Shaded snowdrop - cutting out and making up

Having painted the pack of the finished embroidery with diluted PVA glue and left it overnight to dry, I cut out the snowdrop:

I'm getting used to dealing with the fiddly shape by now!

This time, I'm applying it to a green velvet background, for a complete contrast with the previous snowdrops.  I used one strand of the appropriate shades to stitch it down around the edges, tucking any wisps of the organza under as far as possible:

And trimmed and finished with a backing fabric, to neaten it up:

I think that's it for snowdrops for the time being, but I do thinks it's a pretty design.  It's worked well in the three different ways I've done it, and I'm sure would lend itself to other interpretations too.

White snowdrop sample - cutting out and making up

Happy holidays everyone!

I'd wanted to get this finished before the festivities and have just made it, so here we go.

You know the drill by now: I painted the back of the stitches with diluted PVA glue, and after leaving it to dry overnight, could start to cut it out:

And fully cut out, including the fiddly bits in the middle:

I think it looks pretty good against the black background, but the idea here was white-on-white, so I stitched it to a piece of white silk satin.  Pinned into position:

And stitched:

I backed this with some dove grey satin, just to neaten it up.  The finished piece:

I'm not 100% happy with how this has turned out.  The stitching gives a textured appearance which usually I like, but I think something smoother would have worked better in this case: if I was doing it again I would use satin stitch instead.  Still, that's the whole point of doing these sample pieces, to experiment and find out what works and what doesn't, so that next time I can do it better.

Maybe I should make 'try and do it better' into my resolution for 2015.  See you in the New Year!

Apple tree fire screen - applying the embroidery to the background

With the embroidery safely cut out and all in one piece, it's time to add it to the background.

I'd already got that set up and key reference points marked on the fabric to ensure I got the apple tree design on straight.  I laid the embroidery on the fabric, lining it up with the reference marks, and pinned over - not through - some of the stems to hold it in place:

I then started stitching it down, using single strands of the same shades I used for the embroidery itself.

The outer edge of the stems:

The rest of the stems:

The apples:

And finally the leaves:

Finished!  Or finished the embroidery, anyway - the last thing to do is to stretch it onto a board and put it into the fire screen itself.

Apple tree fire screen - cutting out the embroidery

Time to get out the scissors!  The reason I painted glue on the back of the stitching was so I could cut it out without the whole thing falling to bits.  Once cut out, the embroidered slip will be stitched to the background fabric.

This is the same principle as I used for the flowers on St Cuthbert's Banner, if long-time readers can remember that, though in that case there was no glue involved: I cut the flower shapes out slightly larger, so with a sort of seam allowance of linen all round, and then tucked this under as I stitched the shape down.  That was a very fiddly operation, especially as the edges of the cut linen frayed; this time, the use of the glue should make life much easier.

Or that was the theory, and I'm happy to say that it seems to be working, at least so far.  I cut the shape out as close to the embroidery as I could, using small sharp scissors.

Here it is with the fabric cut away from around the outside of the shape:

And then with all the awkward shapes on the inside also cut away:

That's just the embroidery, not supported by any fabric, and with just the thin layer of glue on the back holding it all together.  I told you I was nervous about all this - now you can see why!

It is holding together, however, so now I can stitch it to the marked-up background fabric.

Druid banner - the completed embroidery

As promised, here's a photo of the completed embroidery on the banner:

You can probably spot the pins round the edge which means it's being damp stretched and therefore I've started making it up, but I'll describe that process properly once I've got a bit further.

Druid banner - lettering: OBOD

With all the letters cut out, I can start attaching them to the fabric.

If you can remember back at the start when I ironed the transfer onto the linen used to line the top fabric, the design came out back to front, such as the letters 'OBOD' (in a Gaelic font) here:

I also said this didn't matter; the reason why not is that when I stitch over the design to mark it onto the front of the piece, it comes out the right way round:

That's a bit faint, but hopefully you can see that the letters are the mirror image of how they appear on the back.

As well as the letters, there are also a series of 'pips' around the edge, between the two sets of text.  Here are most of them, stitched on:

I'm using a proper leather needle for this; it passes through the kid much easier than a regular needle, and is far less likely to cause splitting.

And now, 'OBOD':

I think it looks good!  It could look better though, with something added...

Druid banner - appliqué trilithon

Time to start the trilithon, the 'Stonehenge' motif that forms the heart of the design.

This is appliqué, using white duchess silk satin, which has a beautiful sheen to it.  I first traced the shapes from the design drawing, and cut them out in a lightweight Vilene.  I should stress that this is not Bondaweb or any other iron-on interfacing.  I really don't like the way that makes fabric feel - it's too stiff and inflexible.

This means, though, that I have to find some way to cope with the tendency of a fabric such as the satin to fray when cut out.  This is what the Vilene (or felt, which I use for appliqué a lot) is for - I cut that to the correct size, cut the fabric out slightly larger, and fold the margin round the back of the Vilene, tacking it in place:

Here's one tacked piece and a second Vilene piece, still with the tracing paper attached:

As ever, I went over the design on the back with small running stitches to transfer it to the front fabric, as a guide for positioning:

I then stitched the first upright section into place:

And the second:

And finally the cross-piece along the top:

That's just the start, though - this now needs to be integrated into the spiral design.  That's next!

And all of the flowers on the right

Sorry for not having written in ages, but while I may not have been blogging, I have been sewing, and have applied all of the flowers to the right of the panel.

I started with the pearlworts:

Then a couple of wood avens:

Two ferns (and a stray wood aven - I forgot to take a photo of the ferns before I'd stitched it on:

A couple more wood avens and their leaves:

And finally, the last ever fern:

So that's all the appliqué done - another major milestone to cross off the list.  I can start the goldwork next, and start edging all the flowers.

The rest of the flowers on the left

I'm pressing ahead as fast as I can here, to try and get everything finished.  As such, I've got quite a lot more done, and have now added all the flowers on the left of the panel.

So, since last time, I've added a couple of ferns:

A cluster of wood avens:

Some leaves to go with them:

And one last fern on this side:

It really is starting to feel like the end is in sight now - it's getting quite exciting!

Flowers centre and left

I've been busy.  I've made a good start with getting the flowers applied to the background, starting with the cowslip in the centre:

I find it a big help to get the centre flower in first - it makes it much easier to judge the placement when I can work outwards from it.

So, using the cowslip as a baseline, as it were, I added the first few wood avens:

And then some pearlworts:

It's already coming on, isn't it!  A couple of ferns next.

Right hand side of the panel

The new boiler was installed today, which was a relief.  Hot water!  At last!

The Banner panel has also taken a step forwards, with all the flowers applied to the right-hand panel.  There were a few pearlworts:

Some wood avens:

And the very last foxglove:

Then finally the last three ferns:

So here's the panel with all the flowers in place:

Back to normal

I'm back online, I'm happy to say.  Broadband access has become such a normal part of my life that I really miss it when it's not available.  I can say the same about heating and hot water, too, which I have now been without for a week, after my ever-unreliable boiler finally broke down beyond fixing last Saturday. I'm getting a new one installed on Tuesday, which will be a relief; I'll be glad when this week is over!

All of this has been a bit distracting, but I have managed to get some sewing done, and have added all the flowers to the left hand side of the panel.

Starting with the foxglove, I added the goldwork stalk first:

Then applied the individual flowers spaced along it:

Next came three more ferns:

And a wood aven and a pearlwort:

So, here's all work on the panel so far:

A note on placement

The two panels I've done already - the bottom and left ones - while clearly similar, have obviously different designs.  The remaining two - top and right - are similar to the finished ones.  And I do want to emphasise that: similar.  The concept of the design is a scattering of wild flowers, as you might find in a meadow.  As such it needs to have a certain freedom in it, to give a naturalness to the look of the finished piece.

So, while the layout of the right and left panels are similar, they are not, and are not meant to be, symmetrical.  If the design was very controlled and demanded precise placement of its elements (as a lot of my own designs do), then I would be doing my level best to make sure that everything was placed as accurately as possible.  As it is, though, I'm not referring back to the previous panels, but continuing to place the flowers where I feel they ought to go, using the marked up design as a guide.

I thought it best to explain that before I started, in case you think I'm just being a bit slapdash with the layout!

With that out of the way, let's get down to business.  As before, I'm starting applying the flowers in the middle and working outwards to either side, so that means the cowslip is added first:

There are then a few ferns:

Then some wood avens and pearlworts:

And here's everything together:

I like this stage - things start to come together (relatively) quickly, and you can see real progress.