Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 201: Italian Knot Stitch

India is a country with a wealth of interesting embroidery stitches, and it was on an Indian blog I found todays beautiful stitch called Italian Knot Stitch! Where it originates from, and if there is another name seems to be a mystery.

Anyway you can read about that and find Anita's excellent photo tutorial at Artistic Fingers,

and here is my try. Just follow the pictures.

Then, repeat in the same way for the second stitch, and so on.

Homework:

Play around with the three samplers.

Friday Revision Homework - Stitches 196 - 200

I used these five stitches to make a bedroom scene, but it is not a romantic setting. 

No, poor Sunbonnet Sue got infected with the Omicron variant of Covid, so she is recuperating at home while being in total isolation. 

What's the best thing to do? Sleep it off? 

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Sue!

WIPW - Various Gifts

Work In Progress Wednesday will show you that I've had a busy and creative week.

First there is the 

Elephant Toy

mentioned in last week's WIPW post.

Ever since I first saw the design by Hillary Lang, in Joelle Hoverson's  'Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted  Gifts' I have wanted to make this charming stuffed toy.

Alas, although I followed the instructions to a T, my elephant looks a bit chubbier and the trunk seems shorter than the elephant pictured in the book, so I am a little bit disappointed. My animal is charming, I will give you that, but I will try the design again and hope for a better result.

Coasters

The same book inspired me to make five simple coasters, and here I am very pleased with the result.

I made use of what was left of a charm pack of William Morris' quilting fabric.

Greeting Cards

While the sewing machine was out (it usually has to be stored away in a cupboard) I used up some pieces of scrap fabric, and made two birthday cards.

Velveteen Cushion

Some more floral embroidery in metallic thread was added to the cushion.

Sunday Stitch School Stitch Sampler 

I started filling the void around the oval shapes with various crosses. #3 Cross Stitch, #79 Crown Stitch and a few #128 Four-Legged Cross stitches.

 

Sunday Stitch School - Revision Stitches: 196 - 200

Let's take some time to revise these stitches:

196 Square Knot Drizzle Stitch

Similar to other Drizzle stitches this one looks different back and front.

197 German Blanket Stitch

Another member of the Buttonhole family, well worth learning. It is a bit more unruly than its sibling, the Knotted Buttonhole Stitch, but perfectly charming. 

198 Whipped Wheatear Stitch

A romantic wheatear with hearts in the middle!

199 Up and Down Flower Stitch

Greetings from India. Another beautiful floral stitch. You do need time though, and a long thread.

200 Chained Pekinese Stitch

Here is another of Sharon Boggon's beautiful stitches. Great for using unusual or troublesome threads in the lacing.

Homework: 

Let Sunbonnet Sue illustrate the times with these five stitches.

Friday Homework for Lesson 200: Chained Pekinese Stitch

Fast and fun, here is a great way to make a nice embroidered border.

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth

 

WIPW - Waste Canvas to the Rescue

Work In Progress Wednesday.

I continued work on the 

Sunday Stitch School Stitch Sampler

by adding #14 Norwich Stitch,  #108 Crow's Foot Stitch, #127 Amadeus Stitch to go with the Walneto Stitch I worked last week.

Waste canvas was a great help to make the stitches even.

Velveteen Cushion

Recently Shami of My Craft Works made a Herringbone Video Tutorial. Please have a look, Shami makes such great tutorials and videos, well worth checking out.

This video inspired me to make some leaves and flower buds.

A Stuffed Elephant Without the Stuffing

I also started making a stuffed toy elephant for a little boy. Alas I have run out of wadding to stuff it with. The shapeless elephant body, like a punctured balloon, is a somewhat sad sight. Therefore I will post a picture when the animal has been well fed with fluffy stuff.

Hopefully by next WIPW report he has gained enough weight, or volume in any case.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 200: Chained Pekinese Stitch

Today we have reached stitch #200! 

In honour of this, I want to use a stitch created by Sharon Boggon of Pintangle. I am forever grateful for all the information, inspiration and motivation she has given me on my journey into the world of hand embroidery stitches. Without her online TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) stitch challenge I would not have come as far as I have. 

Today's stitch is taken from Sharon's excellent book Creative Stitches for Contemporary Embroidery. It's an excellent collection of stitches, with great tutorials and plenty of inspirational samples.

The stitch is called Chained Pekinese Stitch.

As for the standard Pekinese Stitch, here you will need a line of even Back Stitch. You also need, a little below that line, a small vertical Straight Stitch placed at the joint of each Back Stitch.

It's easy to do, and the result will look a million dollars.

Work it like this:

For the lacing part, be sure to use a blunt tipped 

needle, and for nice contrast, a different thread.

Without biting any of the fabric,

lace the thread this way:

 

When you come to the end of the line,

lace the last Back Stitch,

and then anchor at its base.

Homework:

Add to these samplers.

.

 

Friday Homework for Lesson 199: Up and Down Flower Stitch

Friday, nay, SATURDAY homework for Lesson 199 would be more correct. Life did not want to me hand in my homework yesterday, and that is why I am one day late.

Mottled Tweed Scribble Cloth

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Each one certainly looks different from the others!

WIPW - Hina

This Work In Progress Wednesday report includes the annual Hina project.

HINA 

The Hina Matsuri, or Dolls' Festival, is held every year on March 3rd to celebrate girls in the household. There are different types of dolls, the most elaborate of them are the Japanese Emperor and Empress in Heian Era costumes.

I found a very long article, but with plenty of good photographs to look at here.

For about 20 years I have been making soft dolls and ornaments annually for a mobile display called Hina no Tsurushikazari or Hanging Hina Dolls.

I made these three for 2022:

There is an incense bag, a peace dove and a baby's bib.

There are now 87 ornaments on my mobile.

You can see pictures of the other ornaments here at HINA.

Sunday Stitch School Stitch Sampler

I only had time to make one stitch, #183 Walnut Stitch. I had to use waste canvas (which is still not removed) to make even stitches. There is preparation for three other stitches where waste canvas is needed. More on them next week.

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

I finally hemmed down the binding and put up the sampler for display in a corridor.

Many people who pass by stop to look and ask questions. There are quite a lot of dimensional stitches and this sampler is really being 'fingered'. This is absolutely OK with me.

Velveteen Cushion

More embroidery was added.

Glove Stitch, Stem Stitch, Whipped Running Stitch and Feather Stitch.