I think Buttonhole Stitch has got me in!

Previously buttonhole stitch was a stitch that I could take or leave (and mostly leave)- all of a sudden there just seem to be so many interesting versions to try.

 The latest  -  Italian Buttonhole Insertion

#12 Finca perle cotton and two scraps of lugano were all I needed tosample this one. The spacing is 1/4 of an inch.  The specially designed "insertion papers" help and hinder the stitching.  Hopefully I will manage to do without eventually.

 I love this insertion stitch but then I think any insertion is magical.  I have a pair of satin pyjamas from my mother's trousseau , circa 1936, with the lovliest peter pan collar with its rouleau edge applied with faggoting, I think.  Amazing handwork!

Yes I know that  this week's stitch is Cretan and I do intend to try it.  However there is another buttonhole version to try first.  Only one?

Pulled Thread - more Buttonhole also.

I mentioned yesterday  that I am doing a series of runners.  The first one, a Christmas gift  for myself, was, strictly speaking, not a runner but a table centre.  The only stitch used was foursided .  This piece was really a test to decide whether or not I would like to make something bigger using the 4 sided stitch hem.   Probably not!

The centre is approximately 20 inches square.  The first 3 rows of the hem are through double thickness  - this took me forever and, at times tried my patience.  Nonetheless I am pleased that I persevered as I love the result.  The design evolved as it went along - not very complicated but I do like the minimalist look for my table linen.  The single fabric thickness stitches were wonderful to stitch after the hem.  I like to do the hem first, if at all possible.  This can cause problems but usually ensures the speedy completion of a piece of stitching - especially where there are mitred corners to be negotiated. 

 The table is of Queensland maple and was made by my father more than 50 years ago and has been recently refinished .

Yesterday I tried two new  pulled thread stitches - Diagonal Buttonhole, from Mary Thomas' book as well as Up and Down Buttonhole, as suggested by Edith John. 

The Diagonal Buttonhole was very successful however I reached the point of diminishing returns with the Up and Down Buttonhole after struggling some time  Perhaps a smaller count (I used my doodle cloth - 26 count Permin linen) might have helped..  There are so many wonderful pulled thread stitches so I am not sure I need the ones I find too difficult. 

The great thing about TAST is  trying versions of stitches that  might otherwise be ignored.   Knowing what I don't want to stitch again is .as important as recognising the ones that will be useful.

Closed Feather edging

My feather stitch offering for the week is closed feather used in a drawn thread hem.  This came from one of my much quoted authors, Edith John.  I am so pleased that I found this as I have started a series of table runners and love the idea of using different edges.  I would use the ecru for an edge but did  a little in dark pink in order for it to be more obvious.  Antique hemstitching  joins the hem to the piece.

My doodle cloth certainly gets more interesting and I have some pulled thread I want to try.

Earlier this week I also added a little more to my free wheeling buttonhole. This is probably as far as I shall go but I can see the possibilities should I decide to use something similar in the future.

A Great Two Days

This week the Embroiderers' Guild had a children's class with a beautiful Cat Sampler as the project. This class was part of  our ten year old granddaughters' Christmas gift. 

Here are the results of  two days work - hot off the hoops, as you can see,

  Ella's and Sophie's

  I was very impressed with the end results - a beautifully executed pair of cats.        

TJust a postscript - the lovely even stitches could be part of Sharon's TAST challenge.

Seduced by colour!

Do you ever buy thread because the colours call you?  I am a sucker for jewel colours hence the ball of Anchor  perle #8.  Not a good idea!  I like to use variegated thread occasionally but this is the most variegated of variegated.

Anyway that is an introduction to my TAST exercise on buttonhole. First I want to show my Fly Stitch efforts for week 1.

More variegated thread - sometimes one just has to use it - actually I really like it for the spiral.

Then I tried fly stitch as a pulled thread and was  unhappy with what I got  - so we won't count that.

Moving onto Week 2 and Buttonhole Stitch - I have used this stitch in many applications.

I tried Up and Down Buttonhole - it always seems an odd name for a stitch that looks as though it is in one direction only. I have been roaming through my collection of Edith Johns' books and she suggested using buttonhole as an edging - firstly Up and Down

Here it is sitting on a bag using Italian buttonhole insertion in 2010.

Then I tried Edith's 3 sided stitch edge with buttonhole in the loops - definitely needs more practice

Now for the fun bit - Edith's Experimental Embroidery has some wonderful buttonhole haloes.  Some time ago I tried my multicoloured thread

And here is the start of my current effort

I have done a little more to it but no photos.  Also I enjoyed trying  Mary Thomas' Drawn Buttonhole

however they are for another post.

A New Beginning -

Just a quick note to say I have really not closed down - just had a long sabbatical. I would like to participate in at least some of Shron Boggon's challenges for next year so I thought I had better get my act together and restart entries. Sharon is running TAST and TIF once again. I benefited so much from her TIF challenge in 2008 - both in design and the use of colour - I can't wait to try again. Do go see Sharon's page on her blog, Pintangle

http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2011/11/26/the-big-list-of-2012-tast-challengers.html

My TIF exercises for 2008 are tagged in this blog and some are on Flickr - I had been stitching for less than a year at the beginning of 2008.

There maybe not much more text to follow until the New Year but I do have some photos of the work I have done in the last 18 months - not as much as I would have liked but some. Phew!!!!

I wanted to repeat the previous exercise from RAKAM. This time since I wanted a curved outline I decided to produce another in the gumleaf series.


Since I had Christine Bishop's book on Schwalm on loan I followed her instructions and used chain stitch with an outer row of coral stitching for the outline.

Tthe dove's eye is still wanting. However I have withdrawn threads on my pulled thread sampler and intend to really sample it before another attempt. Perhaps that is what I should have done in the first place. Also this is perhaps not the best stitch choice for the shape. However I wanted to repeat the stitches and so learnt quite a bit from the whole exercise.

After I had got so far I decided that I wanted to see how I could vary the value either side of the central vein. This last photo is what I did - I have not done the stitching along the vein yet. It would definitely have been better to have stitched that vein before I started but of course I didn't think ahead. This is waht I have done using a doubled thread for the vein. Now I need to do a long curl stitch or something similar - still trying to decide.