This is my personal blog, that is geared towards stitchery: embroidery, counted cross-stitch, smocking, tatting, and beading. I love all things having to do with these things and I love sharing my projects. I have been busy for the past few weeks. I finished a smocked dress, I finished a wedding gown, and I am in the middle of what is now shaping up to be Mum's Mother's Day Present (it was supposed to be her Christmas present, but that didn't work out like I wanted it to).
The pattern is called Rosa and it is from Design Works. It is a very pretty piece and it will look great with Mum's living room. *Side note: I don't ever use the threads they have included in the package. They never put enough, so I go to one of the craft stores/stitchery stores and get the colors that I don't have. Most of the legends will come with the thread colors beside the stitch. Always get 2 skeins.
That is the basic look of it and from the way it is coming together, I think it will be fairly close.
I usually start out and do one entire color all over my cloth. I call this my anchor color. This is the step that takes the longest and is the most important to do right. You have to count, recount, and recount your stitches again and again. It took me over 2 weeks and several removed rows of stitches before it was right. This is what my anchor color looks like:
Normally, I choose the color that has the most OVERALL presence on the project. On this project, it just happened to be a light green color.
The next color is a very dark green and it looks wonderful! This color had to be treated just as carefully as the original. This is because it is still somewhat of an anchor color too and it was a base on a large portion of the project as well.
I usually work by quadrants and this is what I call quadrant 1 (Q1). It makes it easier and if something happens and it gets messed up a little bit, I don't have to worry about pulling everything out of the entire fabric. It's just once quadrant. As you can see, Q1 is coming together and it is starting to look like what I thought it would.
After this, I started working on the pinks. The pinks kind of irritated me...I don't know why. I think because I am not really a pink person. Either way, the pinks were next. There were 2 of the pink colors: a light pink and a darker pink. Both looked really good and while they really looked like a pretty little rosebud after they were done.
This is the dark pink. If you look on the lowest row, you will see 2 pink buds and a dark green. I didn't mean to do that bud in dark green. After I started working on it, I realized that once I put the other color with it, then it would look like a rosebud instead of just a mis-sew (See what I mean by you have to be super careful).
This is after the light pink has been added. They look good and I am pleased with them.
After this, came the peach color of the woman's skin. There are two peach colors. One is a light peach to mimic the skin and the other is a dark peach to mimic the shadows. These are pretty much cross stitches in a straight line. They are really nice to do when you need to take your mind off something.
I want to apologize for the rings you see there. My frame left that behind. This is a picture of the light peach and the dark peach. The dark peach is on the bottom of what will be the arm.
This is a picture of Q1 when it is finished. The woman's hair is a brown/eggplant type of color. I will try to get a better picture of it, but that is the best description I can come up with.
I use a frame to hold my fabric in place. It's easier for me and I feel as though it helps me keep my stitches neater. When I sew, I have to have something to keep my mind zoned out. I plan my stitches before hand and I start sewing. I have always loved the "Harry Potter" books and movies. I started watching the series, in order, when I started this project. I can't tell you how many times I have watched the movies. I know the lines heart by heart. I also don't sew when I am really tired. I found I make mistakes much easier this way and my stitches don't look as good. I am working on the second quadrant right now (Q2) and it has a lot of the peach on it, so it gets a little bit monotonous at times.
*Tip: When threading your needle, take a small amount of water/saliva, wet your forefinger and thumb,and run it down the length of the thread. This will help cut down on the amount of curling and it helps you to lay your stitches a little bit straighter.
*Tip: For a little bit of a dimensional effect, use more or less threads. For the flowers and eventually for the dress, I am used 2 threads doubled over instead of 1 doubled over. This gives it a slightly raised, dimensional effect for the piece and it looks good too.
I hope you enjoy stitching and as always, feedback is welcome. If you have any questions about anything stitchery related, feel free to ask.
