Silk Scene Foxgloves

I've been procrastinating continuing on the Silk Scene....a lovely Block of the Month quilt caught my attention as I stitched blocks on my wonderful, old Featherweight. Back to the project at hand: what to stitch next on the Scene. I had planned to stitch something in front of the wall. Foxgloves are tall, colorful and (I thought) easy to do, at least they looked easy in the instruction books: two colors of silk ribbon on top of each other.

First step: put the stalks in with variegated silk buttonhole twist courtesy of Treenway Silks, each a long straight stitch that eventually gets tacked down. Then little Japanese Ribbon Stitch leaves in 4mm ribbon, again from Treenway. You'll notice I put two stalks behind the wall to suggest more perspective as though the flowers were planted around both sides of the wall.

I selected colors that would blend with the roses and the background fabric shading, one light for underneath and one darker for the final stitch, both in 7mm ribbon from my stash. The first, lighter color is a puffy straight stitch. That was easy to do.

I completed the second color (not shown here) but decided the entire stalk of flowers was way too big for the Scene. Way out of proportion...so I carefully snipped the Big Foxgloves out of the scene and started again with 4mm ribbons. The second stitch (Japanese Ribbon Stitch) was not as easy because it has to be to be centered over the first stitch. And the first stitch has to be mashed down slightly to create a "puff" of color below the second color. My first attempt at this technique was just okay (see below) but I got a little better as I went along. 

The result (above) was much better in proportion! The second color is a darker one done with a Japanese Ribbon Stitch. It's shorter than the lighter one so the light color peaks out below. I used some different color combinations for some of the stalks to look more realistic. Notice the smaller buds ascending the stalk (little straight stitches) with green unopened ones at the top (more silk cord for those in a tiny Lazy Daisy stitch). Every now and then I purposefully pierced the stalk to help hold it in place, and when needed, I couched the stalk.

I like this much better with the smaller 4mm ribbons! Love the sun grazing the surface, too, in the photo.

Here's the big picture...I like the result and learned something new in the process.

Silk Scene Iris

I'm back from the Smocking Arts Guild of America National Convention in Dallas...It was wonderful! Love seeing all my stitching friends and meeting new ones. But now I'm back at the stitching table working on the Silk Scene. I moved the iris from the right side of the original drawing to near the wall. Iris are fun to stitch in silk ribbon: they're easy. Each flower is a Lazy Daisy stitch and 3 Japanese Ribbon Stitches on top of a stalk. Then add straight stitch leaves at the bottom.

Long stalks are in Treenway Montano Silk Cord in Cedar, one strand for each stem and a long straight stitch. I used a solid 7mm white ribbon (from my stash) for Lazy Daisy Stitch iris tops, or "standards" (the technical term). Then Treenway Silks 7mm Montano Silk Ribbon in Daffodil, lovely variations of cream to a deep yellow, for the "Falls" in the Japanese Ribbon Stitch. Last but not least, some 2mm pale yellow ribbon again from my stash for a straight stitch "Beard" on each "Fall" (which you can see in the last photo).

Then I added straight stitch leaves in 3.5mm Treenway Montano in Spring Green. To add dimension I twisted a few of the leaves and positioned them lower and at different places to make the iris look taller and more realistic.

Next will be a "tree" next to the wall using twisted bunches of thread to assimilate the bark with leaves on the branches. 

Silk Scene Begins

It's begun...the all-consuming silk ribbon embroidery scene project.  I fell asleep dreaming about where to begin, and after thinking and reading up on these things I decided starting in the background is the best approach. I wanted a tree in the background and thought of a dogwood, a few of which we have in our yard. I've never been able to get a pink dogwood to grow so I figured I could at least stitch one.

First start: the tree itself without any leaves or flowers. I drew one in my notebook sketch to get an idea of size, proportion, etc., then drew it lightly in 0.5mm pencil on the silk. Again, reading up in a book by Ann Cox (Silk Ribbon Embroidery Designs & Techniques) I followed her idea of several types of threads twisted together to form the trunk. The photo below shows brown silk buttonhole twist, 3 colors of DMC cotton floss (browns), and 2 colors of YLI silk floss (brown and black), mostly using 1-2 strands of each one.

I used some of the cotton floss to couch down the threads at whatever interval I thought was necessary. Then I separated into three groups of threads to start the branches after making the trunk. And those were separated even more to make smaller branches.

Here's the final version...a little rough looking up close, but will be covered with flowers and leaves to fill it out. Notice the shading on the tree left in darker threads and some on the right branch bottom. 

Two millimeter pink/peach silk ribbon made perfect little flowers in French Knots. Easy to do and quick. Then I added little tiny Lazy Daisy stitches in one strand of green DMC floche, a slightly thicker thread (actually the thickness of 2 strands of cotton floss). 

I like the result. Then to add perspective, a little grass in 2 shades of floss and variegated silk cord, then little tiny Lazy Daisy stitches in a darker green floss around the base of the tree (again only one strand of each).

You ask: what is that other green stuff?  Well, it's another trick to add perspective to this scene. Working from the "wall" I added an edge-dyed 7mm ribbon along a line I drew to suggest a horizon line of sorts, again, another technique suggested by Ann Cox. I have never used this so I figured it would be worth a try. Thread a large chenille (usually an #18 with 7mm) with the ribbon and come to the right side where the wall begins. Then thread another chenille (probably a #22) with variegated silk cord from Treenway Silks.

Using straight and fly stitches I tacked and gathered the ribbon down along the drawn line, then followed with a stem stitch on that same line. Go back down on the completed line with both ribbon and thread and tie off.

Here's the finished product of a day's work so far.  

Not sure what I will tackle next, but tomorrow is another day.....

Feather Stitch

One of my favorite hand stitches is the Feather Stitch. I think it's beautiful, unusual and fun to do....but many people don't like it, or they are very hesitant to try it.

Feather Stitch adds an elegant touch to baby clothes, on borders (above or right on the border) and even in smocking. In the photo at right the bottom smocking row is Single Feather Stitch worked horizontally in variegated thread. There are also a multitude of variations found in Crazy Quilts. 

This photo (right) shows a Triple Feather Stitch in the peach colored floss with added lazy daisy stitches. This is part of a Dresden Plate crazy quilt that I made years ago.


Here is another example of Triple Feather Stitch going around two sides of the blue patch. Isn't the variegated thread gorgeous? Feather Stitch is just the perfect stitch and it's particularly beautiful in variegated thread that has short colorways to show off the changes in color. Look at the Silk Ribbon Roll-Up below to see the variegated thread I used that's from Treenway Silks...it's the Montano "St Thomas" color silk cord. Absolutely gorgeous stuff to work with!

The terms for different Feather Stitches can get a little confusing: Single Feather Stitch, Double Feather Stitch, Triple... The Single Feather stitch looks like two rows of Feather Stitch because it's alternating "U's", one on the left and one on the right as the stitch is worked down a line. So why wouldn't it be called a Double Feather Stitch? Well, if one did a single row of "U's" down a line it would be an open chain stitch. Historically it was called a Coral Stitch...yup, that's right. If you look at page 19 of the Encyclopedia of Needlework by Therese De Dillmont, it states that figure 46 (what we know as a feather stitch) "illustrates single coral stitch, worked vertically". To make it even more interesting, Carole Samples, in her incredible tome entitled Treasury of Crazy Quilt Stitches, has done an amazing study on it. Chapter Two of her book starts off with "Demystifying the feather stitches, or, a blanket stitch by any other name....". Indeed, the feather stitch is just a morphed version of the blanket stitch.
Enough history for now! So where do I use Feather Stitch? Right now I'm working on a boy's christening gown and am using the Single Feather Stitch in the main motif of the Infinity symbol. It circles the skirt and is on the bodice and sleeves, along with a very unusual treatment using "trailing" bullions (a technique I saw on an antique christening gown) that completes the infinity motif. I'm using DMC Cotton Floche and working "in-hand" (not using a hoop). Love the floche! So soft, thicker than floss, and works up beautifully in feather stitch and bullions (to name a few stitches).So here's how to do a Single feather Stitch.....