The bottom daisy layer I don't like as much as my second attempt I don't think. I've used two strands of stranded cotton and alternated the daisies to either be white or pale blue (to balance the sky), making detached chain stitches over the pattern of the petals themselves. Where I've got the really tiny daisies, I used a silvery blue colour to fill in the petals with a couple of straight stitches - not quite enough to be a satin stitch - so they looked a bit more bud-like. The yellow french knot centres are also a slightly different yellow, lighter yellow on the blue and darker on white.
Sunday 13 October 2024
Nether Wallop Stitchscape
The bottom daisy layer I don't like as much as my second attempt I don't think. I've used two strands of stranded cotton and alternated the daisies to either be white or pale blue (to balance the sky), making detached chain stitches over the pattern of the petals themselves. Where I've got the really tiny daisies, I used a silvery blue colour to fill in the petals with a couple of straight stitches - not quite enough to be a satin stitch - so they looked a bit more bud-like. The yellow french knot centres are also a slightly different yellow, lighter yellow on the blue and darker on white.
Saturday 12 October 2024
Made & Making Non-Autumn
We had lots of fun with trimmings in this workshop though. I had stocked up with some more unusual ones from the-stitchery in Lewes and there were narrow decorative ribbons, wonky ric racs, rosebud ric racs, mini pom poms, waxed cotton cords and all sorts of things. The rosebud ric rac was really popular and also exactly the right colours to fit in with the chosen fabrics so I'm pleased I grabbed some of that (I kept a little bit of the blue/green colour for myself too). Look how beautifully it goes with the blue brushed cotton in the hoop below, and the floral ditsy in the hoop beneath that, then the navy and burgundy version with the colours of the fabrics in the hoop below that!
The lovely lady who stitched the hoop above was called Liz, and she remarked to me what an amazing difference the embroidery does actually make to the fabrics. Her plain green fabric behind her trees is just that, boring and plain (but a lovely olive colour), but now that she's started to add seed stitch to it and those gorgeous little french knots, it's turned it into a whole other world! The seed stitches cast little shadows and dimples, even though they've been colour matched so they don't stand out in a shouty way. It just gives it life!
The hoop below was inspired by an offcut of a dress that Rebecca brought in with her. It looks like a hem that's been cut off so the fabric itself is folded which was good because it's a fairly thin devoré so where there isn't the velvet pattern, it's much more see through and needed that extra thickness. The colours are lovely though and we've picked out the yellow tones of the leaves with the yellow ditsy floral, but then if you move the velvet fabric, where it catches the light there are other purpley/mauve colours which have gone into the sky. Each time you move the hoop the colours slightly change which is beautiful. The cream lace helps to balance everything with the white background of the top leaf print fabric and the white in the daisies at the bottom.