Sunday, 9 March 2025

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 316: Detached Wheatear Stitch



Welcome back to one more set of five new stitches. 

The first one is what you get if you work an individual section of a stitch that is usually worked in a line or group with others of the same sort. So stitch a single Wheatear Stitch and you have the Detached Wheatear Stitch.

I found it at Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials where there is a video.

Here are my photo instructions:









Homework:
Add here:


Friday, 7 March 2025

Friday Reviosion Homework - Stitches 311 - 315

When I work the Sunbonnet Sue illustration for the revision homework, I usually stitch the outlines with Stem Stitch and use the five homework stitches for the actual picture, for example, the texture of Sunbonnet Sue's clothes and her hair.

Stem Stitch is an easy and quick stitch and one of my favourites. For this Sunbonnet Sue picture, I wanted to outline everything with Split Stitch as it was one of the five set stitches. 

Ha! It took MUCH longer than I had expected to work the illustration this way. There are also a lot of lines in this particular picture. Anyway, here she finally is:






Instead of a sunbonnet it is a camera that obscures her face. It also tells you that my Sunbonnet Sue is a photographer. More on her story in future blogposts.


Wednesday, 5 March 2025

WIPW - 300

 Work In Progress Wednesday reports:


I have spent some time on darning and repairing clothes and household linen. My workbasket had been full for a long time, and I just had to deal with it.

There was also Sunday Stitch School's revision homework that I did not manage to complete last week, if you remember,  and I am happy to say I can hand in the completed Sunbonnet Sue on Friday.

These are my excuses for only having 


Hexablooms

to report on in this WIPWs report. 

I stitched another ten hexagon flowers. How many are there now in total? 

300! Yes, I have reached 300! Only 77 more to make, which means eight more weeks if I can keep up the pace.



Friday, 28 February 2025

Friday Revision Homework - Delayed

 It was my plan to have the new Sunbonnet Sue illustration ready to show today. 

The Split Stitch, which I used for the outline, took considerably longer than anticipated to complete. 


On top of that, Life got in the way and set me moonlighting as Florence Nightingale. 

I am sure I will have the picture completed by next Friday. 

This also means that there is no new stitch on Sunday.




Wednesday, 26 February 2025

WIPW - The First Bookmark

Here is another Work In Progress Wednesday report:


Hexablooms

I made the allocated set of 10 hexagon flowers. Totally I have 290 blocks now.



Birthday Present

The first bookmark I made as a birthday present (I have made two so far) can now be shown on my blog because the gift has been opened on the other side of the Globe.

The embroidery is based on a flower sewn on the apron of a folk costume from the mid-east area of Sweden. I love the folksy style.



Birthday Card

I also had to send a birthday card to my aunt, on her 99th birthday.
It was a long time since I used silk ribbon for embroidery and I had to look up the basic Ribbon Embroidery Stitch.



 

Sunday, 23 February 2025

Sunday Stitch School - Revision: Stitches 311 - 315

 Sue! Sunbonnet Sue! Wake up! It is time for a review of the five most recent Sunday Stitch School's stitches. Sue, you have to tell us another story from your life! You know it is the homework!


First, let's have a look at the five stitches.

Click on the title to see the stitch instructions for each stitch.

311 Seed Stitch







313 Darning Stitch



314 Split Stitch




315 Threaded Detached Chain Stitch



Homework: Make a Sunbonnet Sue illustration.











Friday, 21 February 2025

Friday Homework for Lesson 315: Threaded Detached Chain Stitch

Threaded Detached Chain Stitch - this was a stitch where I had the opportunity to use some of my tricky types of thread. 


Here you can see a knobbly cotton thread, a line of synthetic (polyester?) with small hairy parts and a length of ribbon for embroidery.




They were perfect for the Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth. 

Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth



Notice how different the various threads make the stitch line look.


Aida Sampler


This looks neat and tidy.


Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart


I think the Threaded Detached Chain Stitch takes a gentle curve quite well.

Wednesday, 19 February 2025

WIPW - 3 x Coasters

 It is time for another Work In Progress Wednesday report.


Hexablooms

Once again, I was lucky enough to find the time to make the planned ten hexagon flowerets.

My collection now holds 280.





Birthday Gift

I made a set of three double-sided hexagon flower coasters. The cardboard I do my English Paper Piecing over is still inside, which makes the coasters stiff and stable. On the downside is that they can not be washed...





Actually, this means I made 16 hexablooms this week!


Bookmarks

I continued work on the first bookmark and completed it.

First, I stretched the linen under a wet cloth, then trimmed the top and bottom to get a fringe. 

Finally, I fused a piece of felt onto the back. 

The present is gift wrapped and on its way to the recipient.

I will show a picture of the whole bookmark once the present has been opened.


Sunday, 16 February 2025

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 315: Threaded Detached Chain Stitch

Here is a stitch from the Chain Stitch family. Detached Chain, or Lazy Daisy as it is also called, is often used for flower buds or together with other stitches to make decorative Crazy Quilt seams.

The stitch we are learning today is based on these individual Chain stitches, but when they are threaded, they make a nice and structured linear stitch.

The threading can be done with a variety of 'difficult' threads like metallic, chenille, knobbly or very fibrous types.

I found the instructions in Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches and in Reader's Digest Complete Book of Embroidery.

Here is a photo tutorial:












Homework: Add to the three samplers










Friday, 14 February 2025

Friday Homework for Lesson 314: Split Stitch

The Split Stitch is easy, but you need to pay attention so you really split the stitch. It takes a bit more time than, for example, the Stem Stitch.


Aida Sampler



Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart



Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth



Wednesday, 12 February 2025

WIPW - The Second Bookmark

 This is the Work In Progress Wednesday report for February 12.


Hexablooms

I completed ten more hexagon flowers and now have 270 in my collection.



Bookmark

The stitching on the second bookmark is now finished. Here is the reverse, as you can see the embroidery is done in Cross Stitch. Those with trained eyes can guess the pattern...



I will remove the support fabric and move it to the place where the third bookmark will be stitched.


Tuesday, 11 February 2025

Hina 2025

Next month,  Hina Matsuri or Doll Festival or Girls' Festival, will be held on March 3rd as usual. It is a festival when families celebrate their daughters by displaying Hina dolls depicting the Imperial couple in costumes from the Heian Era. The dolls are on show from about a month before up to the 3rd of March.

Read more about this festival and look at some photos here.

Instead of the dolls seen in the link, I have a mobile with hanging ornaments of stuffed dolls and crepe silk (chirimen) objects. This type of Hina decorations originate in Inatori, Yanagawa and Sakai cities.



By clicking on HINA in the tabs above, you can see and read more about my Hina doll mobile and the ornaments.

Every year, I make three new items. These are for 2025:


Top left: an open Physalis,  top right: three rings, bottom: a flower.



There are now 97 ornaments. Next year, I will reach the 100-item mark!!!