Hello Again All,
As promised I am back to tell you more of my textile book project. This is what I have done so far, I'll show you the pictures and then tell you my thoughts about each step.
I started by cutting out some calico pages and tacked a 1/4" hem around the raw edges, the design area inside the stitched lines is 6" x 4". I keep these in a zip lock bag in the box so that as I finish a page I have more ready to use. They are 'double pages' and I am working a different technique on each half. However once they are added to the book they will not end up next to each other.
One of my favorite stitches is Chain Stitch and is the first stitch I learned as a child while being taught embroidery by my Granddad.
I thought I would simply 'go for it' and stitch randomly but, discovered I can't stitch a straight line without some sort of 'guidelines' and didn't like what I had done. I thought it looked a bit messy however, I decided to leave it in, learn from the experiment and be more organised on future pages. I used 6 strand in various thickness's some variegated silk thread and some cotton perle No 8 from the 'spaghetti box'.
On the next page I traced some designs and worked Back Stitch and variations. I am much happier with this way of working, You can see Back Stitch (top Left, bottom right corners and centre.) Whipped back st, (forming the frame) and Pekinese st in the other 2 corners using various thickness's of 6 strand thread plus 6 strand and some Perle for the Pekinese stitch. I have lots of blank areas which I may decide to fill in later or not as the mood takes.
I am working randomly so next I decided on some Kantha after finding a nice little design of the Peace Dove and here it is, for this I have used another piece of calico on the back and one lenght of 6 strand throughout, the branch is worked in backstitch.
The other side of this page is 'Crazy' Patchwork, worked separately and appliqued on. I used assorted cottons, ribbon and in the bottom left corner is a little piece of sequined sparkly fabric (from a child's 'disco dress found in a charity shop) all hand embroidered with 6 strand cottons and various types of stitches. Looking at the picture here I spotted that I have not sewn in the technique so I will go back to it and add that in on one of the plain areas.
I am now working on my 3rd set of pages, this time I planned to put in a small Hexagon design but then realized once added I would have problems using my embroidery hoop so I drew the area where it would be added later (See Below) and decided on some Counted Cross Stitch which so far looks like this. I have tacked on a piece of waste canvas to make it easier to sew and as a reminder of my good friend Lisa I started with a Jo Verso design of Uncle Sam. Sadly Jo was killed in a tragic accident but I still have all her books from the time when I was doing cross-stitch commissions.
Again I used 6 strand cotton from the 'spaghetti' box. The darker line in the centre is a piece of variegated silky ribbon which I have couched across the top with cross stitch, down the right side I used some Krenik sparkly thread in half cross stitch, I am still deciding what to do next - probably I'll look in my main embroidery books to find some cross stitch variations or use some different threads to fill the spaces.
The last page I'll show you is the one prepared for the Hexagons, which will be appliqued on. The design area is drawn on with a Frixion pen so it will disappear when I press the fabric. I may decide to 'fill' the plain areas with some stitching after. .
As each page is finished I keep them in a zip lock bag to keep them safe and ready for the next part of the process. So that's it so far I hope I have explained it in a way you can understand. I must say that I am really enjoying the process so far. The small piece of Aida you can see in the bottom left corner is a piece of stitching done by Big Granddaughter when she was learning to sew, I may add it in on a later page, possibly with a piece of Small Granddaughters work (if she ever sits still long enough to do some :-)
Time to go Folks!
TTFN
Lx
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