Project 2, Stage 5 embroidery

This is a continuation of yesterday's post, only this time the samples are done with machine embroidery. I experimented with different designs - and not surprisingly they gave different results.
Starting with the top row from left to right. The zigzaglines were done with white (rayon?) thread. The thread does not have a brand name, so this is a guess. I like the way the lines cross. Difficult to see on the scan, but the color changes a bit where they cross as the density is higher there. Next sample is not a succes. I tried one of the fancy stitches on my machine but I am not impressed with this one. But the triangles gave me some further ideas. The wavy lines were done with yellow Madeira, again a rayon thread. I like the way the color shows more dominance where the lines are close together (the left side). Next one - the one most to the right - is one of my favorite designs. A great filler. I used 2 yellows on it, but that does not show very well. The color on the cones were orangy yellow and lemon yellow, but in this sample they look a lot alike. By playing with the length of the zigzag and the length of the connecting lines this design can be made more - or less - compact.

Bottom row at the left is one of the triangles I played with. I used a yellow and a blue rayon thread and were they overlap you can see a bit of greenish. The same triangles in white are next to it. Here again, the density influences the strength of the color. I really like this effect and of all the samples I did the last couple of days, this one is my favorite. Next to that is a combination of dark blue metallic thread and a lighter rayon. It does not show very well on this scan, but it is a nice one. Nothing special, just nice. And the last sample for today is a two colored yellow one. I did this one with straight lines to compare it with the way lines in the top row. Same with this sample the difference in yellow does not show much and I have to say I like the wavy lines more than the straight ones. They give more dynamic to the design.

Project 2, Stage 5 embroidery

Missing in action? Well not really. I have been revamping my website - not yet published - and working on some quilts, but today I started working on embroidery samples. Both samples were done on snowdyed fabric. For the first leave I used a combination of threads: pearl cotton 8, handdyed embroidery floss, metallic Sulky thread, embroidery linen and  jewel effect from DMC, a polyester thread. Yes, some of the supplies I had ordered, had arrived.

The shiny effect of some of the threads got lost a bit with the scan. I used a combination of outline stitch and random herringbone stitches or cross stitches.
For my other sample I used a double running stitch and filled the leaves with satin stich. For this sample I used pearl thread 8 in various green/yellow colors.

Of these two samples I like the overall effect of the second one best. The color coördination is better with this one too. What I do like of the first sample is the shiny effect of the jewel effect DMC.

Project 2, Stage 4 embroidery

More exploration of stitches and the effect they give. My books have not yet arrived, but through Google I found this site on which a huge range of embroidery stitches is mentioned. My collection of yarn is still small so the choices I could make are limited. The designs are based on some of the mark makings I did earlier on in this project.
On the first picture at the right I used a splitstich done with hand dyed yellow DMC embroidery floss. The design on the right is made from a blue fruit nett and yellow floss.





On this picture is a variety of stitches. The top one on the left is a coral stitch, next to that an open Cretain stitch. The long one at the right is an interlaced running stitch. The spiral in the middle is a white yarn couched down with a herringbone stitch and the crescent shape is made with French knots.

My experience with hand embroidery is limited. It is something I will have to work on the coming months. That is the reason I signed up for Sharon's class (see link above). It will give me more change to experiment with stitches and I will end up with a range of fiber cards :-).

Project 2: developing your marks

For this I picked out the spiral which I drew in one of the earlier exercises. I did both machine stitching as well as hand stitching. For the machine part I played a bit with different stitches and I have to say I really like the zig-zag effect I got on some of them. Next to that I also practised some hand stitching using different threads and yarns.

 And I discovered that my machine does not like bobbin stitching. With this technique you work up-side down. No matter how I adjusted the tension it did not turn out very nice. I remember that once in a workshop I was told that when you have a machine with a drop in bobbin you cannot use this technique on that machine.  And all my machines are like this.  As this technique did not work out, I couched another yarn on the fabric which gives a similar effect.
The fabric I used for these samples was a P&B cotton.