Life is indeed a stitch!
Berryhill Heirlooms and Susie Gay present techniques, heirloom sewing, hand embroidery and other musings. Come and join in the fun with Susie, a Home Economist, and savor a little rest from your hectic day...and yes, it's a Degree she uses every day!

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Finished UFO!

It's that time of the year, the winter months, to work on those Unfinished Objects. I worked on this wonderful shawl again while at Stitchin at the Beach 2020 in early January. It's a class I took from the EGA (Embroiderer's Guild of America) entitled "Flowers for a Fall Evening" by Kris Andrews that I've written about before. After getting back home I decided it was time to finish and get one more project out of that UFO box! Here are the final steps in this lovely, crewelwork shawl.

The last leaf which sits at the center back of the project in Appleton wools is worked in 402, 403 and 404. Long and short stitch is becoming easier for me to do, especially in wool.
The vein, in 407, covers up the void and completes the shading.

Chenille thread adds highlights and it's by The Thread Gatherer "Silken Chenille", SC060 Burnished Gold. It's variegated. (Check out their website for some gorgeous threads!) You have to work with short (12") lengths because it's fragile, using a chenille needle.
Here is the finished leaf Don't you think it's beautiful?
After pressing both the silk lining and the completed shawl it's time to pin the two right sides together. It's so long that I had to do it on the dining room table to support the fabric so it wouldn't stretch or distort. And I almost used every pin in the cup pincushion!
Next it was time to let it hang over the banister for a few days to rest.
After pressing the opening on the end to turn it through, I pinned and hand stitched it closed with a Ladder Stitch. You can't even see where it is...love that stitch!
The last step was to topstitch all around the edge so that the lining doesn't peak out. Not an easy job because the two fabrics slide against each other. So I pressed and steamed it again around the edges with a press cloth. Starting at one end, I pinned in sequence from one end up to the other...lots of pins! 
The easiest way to get a consistent, even top stitch was to use my Narrow Edge Stitch Foot: the fabric rides against the black blade (it doesn't cut) and moving the machine needle over to the left the correct distance. It was much easier to stitch and it came out perfect!

So this UFO is completed.....
except I want to add a small hand-beaded black fringe on the short ends.  
That's for another day and blog post!

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