More Done

I won’t go into a discussion of the stitches used, unless someone wants to ask a question about how something was made.
It’s really starting to come together. I think the use of the DMC and perle thread (fairly flat) looks really good against the dimensionality of the flowers.


Of course, the photos don’t show the dimensionality. I’ll have to do a few shots from the side.
Pity that second picture is a bit fuzzy – it shows the colours well.
My favourite new bits are the copper pansy, and the yellow/purple pansy bud (near bottom, left – the one opposite it is a rose bud)

Dupion Silk Supplier

Pearsalls, (yes Pearsall Silks) has 30cm by 30cm (um, 12" square) pieces of Dupion Silk for 2 pounds.

I've not seen it 'in the flesh', so's to speak - just found the page yesterday.

http://www.pearsallsembroidery.com/index.php?cPath=57_60&osCsid=cd0f743d254d968fc971c32b210934d8

Shipping is

Prices for UK delivery are:
Up to 150g: £1.75
Up to 500g: £3.00
Up to 1kg: £5.20
Up to 2kg: £8.50

Prices for EU member country delivery are:
Up to 150g: £3.75
Up to 500g: £6.00
Up to 1kg: £9.20
Up to 2kg: £15.50

Prices for delivery to countries in the rest of the world are:
Up to 150g: £5.00 ($US8)
Up to 500g: £9.00
Up to 1kg: £15.00
Up to 2kg: £25.00

You'd be able to get several pieces in 150g. (They'd know how many).

They have a nice range of colours. 12" is a good size - they do have larger sizes as well.

I can see myself having a Pearsalls Silk Dupion splurge at some point......(as well as my Silk wrapped Purl, and Rennaissance Threads, and French Wired Ribbons and Silk Mill silk splurges).

An Eye

I know I've seen eyes used as motifs in Elizabethan embroidery. I've just had a bit of a google but couldn't find anything to back up my memories.

Anyway, what inspired me to do this was finding this image :


at http://theglasspingle.blogspot.com/2010/07/ghosts-of-winter.html

If you were to embroider an eye, wouldn't this be a fabulous one to do? I'd use rice pearls rather than those flat ended beads tho on the lid - same as used on the bottom line of the eye. Or leave them off entirely and use 'feathering' - multiple threads of different colours....

Exctly *how* the 3D shaping of the upper lid is another question. A shape edged with strong wire and then twisted? (The brown being a seperate layer underneath = or is that the underside of a layer and it's double sided? It's hard to tell if the brown is flat against the eye, or sloping up).

And I think there might actually be two layers, one pointed, one curved - looking at the left hand extremity of the eye.

The Colour Purple

At http://www.mrxstitch.com/2010/10/13/needle-exchange-stay-gold-part-iii/
(an entry/series worth reading!) there's a photograph of a goldwork beetle. (Needlework News featured the site today)

This beetle looks to have a ground that is exactly the same silk I'm working on.

But it's a better photo (I'm terrible at photography!) so I thought I'd show it. Thankyou Scrappie Annie (the artist) and Mr X, (for showing the photo) :-

About half way down is the true colour.

I've also fixed the second vintage rose's black thread web lines from showing.

Instead of re-doing it, I used tweezers and nails to manipulate the ribbon to hide the thread, and put in a single tiny stitch to hold the ribbon in place.

Thankyou for the sweet comments on my last post :-)

A Start Made

The skeletal stems are done, obviously. Whipped straight stitch for the main one (with all the curvy bits) and stem stitch for the other two, in 4mm ribbon.
Area done so far in close up…..

The two roses are on – the one I showed in the last post

and the new one I’ve just done



I really really love the second one (I like the first one too). The second was very easy, and done in Hanah hand dyed ribbons – a folded centre then spider webbing. The colours are so soft and vintage. (Pattern from A-Z Ribbon Work).
I over’ed when I should have under’ed, so have a black thread visible on the right, so I’ll have to unwind it and re-do it,
And the pansies are working well. Easy, but fiddly. Rayon bright yellow for the centres.
The green wired ombre ribbon from Vintage Vogue is magnificent. I’ve put in heaps of leaves, and intend to do lots more like that. I’ve put in another order to Vintage Vogue, and want to buy all Janet Stauffacher’s colours in 5/8” and 1”. They are only $2/yard. Their gloss just stands out so much – wonderful ribbon.
(so there’s the Vintage Vogue ribbons, and Rennaissance Wool I want to buy…… plus a few from Silk Mill……perhaps I should go buy a lottery ticket)
I’ve had viral and bacterial bronchitis for the last 5 weeks, so have been doing just one leaf or flower every few days.
I haven’t fixed the lacing yet. That’s too much like hard work in my current condition. But I will do it – hopefully before I progress too much futher. At least most things at attached at a single point, rather than being lines of stitching on the ground.
As Mary Corbet said – one of the good things about ribbonwork is the you can achieve a lot of affect for relatively little effort. :-)
The top has yet to be filled in, and all the leaves and pansies and buds further down the stalks…….