When World Craft Week popped up on my Instagram feed I thought 'Finally! A week I can really get involved in!" I have been experimenting with my embroidery recently through my stitched pictures and I was keen to get as many examples finished so I can see what works well, what needs to be developed and what may possibly sell.
These designs have all been created using a simple backstitch using a mix of fonts and decorative elements. They all fit in a standard frame and I haven't really strayed too far from this shape whilst I have started.
For my next step I wanted to combine a few more elements so I added a blanket stitched heart with wooden button to act as the 'O' for 'LOVE', I had never appliquéd with blanket stitch before, but instead of catching a small piece of fabric and coming up very close on the other side, I went down through the fabric and ensured the needle was in a straight line so the stitch didn't bend.
I wanted to try another stitch and chose 'Chain stitch' as my next option. I liked the rounded and slightly chunky look of the stitch and thought it would work well on a simple line based design.
I was also reading up about how you should start and finish your threads when embroidering. I always use a knot, but apparently this can make your embroidery lumpy and isn't a very good technique. As a result I decided to use a waste knot which is where you knot your thread through the fabric a distance for your design and then continue with your stitching as normal.
When you reach the end of your thread, on the reverse side weave the last of the thread in and out of your last few stitches...
...and then snip the end to leave a nice neat finish.
After this go back to your waste knot...
...trim the end and weave this thread in and out of the stitches on the reverse side to secure it before trimming. Make sure that you leave yourself plenty of thread at the beginning as I most certainly did not, and it took me a long time to tease the thread in and out with the use of a pin. The thread may have been red but the air was certainly blue!
And here's the finished piece! I was pretty pleased with my first attempt at a chain stitch. It curves very well and f you made a slight error with your pencil line it is a lot more forgiving than straight backstitch and you can achieve a lovely line.
I've got lots more designs that I want to try, so keep your eyes peeled for new stitches!
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