Saturday 2 March 2013

Lagging behind TAST


I am lagging behind! Here, finally,  are the last three TAST stitches.
Herringbone Square #53, Laced Herringbone Square #54 and Buttonholed Herringbone #55





















The most difficult part with the Buttonholed Herringbone was to keep the thread free from twists. If there is too much of a twist on the thread the garland is not hanging neatly but curls in an unruly way. You can see that in the light green section of the upper row of Buttonholed Herringbone stitches.
There are two ways in which you can avoid this:

  • Let the thread dangle (with the needle as a weight)  from time to time and untwist itself.
  • Learn to roll the needle between the thumb and index finger while stitching. For S-twisted thread like the perle I have used, roll the needle clockwise.
Here you can read what Mary Cobert writes about S- and Z-twisted thread and how to sew with them.

22 comments:

margaret said...

more good examples of the tast stitches Queenie and don`t worry about lagging behind, you are ahead of me. E great tip about the thread twisting, I know the one about dangling the thread but have not tried twisting the thread, will remember and try it.

Claudia said...

This is a very lovely sampler! It is good to read that others have the same problems stitching the garland. Thank you for the link to Mary Corbert.

City Krafters said...

Really enjoyed all your stitches will you be doing more?

Pippas quilts said...

lovely stitching never heard of s and z threads will check that out, thank you.

Julie Fukuda said...

I wonder if putting the needle at the other end of the thread would help matters. It certainly helps when quilting.

Queeniepatch said...

Yes, I think the thread will twist less if you thread the needle with the end that comes off the skein or reel.

Queeniepatch said...

Most (cotton embroidery) treads have an S-twist.

Queeniepatch said...

Yes, TAST goes on, forever, I hope. Sharon has a lot of stitches to teach us!

Queeniepatch said...

No, Claudia. This is a very SIMPLE sampler!

I love the garland look, and if you check out what Chitra (http://jizee6687.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/tast-2013-7-55-buttonholed-herringbone-3/) has done with the stitch you'll get a lot of inspiration.
It does need a lot of control to avoid the curls, though.

Séverine said...

Your sample is very lovely and thaank you for the tips.

Queeniepatch said...

I am looking forward to your work, once you have finished.
We all stitch in different ways and I found out that I often 'play' with the needle and rolled it between min fingers, restlessness?, and then saw that the twist got worse or better. Now it is easy to feel how much I need to roll the needle.

Lins Artyblobs said...

Guess I should have read your tips before stitching my buttonholed herringbone, but thanks for the tips and links.

carorose said...

That is a lovely sampler.
I didn't have any trouble with the buttonholed herringbone but then my thread had a low twist. I had unravelled a thread and I must have done away with the twist. Also the distance between each loop was only .5cm which didn't give it time to get out of line. It was rather similar to the Beaded Hedego
Edge Stitch but I think I like it better.

Queeniepatch said...

I guess that the longer the Herringbone stitch is and the more Buttonhole stitches you can add to the bar, the more the thread will twist. The loop on the Hedebo stitch is made differently and I always forget so have to check it out before I start. The Buttonhole loop is very straight forward and I like them both.

Queeniepatch said...

Not at all!

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you. I hope the tip was useful.

Annet said...

Such nice samples! I'm also behind on TAST and blog reading. But I had a nice creative day. I'm glad I'm not the only one with the twisting problem. I always dangle my thread, because somehow I keep forgetting which way to twist back!

Claudia said...

Yes, Chitra offers a lot of inspiration. But the garland in your last row is perfectly stitched.I think success also depends on how many buttonhole stitches you make. I keep on struggling :-)

Queeniepatch said...

I used to dangle my threads, too. Then I started rolling the needle 'automatically'. When I am going the wrong way, the thread will 'tell' me.

Queeniepatch said...

How true! Tension and how tightly we pack the buttonhole stitches can make the garland look wobbly.

cathy at potterjotter said...

Oh Wow! I just did some embroidery on a quilt I made and I hadn't embroidered for years! Yours is just stunning. Beautiful work. xCathy

crazyQstitcher said...

I've not seen this sample of stitches before. They are fantastic.