MooshieStitch Monday: Goldwork Daisy Part 2

In case you missed it, check out Part One of my Goldwork Daisy series.

Next up will be couching the flower stem with gold Japanese thread and leaves with silver Rococco thread.

Todays' post will be what I learned from the following video:

Part 4: Couching Gold Threads

Here is a photo of the Japanese thread that was included in the daisy kit and the sewing thread I used to couch it.

The Japanese thread has a main thread core with a metal foil wrapped around it - which will unwrap at the ends if you are not too careful! Click here for more information on Japanese threads.

To stitch the stem of the flower, you couch down two gold Jap threads at a time. You want to cut them longer than the length you need because to finish off the ends, you will be "plunging" the thread through the fabric to the back....

See the photo below - I left a lot of length on my ends, which Sarah explains in the video is good for beginners until you get used to it.

Let me just say as a goldwork newbie, plunging the threads is so intimidating at first! I watched the video over and over again before I attempted it. Sarah shows the lasso technique on how to plunge the threads through the fabric - and I highly suggest watching the video to see it done if you are unfamiliar (skip to minute 12:30 to jump right to the plunging!)

Here are my first few threads of the stem after plunging on the front side...

My first thread I accidentally pulled through too far and it came out of the couching on the other end! After a mild panic attack - I very gently pulled it back through to the front - but it was no longer couched at the bottom. So when I eventually added my next rows of Jap threads, I added a couple couching stitches to fix the mistake.

Once you pull them through to the back of the fabric, you need to then stitch down the ends and trim them up. Here is so far what the back looked like.

I then needed to repeat those steps of couching down additional threads to fill the entire stem. You will see below I left very long end tails to plunge to the back.

Here is the stem complete and the ends plunged and finished!

Next was couching silver plated Rococco thread with a silver colored sewing thread for the leaves.

The Rococco thread is very different from the Japanese thread. It is like a thin metal wire wrapped around a main thread core, has a wavy appearance, and is more stiff. (More on Rococco threads here)

Again, I left long ends of thread for plunging. I found Rococco to be more difficult to plunge also - I am guessing since it is thicker and stiffer?? I actually used a larger crewel needle to poke a hole in the fabric to make it easier to plunge the Rococco thread through.

Here is the back of the fabric after all my ends have been sewn down. I will admit this is my least favorite part of goldwork so far! I thought it would be the plunging - it does get easier each time you do it - but then having to finish off the ends on the back of the fabric - it is very time consuming! I can't imagine doing this step on large goldwork pieces ... but I understand that it needs to be done.

There you have it - my golden daisy with my first couched gold threads!

To be continued.....see you next time for Part Three ... but before you go...

This goldwork kit is the Golden Daisy by Sarah Homfray.

Be sure to check out Sarah's Instagram , subscribe to her YouTube Channel for lots of video tutorials, and go to her website where you can shop all things embroidery, including kits and supplies.

Thanks for following along!

Wonderful Wednesday 58: Bloom Threads

I am so inspired by this wonderful piece by Jackie, or Bloom Threads, as she is known on Instagram. The right side of the piece was inspired by an 18th century print of the Women's March on Versailles. Jackie paired this with the more recent Women's March, and the two together speak so eloquently to me.

Jackie says of her piece:

"The long-and-short is this... Women revolutionaries have often been devalued. They have long been told that they are shrill, irrational, misguided, and petty when they are actually the very heart of the revolution. Keep pushing forward."

Jackie is auctioning her piece this week to benefit Moms Demand Action, an organization which advocates for common sense gun laws in the U.S. Jackie has also arranged a variety of pieces from other crafters and artists, each to support the organizations of their choice, be sure to stop by #deedsandactionsauction on Instagram and see all the other auction pieces as well.

Thank you Bloom Threads, you are inspiring!

Enough

3 months ago, I said Enough. I am not naive enough to think that the simple voicing of a desire we all have will be enough to change things.

But maybe we can change things.

Maybe we can do more than offer thoughts and prayers.

Maybe we can make it harder for the same gun to cause the same tragedies, over and over again.

Until that change happens, I will post this plea in remembrance of all the lives we've lost.

Yesterday, in a high school, 17 lives were taken, many injured, and so many were living in fear on a day which signified at once to the world, a time of love, and a time of remembrance that we are all but dust.

Enough.

Stitchy Snippets - Carpeting Landscapes

“It’s hard for people to understand that a rug can be art, but maybe that’s changing.” says Alexandra Kehayoglou who crafts beautiful landscapes into rugs! With a long family heritage of carpet making, Alexandra has forged her own unique style of rug making over the last ten years.

Surrounded by artisans throughout her childhood, Alexandra clearly garnered an abundance of knowledge whilst growing up amongst the family business. Her studio is based alongside the family carpet factory, El Espartano, where she spends weeks and months hand crafting her 'grassland rugs'. Created entirely from discarded textiles from her family's factory, these sustainable artworks have adorned galleries, fashion shows and luxury department store, Hermès.

Nature and its fragility is key to her work. "I feel I have a purpose to weave more greenery as a reaction to the gradual disappearance of our natural world" she explains. "Nature, and how to introduce that into artificial spaces, was always my starting point."

These rich tapestries lie between function and art and are so intricately constructed while inviting and cosy. "Being touched, walked on and dirtied, brings the works to life. The work then tells a story ... rather than serving purely as a decorative object." Alexandra states "I love that my rugs become a register of lives lived."

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Winner in the Reader Feedback Giveaway!

Thank you to all who left comments on our Reader Feedback post! It sounds like most of you love what we're doing already, many thanks from me and our volunteer bloggers for that!

One of the main things I heard was a desire for stitchalongs... so I started planning a stitchalong which I'll be unveiling to you all near the end of the month, stay tuned for that!

And now, our winner is:

Athena (Tina) Sheppard • 13 days ago

Hay! I hope that you all have a wonderful new year. Thank you first of all for your wonderful blog. I love learning new and wonderful things. I would love to see some Stitchalongs with wonderful tutorials to go with. However I enjoy reading book reviews as well. Please keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing what is in store for us in the future.

Tina chose Rebecca Ringquist’s Embroidery Workshops: A Bend-the-Rules Primer, a very lovely looking book, which you might want to check out as well:

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews on Feeling Stitchy. This Reader Feedback Giveaway was funded from our Amazon account.


You all had so many good book suggestions that I put them all into an Amazon list, please explore : http://a.co/b1oYjDp

MooshieStitch Monday: Goldwork Daisy Part 1

My goal this year is to learn a new embroidery technique and one that has been on my mind for quite some time now is goldwork. I thought it would be fun to document my experience learning the new technique - so this post is Part One of my goldwork series.

I started to search online for beginners goldwork embroidery kits and came across Sarah Homfray's website. I decided to purchase her Golden Daisy kit because: a) it was affordable and included most of the materials I needed, b) it was a beginner level kit and c) she has YouTube instructional videos on how to stitch the daisy.

Getting started and gathering my materials:

I ordered the Goldwork Daisy Material Kit. It includes fabric with the design printed on it, backing fabric, gold threads, sewing thread, felt padding, and embroidery needles. (There are no written instructions since you will use her YouTube videos instead)

I also ordered her Goldwork Essentials Starter Set because I needed some of the tools in it like the beeswax, mellor laying tool, and scissors. Here is a photo of everything in the starter set (I forgot to include the scissors when I took the photo though).

Here is a link to all of her Golden Daisy YouTube Videos for this kit.  I watched all the videos in entirety before I began stitching - and rewatched them many times while I was in the process of stitching.

Today's post will be what I learned from the following videos:

Part 1: Introduction and Felt Padding
Part 2: Applying Pearl Purl
Part 3: Applying Bright Check Purl Chips


Let's begin Stitching!

I traced and cut the middle of the flower with tracing paper and then used that as my pattern to cut the shape out of felt.

Here is the felt padding after it was sewn to the fabric.

Next will be couching the pearl purl - which I thought was awkward at first. I think just because it was not as "bendy" as I thought it would be. It is a wire that is wound into a coil and resembles a string of pearls.

(FYI: Being a complete #goldworknewbie I had no clue what to expect from the the metal threads until I was holding them in person. For a great online reference, check out this metal thread info page.)

Here is the outline of the middle and a few of the petals with couched pearl purl. At first I was not happy because I can see some of my couching stitches on the petals, but then again, I am new and just need lots more practice! :)

My next step was to fill in the middle flower felt shape with bright check purl "chips".

The bright check purl is a more flexible hollow tube shape that has a faceted (zig-zag) surface and is shiny. You cut the thread into "chips" and couch down onto the fabric. Below is a photo of a few of my cut chips for example. (Also the scissors that came in the Goldwork Essentials Kit - they have a serrated edge meant for cutting the metal threads)

Then start to randomly couch down the chips to fill in the felt shape...

This is so far my favorite process in goldwork. It is really satisfying and almost relaxing to stitch down each chip and fill in the space! Or maybe that's just me :)

Here it is completely filled in with the chip work.

Zoomed out - here is a look at what I have completed so far!

First thoughts on goldwork:

1. I am very happy I chose Sarah's daisy kit as my first goldwork project. Her videos are excellent for a beginner - not only are they high quality videos - she explains everything so thoroughly.

2. It takes getting used to working with the metal threads. Each are so different in feel and texture.

3. I am using tools and tricks that I have never used before in my embroidery - like beeswax to coat my sewing thread (protecting it when sewing your metal threads) and also the mellor (it is really helpful to use in nudging your metal threads into place).


To be continued.....see you next time for Part Two ... but before you go...


Be sure to check out Sarah's Instagram , subscribe to her YouTube Channel for lots of video tutorials, and go to her website where you can shop all things embroidery, including kits and supplies.

Feeling Random Friday #9 with Bobbin and Fred

Happy Friday to you! I hope that you're having or have had a great day. Today I want to share with you Shannan of Bobbin and Fred. She's a needlework designer who is also a craft project designer and writer specializing in hand stitch. She makes the most beautiful needlepoint pieces. I mean, look at that gorgeous needlework craft tote/purse! She also knits, sews, and embroiders. You can find Shannan on Instagram and on her website. Here are some of my favorites from her Instagram feed. I encourage you to go check her out!

A post shared by Needlework Designer (@bobbinandfred) on Dec 23, 2017 at 9:45am PST

A post shared by Needlework Designer (@bobbinandfred) on Oct 26, 2017 at 1:54am PDT

A post shared by Needlework Designer (@bobbinandfred) on Sep 2, 2017 at 2:28am PDT

Throwback Thursday: Does Anybody Blog Anymore?

In 2007, just as Feeling Stitchy was beginning, I did a series of posts called Crafty Blog School:

The topic was relevant at the time - I remember spending HOURS combing through crafty blogs back then, finding them the old-school way, painstakingly hunting for links in Flickr profiles, and cataloging them in old-school feed readers which often went caput, taking all my joy with them.

Do you remember any of that experience, or am I getting a bit too old? :)

Anyhow, the ancient Photobucket links on my Crafty Blog School have long since expired, so I restored them to their former glory. These posts are an amusing trip back in time, to the early days of the internet, when so very few things looked polished and cool, so you could more generously appreciate the things which did. :)

All of which leaves me with a burning question:

Does anybody blog anymore?

Seriously, readers, help me out here - do you blog? Why or why not? If you did or do blog, share a link with us, so we can all stop by!