttonhole, Buttonhole Bar and Coral Stitch

I've seen so many examples of lovely embroidered paisley so I decided to have a go.

I did not like stitching the Top Knotted Buttonhole. At all! Because of the way the thread has to twist in order to make the knot I found it impossible to get into any sort of rhythm, which is a shame as it's an interesting-looking stitch.

Buttonhole Bar and Coral Stitch were much more enjoyable - lending themselves nicely to that all-important rhythm. Do you find that a nice rhythm when stitching makes the process much easier?

To see how to work these stitches (and a whole load more) take a look at Pin Tangle's TAST page. And also have a look at the comments for embroidery inspiration.

TAST 62-63: Raised Cross Stitch Flower and Scroll Stitch

Here's my attempt at the Raised Cross Stitch Flower and Scroll Stitch.  I liked both stitches - they had a nice rhythm to them.  I'm not sure I like the finished piece though. It's not quite what I imagined, but these are definitely two stitches I would like to use again.

For more information and inspiration take a few minutes to visit Pin Tangle.

TAST 61 - Up and Down Feathered Buttonhole

I had real trouble with this stitch at first. I just couldn't get it to sit right. So I went back to practise (stitch 3) Feather Stitch and to learn (stitch 26) Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch (I found Mary Corbett's video for UDBS really useful). After that it all went much more smoothly.

This sampler is made up of all three stitches.

For further details about TAST or to see the list of all the stitches so far head over to Pin Tangle.

TAST 56-60: Sailor's Stitch, Sailor's Edge Stitch, Woven Detached Chain Stitch, Breton Stitch and Diamond Stitch

Long time no stitch! It's been an age since I picked up needle and thread. Lately my go-to craft has been crochet, but I've missed my embroidery, so yesterday I decided to start catching up with the TAST challenge (and I've got a lot of catching up to do!).

As I'm so far behind I've only done a short line of each stitch.

56. Sailor's Stitch.  

57. Sailor's Edge Stitch.  

58. Woven detached chain stitch.

57. Breton Stitch.

58. Diamond Stitch.

I found it tricky to get the tension right with the woven detached chain stitch, but it's nothing that a little practise wouldn't cure.  I also tried to get a wavy line of Breton stitches, but it didn't quite work. I think maybe the stitches needed to be closer together.  So, five down twelve to go to get caught up! 

It's been a while since I've seen what everyone's been up to with TAST so I'm off to Pin Tangle to have a look.

TAST 55 - Buttonholed Herringbone

I decided to use this stitch - Buttonholed Herringbone - as the edging for my appliqued table lamp.

TAST 53 - Square Herringbone

I was inspired by the concentric square herringbones that I saw on Annet's blog.  I decided to offset the orientation of my squares while keeping them concentric to get a sort of twisting effect.

Go to Pin Tangle for a description of how to work the stitch.

TAST 54 - Laced Square Herringbone

When I first saw the Laced Square Herringbone I thought it had a star-like quality.  So I stitched a little night scene: laced square herringbone and cross-stitch stars with a crescent moon over lights from a city.  It's not really in proportion, but let's just call that artistic interpretation ;)

As always it's well worth looking at the links in the comments to see all the different interpretations of the stitch.  I was amazed by the sheer number of variations that Chitra demonstrated.

TAST 52 - Triangular Feather Stitch

I bought one of those doodle colouring books for kids from the pound shop. You know the type - it's filled with spirals and geometric patterns to colour in. It looked like it could be a good source for embroidery pattern ideas.  Anyway I found a nice pattern with triangles which I decided to use for the triangular feather stitch.  I thought that the triangles in the pattern would echo the triangles in the stitch, but I think that maybe I should have made the whole thing bigger to accentuate the triangular shapes more.

It was quite nice to stitch and I really like the effect.  For more details about how to work the stitch and to see how other people have interpreted it pay a visit to Pin Tangle.

TAST 51 - Raised Herringbone Band

This band uses a combination of stitches to produce a very decorative band. It is time-consuming but I do like the finished result.

I had planned to stitch something different but in the end I came up with this colourful Easter-inspired egg.  The satin stitch was done in Janlynn DFN threads (I don't know anything about them, size or even colour - they came in a value pack with no information, but it's a twisted thread about twice the thickness of Perle no. 8), the herringbone in Aida crochet cotton no. 20, and the weaving in Anchor metallic.

Do head over to Pin Tangle to see how the band is worked.  It's well worth reading through the comments to see how people have interpreted the stitch. The TAST FAQ page also lists all the stitches done so far by number so you can easily look at previous examples.

TAST 50 - Inverted feather stitch

I am soooo behind with TAST! But determined that I will catch up at some point.  Here's my attempt at Inverted Feather Stitch.

I'm happier with the idea than the execution.  I think my silhouette is a bit dodgy and as I wasn't using counted thread fabric I should have taken more time to mark out the border to get nice straight edges.  Live and learn :)

Pay a visit to Pin Tangle to see the other offerings.

You + Me = Home: TAST 44-49

Towards the end of last year I fell quite behind with the TAST challenge.  I meant to catch up by stitching individual samplers for each stitch, and I did do a couple, but in the end I decided to do one ensemble piece that included all the stitches I had missed.  Incidentally, the TAST format has changed a little for 2013.  Stitches are now listed by number rather than by week, the featured work item will be less regular than last year and will feature work that shows any of the TAST stitches, not just the stitch of the week, and there will be a design challenge every 4-6 weeks.  For full details head over to the TAST FAQ page on Pin Tangle.

Inspired by these cute house ornaments I saw on Pinterest I thought it would be nice to try an embroidered version. "You + me = Home" popped into my head and I thought it would be nice to combine the words "you" and "me" within the word "home".  Originally I was thinking that the word "home" would somehow make up the outline of the house, but this is what I ended up with:

I've used arrowhead stitch (45) for the roof, Portuguese border stitch (44) for the window and door frames, knotted cable chain stitch (48) for the door, buttonhole eyelet flowers (46) on the right and knotted feather stitch (49) with berry stitch (47) for the flowers on the left.  I also had my first attempt at stem stitch (14 - needs practice!) and split stitch. Phew!

I like how it's turned out, but if I were to do it again, I think I'd be a little more adventurous with the backing fabric.  I'm also thinking about printing the picture on to the front of as greetings card. What do you think?

TAST Week 46 - Magic or Checkered Chain Stitch

This week's stitch from Sharon at Pin Tangle is a wonderfully fun one.  I have seen this stitch a few times and thought it would be fiendishly fiddly to do, but I was delighted to find that it was quite straightforward.

I opened a shop on Folksy a little while ago, and although I'm still in the process of setting it up (read trying to find the time to stock it!) I do need a banner/logo.  I had the idea of two B's (for Berry Bakewell) which were mirror images of each other, embroidered, with a shape that was reminiscent of a butterfly.  The magic chain, as it's a bit more interesting than the 'standard' chain, seemed like a good choice for the embroidery.  I tried a couple of different colour schemes and also a different shape and thickness for the B.  I also thought about filling one in completely, and also trying the third idea with the chain colours alternating rather than matched but haven't got around to it yet.  I think my favourite is the second one. I'm loving the combination of green against bright colours, particularly deep pinks, at the moment.  Which do you like best?