06.28.08
Posted in Threads, Drawing, General at 12:51 pm by deRomilly
I decided Thursday on a whim to actually sign up for Sharon Boggon’s new Studio Journal course at Joggles. Since I don’t have a lot of formal art training, I’ve always felt pressured by my sketchbooks… and that I shouldn’t be. So I’m hoping this will give me a new lease on them. I know just the little bit she covered sketchbooks in the Sumptuous Surfaces class helped immensely last year.
So. First week started Friday, and I’m already psyched about this. 
YAY!! This was a good investment for my art and my business, I think.
So Friday I went out to Michaels thinking maybe I’d get a new journal. Decided to use the one I’ve already got. Got the 2 skeins of DMC I needed to finish a sampler (Spots of Fun - by Debbie Draper). I’m doing it all in one color of variegated thread.
Anyway, while I was at Michaels, I saw these little bobbins of ribbon in the ribbon section… Ended up buying 5 of them. They’re intended for scrapbooking and paper crafts. Ummm… if you say so. I’m going to stitch with them, of course. Pictures. Click to enbiggen:
I think my favorite thread is the one in the last picture. It has what seem to be little pompoms every 3/8 inch or so. And of course it’s in blue and lavender, which though I keep trying to expand my color schemes I seem to always come back to: blue, green and lavender. Oceans. Grin.
I’ll keep y’all posted on what I’m doing with it all! If I can actually get to my studio any time soon, that is!
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02.26.08
Posted in Threads, General at 2:16 pm by deRomilly
MargB of Maggie’s Textiles left a lovely comment for me on my last post about multi-colored threads. (It’s now available in pdf format on the Needlework Articles page, by the way.)
In the comment, Marg referred to an “ikated” design, a term I’d never heard before. I knew about Indonesian ikats - the lovely pieces of weaving used for sarongs and tubular skirts, in that I knew they existed. No clue about the process of creating them, though. And I didn’t know that it was a general weaving term.
While trying to track it down, I found several lovely sites on ikats in general — from the scholarly treatise about how the different designs relate to different social groupings in the islands found on asianart.com, to page upon page of photos of beautiful weavings. (Am I a horrible cultural appropriator for wanting access to some of these to use in my art and embroidery?)
The neat links included:
In any case, “ikat” refers to the way the warp or the weft (usually the warp, sometimes both) is measured, tied off and dyed before weaving begins. Marg says she sometimes used spaced dyed yarns to simulate this type of work, and her recent blog post about it explains in greater detail, with a photo of her own work as well…
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02.19.08
Posted in Threads, Classes, Free Patterns, Counted work at 8:15 pm by deRomilly
2001-2008 by G. Romilly Mueller (Goodfellow) all rights reserved
Please do not reprint or post on your own site or newsletters without permission. Feel free to link to this blog.
Geometric Stitching (Hardanger, etc.) Techniques
Some of the same principles apply to stitching geometric-type designs, for example, any type of satin stitch.
For the example in Figure 12 (the chart is figure 13), I used one strand of Caron Wildflowers in the Nefertiti color, with the graph to the right (each grid line represents one thread of the fabric. This design works better on a linen fabric or other evenweave than on aida.)
Play around with this one. Don’t be afraid to cut colors out of your threads. In the example in Figure 11 (last post), I did just this in several places around the outside “petals”. I wanted them green, and durn it, they were going to be green! (or entirely pink, for that matter…) On the other hand, I’m generally lazy when it comes to starting and ending threads, so they aren’t entirely green!
You can get completely different looks from the same color of thread by stitching the color in a different location on the chart.
Using a different color or type of thread to stitch the design will give you a completely different effect. It’s always amazing to me the difference that stitching the same design with Tropics instead of Nefertiti creates.
Conclusion
This article is just an introduction to some of the effects you can achieve with this type of thread. Each different type of multicolored thread, whether the evenly spaced variegated floss, or the random overdyed types has its own peculiarities. In a stranded thread, each strand will have the same color changes, so if you need a mirror effect, keep this in mind if you are using a randomly dyed thread.
The more colors there are in the thread, the more bizarre the “blended thread” techniques can look. But this might be just the effect you need. Remember to keep experimenting. Even the most expensive threads are relatively inexpensive when considered individually. The amount of pleasure gained from learning their tendencies becomes worth the cost when you create a project that is truly your own.
I hope this small discussion has made you more aware of the possibilities multi-colored threads have for your stitching. Remember, when you’re stitching, you always have the last word as to how your piece looks. If you like it, it’s right!
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02.17.08
Posted in Threads, Classes, Stitching Genres, Free Patterns, Counted work at 6:07 pm by deRomilly
2001-2008 by G. Romilly Mueller (Goodfellow) all rights reserved
Please do not reprint or post on your own site or newsletters without permission. Feel free to link to this blog.
English Method
In the English method, which I teach below, you complete each stitch individually. The only difference from the Danish method in looks is on the back of the piece. The English method uses more thread, but creates a more durable backing to the fabric. In addition, there is some evidence that it may preserve your fabric by placing a more even tension on the threads than the Danish method. This method of stitching a cross stitch uses more floss than the Danish method.
Each cross is stitched in its entirety before you move on to the next stitch. Using this method makes the colors stand out very strongly. However, this can result in the colored piece looking “stripey”. But you might want stripey. See Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 was stitched horizontally, in the usual manner, and Figure 6 was stitched in the basic direction of the petals, making the stripes follow the petal lines.
Directions
Work from the top of the petals downward in the English method as described below. You’ll notice that the wider the petals become, the thinner the stripes become. You could also work in the English method vertically on the center petal, and horizontally on the outer petals to accentuate the stripes and make them part of your design. Remember to experiment.
Working on Evenweave:
When working on an evenweave fabric like Jobelen or linen, cross stitch is generally worked over two threads of the fabric. Look closely at your fabric, and you will see that threads alternate going over and under another (Figure 7).
This is a trait of an evenweave. When stitching cross stitch on an evenweave fabric, begin at a juncture where a vertical thread will be to the right of your needle. In other words, bring your needle from the back of the fabric to the front at point A, as shown in Figure 7. The stitch comes up at A, down at B, up at C, down at D. The next stitch would begin by coming up at C, which becomes your next “A”.
On the second row, work right to left, still making crosses from the bottom left to upper right, and then from the bottom right to upper left. This will ensure that all of your stitches cross the same way. See Figure 8.
Continue to work row by row, one color at a time.
Filling the Design
If you want the defined color changes of the English method, but don’t want the striped effect, you can achieve that, too. This takes a bit more planning than either of the other options. In addition, it requires breaking the habit of stitching straight across or up and down a design.
You want to achieve the same effect as in pointellism paintings. Rather than stripes of color, you want to create spots of color, which are more easily combined by the viewer’s eye. Alternatively, you can arrange the colors so that they create a more even gradation of color. In the example in Figure 9, I grouped the colored stitches so that the pinks were all in the middle of the petals, surrounded by the more subtle colors in the floss.
Grouped colors
The effect in Figure 9 was relatively easy. I threaded my needle with a strand that had little, if any, pink in it. Then I stitched in the English method, around the outline of the petals. In some places I stitched only one stitch at the outside, in others I stitched a bit into the petal itself, for a staggered effect.
Then I threaded the needle with the leftover, pink parts of the floss and filled in the petal centers.
Mottled colors
In Figure 10, I worked for a more mottled effect.
To fill the design in this way, you must constantly be aware of where the edges of the motif are located. Because you are not stitching in a traditional methodical manner, it is sometimes easy to get lost.
Start stitching near the top of the design. Work in the English method, but jump around a bit as the thread changes colors instead of stitching rows. For example, you might work 4 or 5 stitches in the area marked with the letter A in Figure 11, then jump over to the area marked with the letter B, work 4 or 5 stitches there, and then move to another area.
Doing this for the entire motif will give you the more mottled, but not striped, image shown in Figure 10.
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02.05.08
Posted in Threads, Stitching Genres, Free Patterns, Counted work at 10:52 am by deRomilly
In my last post, we had an introduction to the fun that is the apparent randomness of color in multi-colored threads. Today we’re going to move on to specific techniques you can use to get the effect you want from your stitching.
Stitching with Multi-Colored Threads - Cross Stitch Techniques (Danish) copyright 2001-2008 by G. Romilly Mueller (Goodfellow) all rights reserved
Please do not reprint or post on your own site or newletters without permission. Feel free to link to this blog.
Cross Stitch Techniques
That said, here are some ways to start out and an idea of the effect you will get if you use the described methods. All of my examples use the small fleur-de-lis chart I use in teaching. Only one color is used for the entire pattern, although I have taken the liberty of using a contrasting color for the band across the middle. In my examples, I used black for the band.
Click on the chart thumbnail below to enlarge it. You can then print it and it should print at a size that is easy to work.
For this chart of a fleur de lis, pick a multi-colored, stranded floss from your stash. This can be variegated, or one of the overdyes. For my examples, I used Needle Necessities in color number 107, Dreamscape. With this small a design, you may want to use one of the overdyed colors, because color changes tend to be closer together than in the variegated. Stitch with 2 strands on 14 count Aida (or 28 count evenweave, or whatever).
Danish Method
This is the method of working the cross stitch that is generally taught in the United States. It is extremely frugal in its use of thread. You will often be told that you shouldn’t use this method for multicolored threads, because you lose the definition of the various colors. However, this may be exactly the effect you are looking for in your work!
Directions
Work from the top of the petals downward in the Danish method as described below. You’ll notice that the wider the petals become, the subtler the color change becomes. The effect should be similar to the tweeding effect you get with a blended needle, and will vary with the colors of the thread you use. You can see this effect a little in Figure 1, although because there were so many different colors, the result was less blended than it might have been had I used the DMC variegated, or something similar. You can see the tweeding effect best at the top of the side petals, and at the four-stitch area of the center petal.
Stitching with the Danish Method
The Danish method is the style of cross stitching most Americans learn first. In this method, you will stitch one row of crosses at a time. It is sometimes faster than the English method described in the next section, and uses a shade less thread.
Working on Evenweave:
When working on an evenweave fabric like Jobelen or linen, cross stitch is generally worked over two threads of the fabric. Look closely at your fabric, and you will see that threads alternate going over and under another (Figure 2). This is a trait of an evenweave. When stitching cross stitch on an evenweave fabric, begin at a juncture where a vertical thread will be to the right of your needle. In other words, bring your needle from the back of the fabric to the front at point A, as shown in Figure 2. The individual stitch comes up at A, down at B, up at C, and down at D.
When stitching multiple stitches in the Danish style, stitch all the first half of the stitches in one row at once (see Figure 3) and then come back along the row, crossing the stitches (Figure 4).
Working on Aida:
In many ways, working on aida fabric is much easier. It is specially woven so that there are blocks of fabric separated by holes. You work one stitch over each block. Partial stitches become more difficult in that you have to pierce the center of the fabric blocks to stop in the middle of the cross. Other¬wise, stitch the same way you would on evenweave.
TIP: For an even subtler look, take one strand and turn it backwards to the other… this will blend the colors within each pass of the stitching. If you choose to do this, use shorter strands of floss than usual, because as the grain is backwards on one strand, it will rub more quickly on the fabric and become fuzzy faster.
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