An Innovative Scottish Thistle

The last couple of 2D samples we have to show you are this lovely Scottish Thistle using Lazy Daisy Stitch and  Sunburst flower using the same stitch and weaving over them the same way you would when doing Spiders Web to form a ring around the centre.

Thistle stem and leaves are Palestrina Stitches very close together. Stem Stitch makes up the purple 'cup' at the base of the flower and 11 very loose Lazy Daisy Stitches fan out from this. 
The turquoise part is made using Stranded embroidery thread to whip the lazy daisy stitches as in a Spider Web pattern and lastly the same lazy daisy stitches were Smocked to give the triangular effect at the top of the thistle.

No these are not for badminton - they are templates to help you make a Thistle for yourself.

The Sunburst Flower shows off the same techniques as the Thistle using Lazy Daisy Stitches and weaving around them.

The centre is filled with large French Knots using a thick thread.

More template shapes below may give you ideas for your own flowers.

Simply draw around the template onto your fabric using a light pencil or Dis-solvable marker pen for embroidery, hoop it up and use it to guide the placement of your stitches.

We hope that these past few posts on 2D stitches have inspired you to get going with your own Happy Stitching.

A 2D Embroidered Daffodil

While its not quite Spring yet already there are green shoots in the garden and in January we at the Lytham St Annes Embroiderers Guild were had a treat in being able to view and touch the gorgeous daffodil that Barbara stitched for us using a Woven Picot Stitch, so called because the stitch/stitches are actually woven on the needle.

An Early Spring Treat

See how the leaves and petals stand proud off the fabric?

The centre of the daffodil is Raised Cup Stitch and the stamens in the middle are tufted threads that have been looped and stiffened by brushing on a coat transparent glue. When dry the tufting was cut thus allowing the stamen to stand up.

Here are samples of Woven Picot using various threads.

You can also see examples of Woven Roses which will feature in the next post. 

Till then - Happy Stitching.

More 2D Stitches and Lavender

Here is the next set of samples sewn up for us by Barbara to further our knowledge of 2D stitching.

Experimenting with different thicknesses of thread in Raised Chain Stitch

Lovely textures using Raised Stem Bands

It looks complicated but was in fact very easy to stitch a band of Raised Chain Stitch or Raised Stem Stitch

The lavender above was sewn using Bullion Knots for the flower, Stem stitch for the stems along with Split stitch and tiny French Knot buds. 

Soil was made using doubled Anchor stranded cotton in a variegated brown shade and the stitch is Stem Stitch.

Well, that's enough eye candy for one post :-) next time you'll get to see a Daffodil in Woven Pique stitch.

So goodbye from Lytham St Annes Embroiderers Guild and as always - Happy Stitching. 

2D Stitches

At the January  meeting of the Lytham St Annes Embroiderers Guild we were taught some lovely 2D stitches by our long time member Barbara.
Embroidery stitches have 3 dimensions to them - the first type 1D; are flat across the surface fabric, examples are Black Work and Cross Stitch.
2D stitches look as if they are on top of the surface as if they are raised from the fabric (some people get confused and call these 3D) but 3D embroidery uses a base of wire or felt so that it can stand alone, away from the fabric and is called Stump Work.
This yellow pansy below is an example of stump work. Wire was used to form the shape of the petals and sewn around with Button Hole Stitch then Long and Short stitches used to make the petals which were then cut away from the foundation fabric very close to the button hole stitches.

Absolutely Beautiful Stump Work

Barbara had stitched up so many samples using different types of thread, string and raffia that it will take several posts to show you everything. 
Here she is with a huge frame to show us how to do the first stitch which was Palestrina Stitch also known Double Knot stitch, Tied Coral, Old English Knot stitch or Smyrna Stitch.

When she wears that white apron she means business 

Here she is in action with the Huge Teaching Frame.

A close up of the stitches we were learning - Palestrina, Raised Stem Band, Raised Chain Stitch, Woven Pique, French Knots and Spiders Web.

The Palestrina Knot using Stranded Floss, Pearl Cotton and Polypropylene String.

On the left in green a good example of Palestrina in a wool type thread. On the right it would have been better to use more than 2 strands of floss. Obviously a thicker thread will require a needle with a larger eye such as a Long Darning Needle but it must have a sharp pointed end not a blunt one as on a wool darning needle.

In the next post you'll see what Barbara did with these stitches and how they can be used in your embroidery.

Till then - Happy Stitching...