Fabric test: linen

With the transfer ironed onto the right side of the natural linen, I can get straight on with couching the gold thread. I put the linen into a hoop to work; I generally prefer frames, but this is quite a small piece and a hoop is more convenient.

One gold passing thread is couched down with a gold-coloured sewing thread, and is stitched directly over the transfer lines.

I'd intended to use a single length of the thread directly off the spool for this, to minimise starting and finishing off of ends, but I ran out of the thread on the spool I was using and so had to finish it off part way through and start a new one anyway. The best laid plans!

Here's the finished item:

It looks pretty good, though something that hasn't really shown up in the photo is that you can see blue through the lattice of threads in the centre, where the transfer is showing through. Also, despite my best efforts to stitch precisely over them, the transfer lines are also visible in some places. In a piece that can be washed that's not a problem as the transfer will just wash out, but with something that can't, such as this, it's a bit more of an issue.

I've gone down with s streaming cold, so the silk matka test is going to have to wait until I'm feeling a bit better. I always get two colds a year, one in the spring and one in the autumn, so this is right on schedule. I just wish I could say the same about the spring!