Leaf SAL - Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch

In my last blog post which you can read here, I told you a little about my start to the leaf stitch along (part 2) that I'm doing through the Embroiderers' Guild Queensland. I've enjoyed the challenge of working with stitches that I would not normally choose. This was my progress after three weeks. You can see there's lots of stitch variety there to keep you interested. And thinking.

Each time I finished doing the pair of stitches that form 'up and down buttonhole stitch', I felt a little surprised at the result - a pair of legs tied together! Somehow it seemed almost impossible that doing one stitch 'upside down' and then pulling the thread in the opposite direction at the last minute would turn out like this.

Up and down buttonhole stitch - V shape variation

I think that name, 'up and down buttonhole', is a bit misleading because I expected alternate legs of the buttonhole-type stitch to point in opposite directions, not lie on the same side of the line that joins them, as in ordinary buttonhole shown on the left in the photos below. 

The 'up and down ' however, refers to the alternating way the needle moves through the fabric. You take one stitch downwards in the usual way for buttonhole, but for the next stitch the needle points upwards. Then pull the needle towards the top. Finally pull the thread downwards to join up with the previous stitch.

All I can say is try it. It's a magic stitch. Yvette Stanton's book, The Right-Handed Embroiderer's Companion, has good step by step instructions and a few pretty variations of the stitch too.

A number of times I found myself reverting to ordinary buttonhole stitch as my concentration wandered. And I did quite a bit of unpicking until I got into the rhythm of the stitch. Despite that, it's one of my favourite stitches so far. 

Six leaves done, four more to go to complete part 2 of the SAL.

'Till next time, stay well and happy stitching!

Leaf SAL Begins

The Embroiderers' Guild Queensland have adapted to the COVID-19 lockdown by setting up some digital classes for members while they are unable to get together. I joined the leaf stitch-along. The SAL takes the form of a colourful leaf sampler of surface stitches, offered in three separate parts, each five weeks long.  I was late in signing up, so skipped the first part and started in week six with the second set of ten leaves.  

I thought I'd aim to do twenty leaves - parts 2 and 3 of the SAL. From some scrap paper, I cut out the leaf shape and arranged 20 leaves.  This gave me an idea of how close to place them and also the size of area that would be covered by the embroidery.  

Next came the choice of colours. I was fairly certain that between the small selection of threads I have and those in the two boxes of DMC threads that were very kindly passed on to me, I would find most of the colours suggested in the SAL instructions. But I didn't.

Being in lockdown and ready to begin, I realised that I had to compromise and make do with what I did have. I started stitching but felt quite limited by the small pile of threads that matched those listed in the SAL instructions. Then I remembered Kaffe Fassett's advice 'when in doubt add more colours'. And that made the choice of colours easier. I simply added colours that would match and tone with those that I started out with.

Because I'm using an unbleached calico fabric that washes well, I settled on a blue transfer pen that should wash out easily once the embroidery is complete. I nevertheless used a very light touch when transferring the leaf shapes. And, finally I made a start on my first two leaves.

The dark blue outline is Portuguese stem stitch.  There was a lot of unpicking before I was satisfied that I had an even spacing of my stitches. In the end, I like the nice raised, corded look of the Portuguese stem stitch and will remember it for future use.  Then I learnt that to achieve a pretty laced running stitch, the stitches underneath the fabric should be much shorter than those on top. That involved some unpicking too.

The filling stitches for the leaves come next. Maidenhair fern stitch sounds interesting. 

'Till next time be well and keep safe, especially if you are slowly emerging from lockdown as we are in Australia. And happy stitching!

Hardanger Progress

Some projects seem to be destined to spend a long time in my UFO box. The coffee table runner I wrote about here in my last post has spent many years in that box. 

It was this Hardanger pattern that caught my attention - because of the cutwork fillings embroidered in a contrasting colour and those pretty Maltese crosses and eyelets. 

I found it in an old Burda magazine, a special Hardanger edition, full of beautiful items to stitch. 

I adapted the pattern from the Burda magazine to fit my rather long coffee table.

With the Kloster blocks finished and the buttonhole edge done, it's just the eyelets and the cutwork to be completed.

The little Maltese crosses are a lovely dainty filling and I have done quite a lot of them. 

But, I have found doing the cutwork and filling stitches a little boring and that has meant I don't spend long periods of time doing it. How I admire those embroiderers who work on one item at a time, and finish it, before moving on to the next.

To be honest, there is another reason that I feel disinclined to finish the coffee table runner. I designed it for a coffee table that we no longer have. Unfortunately it was quite badly damaged in a move and has been replaced. The coffee table we have now is a treasure, made by my father, and it is smaller and a much better size for our lounge. 

The other place where I could possibly use a long runner, is on our dining room sideboard. But, the runner is about 10 centimetres longer than the top of the sideboard. The edges would hang over the sides and that would bother me. I did look into unpicking some of the embroidery. I would have to unpick and rework it from the ruler in the photo to fit the sideboard attractively. Decisions decisions!

So, for now the cloth is rolled up, ready to go back into it's pilowcase in the UFO box. 

In the meantime, to liven up my stitching time while still isolating and social distancing to avoid the dreadful coronavirus, I joined a stitch-along organized by the local Queensland Embroiderers' Guild. I'll tell you more about that next time.

'Till then keep safe, be well and happy stitching.

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UFO - UnFinished Object