ONLINE MAGAZINE FOR CROSS STITCHERS The Gift of Stitching ISSUE 1 FEBRUARY 2006
FIRST FeatureFeature PatternPattern ISSUE WomanWoman SewingSewing ByBy LamplightLamplight byby SolariaSolaria GalleryGallery
MysteryMystery SamplerSampler startsstarts PapillonPapillon CreationsCreations
WIN silk threads from Vikki Claytons Hand Dyed Fibers
SubscribeSubscribe nownow andand ppayay lessless thanthan $10$10 forfor 1212 issues!issues! www.thegiftofstitching.com Editorial Contents Welcome to the first issue of The Gift of Feature Patterns Stitching. It has been both exciting and Page 4 Woman Sewing by Lamplight by challenging putting this magazine together. Solaria Gallery Thank you to the designers and writers who Page 12 Mystery Sampler by Papillon Creations have contributed. This months feature design is from Stoyanka Bonus Pattern Ivanova from Solaria Gallery. It is of a mother Page 15 What Now? by Adventures in Stitching sewing by candlelight, with her baby in the background asleep. Absolutely lovely. Columns We also have the first part of a five part Page 10 Investigate with Marie mystery sampler from Yvonne Horn of Papillon Creations. She has used silks from Articles Vicki Clayton and they are just gorgeous. We Page 3 On being a Model Stitcher have 2 packs to give away so make sure you enter the competition. Competitions I would like to introduce our first columnist Page 12 Silk threads from Hand-Dyed Threads Marie-Chantal Lord. Marie loves researching and designing all forms of counted thread All patterns in this issue have been printed with permission embroidery. Her column will investigate a from the designers. This magazine is under copyright. It style of stitching with a small pattern each cannot be republished or distributed in print or electronically, month. If you have a pattern or a question for in part or whole. Marie to investigate make sure you email her. Copyright The Gift of Stitching 2006 Lastly there is a bonus pattern from Carol Rice of Adventures in Stitching. A lovely little piece that uses a variety of stitches. Be sure to have a look at the companion piece on her website. I would love to hear from subscribers - where youre from and what you are currently stitching. Send your emails to [email protected] with the subject Letter to Editor, or go to the website www.thegiftofstitching.com and click on Contact the Editor. Have fun with the first issue, there are many more to come. Kind regards, Kirsten Edwards Next Issue Coming up in March... a Woodland Sampler from Barbara Peterson, Something In Common.
www.aaneedleworks.altervista.org www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 2 On being a Model Stitcher
We all dream of one day combining stitch while some models require a quitting your day job straight away. our favourite hobby with earning an variety of stitches, i.e. hardanger or On average a model stitcher is paid 1 income. It would be heaven to cross pulled thread work. Theresa points penny a stitch. Some designers and stitch all day and get paid. Those that out that there are some commonalities shops will pay you more and some have this wonderful occupation are and that is a nice neat back, no tight can only pay with needlework supplies called model stitchers. They stitch stitches on the front that leave holes and store credit. Theresa recommends the beautiful pieces that we see in and nothing returned dirty. knowing exactly what youre magazines, shows, shops and on Sounds like your sort of work? expecting in payment for your work. pattern covers. Where do you start? Theresa advises Model stitchers work for themselves. Whats it really like for these model joining a group where model stitchers This means the stitcher is responsible stitchers? Do they love their job or congregate. There is one on Yahoo! for tracking their own income and does it turn their hobby into a chore? Groups called Modelstitcher and reporting it at the end of the tax year. In January I interviewed Theresa Designers (MaD). There you will be With all this said, Theresa loves her Dunlap from Pennsylvania, USA who able to observe how things work and job. Not many people can say that has been model stitching for 20 years. see postings from designers looking they are being paid to do what they She gave me an insight into the for model stitchers. If your application love, and she considers herself one of business and also some advice on to be a model stitcher is accepted by those lucky ones. what it takes to become a model a designer or shop then make sure stitcher yourself. you work out all the arrangements before you start stitching. Who will It was in 1986 that Theresa reluctantly pay for the postage and supplies? went along to her local needlework What count is the model to be stitched shop and applied for the job of model on? What is the deadline? And how stitcher. She didnt know what they much payment for the model? But were expecting so she bought along expect that every once and a while samples of her stitching in crewel things wont go as planned. You may embroidery, chicken scratch, cross not receive the payment you expected stitch and candlewicking. They liked or the designer or shop goes out of her work and she was hired on the business. Communicate well and the spot. contract should go well. Since that day Theresa has model Lastly, how much does a model stitched just about anything and stitcher make? Theresa advises not everything. Shes completed models for shops, pattern covers and trunk and trade shows. She has stitched models on pre-finished items, hand- dyed fabrics, linen, aida and completed test patterns for crochet and knitting. So how does she feel about model stitching 20 years on? Theresa still loves the challenge of meeting a deadline - some days opening an email where another stitcher has had to pull out just before a show. Theresa takes on the challenge of completing the piece with a very tight deadline. Not for the fainthearted and those of us who love our sleep! Theresa now has time to do some of her own stitching. Her experience has taught her to be more selective of what she stitches and who for. What level, experience and skill is needed to become a model stitcher? This definitely depends on who you are stitching for. Some clients want to see examples of your stitching, others will require a scan of stitching front and back. Some want basic cross www.mistydreamz.com www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 3 Feature Pattern - Woman Sewing By Lamplight by Stoyanka Ivanova of Solaria Gallery
human face very interesting for About the Designer drawing and designing. In the initial years designs were mainly old masters, lately she has created designs after her own drawings and paintings. Since June 2004 Stoyanka shares her time between her small daughter and designing. Her little girl is now an inspiration for many of her designs including "Angel Guardian" and the free series of teddy bears. Here are some tips from Stoyanka Stoyanka Ivanova is from Bulgaria for stitching her designs. one thread of the fabric and the - a small and beautiful country in My bigger and more rest are over two threads. The idea southeastern Europe. It has a complicated designs are divided is almost the same. wealthy historical and cultural into two parts - the main pattern When some designs don't include heritage. Bulgaria has a long (for the background) and the special details, you can stitch the tradition of stitching. For many pattern of details (usually for faces whole pattern normally with plain years popular designs came from and sometimes whole characters). cross stitch or petit-point. When a Wiehler Gobelin - a German I learned this technique from design includes special details you company that manufactured Wiehler Gobelin designs. It's a stitch the background first then fill gobelin kits. popular way to stitch in my country the empty spaces with the fine The french word gobelin means because it allows to reach at the details. After that you take the next embroidered painting. It is same time two goals - to make the step to stitch details in the empty derived from the name of an old most important parts of every places. dye works on the outskirts of Paris. design fine and precise and to save For more details about stitching Apart from stitching a few time for the background's stitching. with this technique, Stoyanka has gobelins in earlier years, Stoyanka This technique is something similar detailed instructions on her began to design her own patterns to the technique, used by Marilyn website. while working as a computer Leavitt-Imblum in her latest www.solaria-gallery.com/ programmer in the field of graphic designs. Her angels' faces are over design. She actually built her own cross stitch programme! It was a long process especially with matching thread colours to computer screen colours. After creating and stitching some initial designs, she discovered that no programme could do all the designing. It took a lot of hand work to create a design that was good enough. Stoyankas designs are based on actual paintings which cover a whole fabric area. She loves to design portraits, religious works including icons. Portraits are a favourite. Stoyanka finds the
www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 4 Feature Pattern - Woman Sewing By Lamplight by Stoyanka Ivanova of Solaria Gallery Design Information Woman Sewing by Lamplight after the artwork of Jean Francois Millet
Number of colors: 44
Design size in stitches: 130W x 160H
Stitching area 14 ct: 9 1/4" x 11 1/2" (23.5 x 30 cm) 18 ct: 7 1/4" x 9" (18.5 x 23 cm) 25 ct: 5 1/4 x 6 1/2 (13.5 cm x 16.5)
Add 3 (8 cm) each side for framing allowance.
Stitch using 2 strands of DMC as outlined in the key below. Materials List and Key
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www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 9 Investigate with Marie by Marie-Chantal Lord
In my new column, I invite you on a and in Eastern Europe cross stitch was journey through time and stitching. We used to embellish household items. It will discover together new stitches, new wasnt until the worked sampler that cross and old techniques, fibres, fabrics, historic stitch came into its own. facts and lots more. Before pattern books were available, The column will be divided into three women stitched the motifs on long strips main parts. The first part will cover a type of linen. These were kept in drawers for of stitch or technique. We will travel reference and often became treasured through history to observe origins and heirlooms. examples of each type. During the Renaissance and with the The second part (starting next month) invention of printing, pattern books could will be reserved for your special requests. be sold and distributed. Stitching samplers If you are looking for a rare chart or kit, evolved into displays of ones sewing skills Example of Chinese Embroidery but dont remember the name of the or used in schooling young girls in sewing, designer, or are simply looking for a theme moral and basic academic disciplines. The and need suggestions, this will be your oldest known sampler in America is from chance. I will do my best to find it for Loara Standish (see bottom right). you. Over the last two centuries, cross stitch Finally, in the third part I will give you and other forms of counted thread work a small design. Often I will derive my have been very popular especially due to ideas from the theme of the column or the Arts & Crafts movement led by the historic period. William Morris and his daughter, May. Lets begin our first journey into the Hand needlework began to decrease in needlework world... popularity as bought household linens and clothing was made affordable with the invention of the sewing machine. The History of Cross Stitch two World Wars followed by the decades of women liberation meant many women When we want find out the history of no longer had time to embroider. cross stitch we cant pass over the history From the sixties, embroidery including of embroidery and textiles. It is easy to cross stitch became a popular leisure Oldest known embroidered fragment assume that embroidery is as old as textile activity and now there are a huge variety creation. The first discovered material of kits and patterns on the market to suit fragments are dated from 3000 B.C. It is every taste and talent. in China that the oldest traces of embroidery were discovered. Historians Sources for this article: - Recent excavation of textile in China by Zhao Feng report that the discovery of silk is nearly - Indianapolis Museum of Art 5000 years old and historical documents - Five Thousands years of culture from Heaven: Chinese dress through the ages show that as of 2255 B.C., the Chinese - A history of Cross stitch, by Meg Thompson Shinall practised the art of embroidery. In the & Ginnie Thompson. From Needlewords, Issue beginning, embroidery was used in the November 1983. - www.tuvy.com/chinese/info/embroidery.htm Court and among privileged classes. - www.able-crafts.com/cross-stitch-history.html Cross Stitch, like its counterpart - www.travelchinaguide.com/intro /arts/embroidery.htm embroidery, was also first discovered in - www.thecrossstitchguild.com/study1.html China. During the Tang Dynasty (618- 906 AD) it flourished amongst rural classes. Several sources point out that the art and use of embroidery spread quickly due to silk trade routes. There are similarities If you would like help between Indian, Persian, Arab and Chinese with finding a rare pattern, embroidery designs. The oldest piece of or patterns around a theme embroidery was discovered in Athens, then send your request to Greece and is dated 5th Century B.C. [email protected] During the middle ages the famous Bayeux tapestry was created in Britain. In Spain blackwork became very popular The Loara Standish Sampler www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 10 Investigate with Marie continue... Example of Cross Stitch
Designed By: Marie-Chantal Lord
To stitch this design, choose your favourite colour fabric and matching thread. Since it has a lacy look, why not try a fine soft coloured linen. Other ideas for this heart design include a pin cushion, needlecase or lavender sachet.
Size: 58w X 53h Stitches
Stitching area 14 ct: 5" x 4" (12.7 x 10.16 cm) 16 ct: 4" x 4" (10.16 x 10.16 cm) 18 ct: 4" x 3" (10.16 x 7.62 cm)
Card model is stitched on a 14 count red aida with 2 strands of DMC B5200.
Lavender sachet model is stitched on 32 count wedgewood blue lugana with 2 strands of DMC B5200 floss over 2 threads.
Copyright: Marie-Chantal Lord 2006 www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 11 Mystery Sampler
I am thrilled to give you Part 1 of our mystery sampler. This beautiful sampler will feature over 5 issues. The design can be stitched with DMC threads or silks from Hand-Dyed Fibers. Below is a competition for subscribers to win 1 of 2 packs of Hand-Dyed Fibers. Be sure to enter. About the Designer Yvonne Horn lives in France but had an English upbringing. Like most little girls in the early sixties, she was taught at school how to stitch. Her first designs were published in the late 90s and were inspired by the beautiful French architecture of her homeland. Yvonne enjoys reading historical novels which lead her to discover the history of embroidery. This inspired her to begin designing samplers. Yvonne loves trying out new types of embroidery stitchers and she gives this advice for attempting something new. Firstly, trying a new stitch can be a little daunting, but take things slowly. "If you don't Part 1 succeed the first time, try, try, try again" as my mother used to tell me. WINCompetition WIN Win 1 of 2 packs from Vikki Claytons Hand-Dyed Fibers to stitch the Mystery Sampler CompetitionTo enter go to www.thegiftofstitching/competition.html Vikki Clayton produces beautiful hand dyed silks threads that are top quality. She produces floss, ribbon, chenille and perl.
You can purchase this set for the Mystery Sampler at the following address:
www.hand-dyedfibers.com/oscnuked/modules.php?name=catalog&file=product_info&products_id=1982 www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 12 Design Information Materials List Design size in stitches: 199W x 199H No more than 4.5m (5 yards) is required of any colour. Finished stitched area: 14/28 count 36 x 36 cm (14.2 x 14.2) 16/32 count 31.5 x 31.5 cm (12.5 x 12.5) Add 20 cm (8) to each of the above measurements to allow for framing. The design has cross stitches and speciality stitches, so is not suitable for Aida cloth. For those of you who would like to work the design in silks, Vikki Clayton from Hand-Dyed Fibers is putting packets of her beautiful threads together. Order these packs from Instructions for speciality www.hand-dyedfibers.com stitches are on page 14.
www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 13 Mystery Sampler - Specialty Stitches
Some motifs in this design use speciality stitches. You will find these labelled on the main chart. Any motif that doesnt have a motif number should be worked in cross stitch, following the cross stitch key. The diagrams below show how to work the speciality stitches. Each square in these diagrams represents one fabric thread. Bring your needle up to the right side of the fabric at the odd numbers, and go back down at the even numbers. Unless otherwise stated, all stitches are worked with two strands of thread.
Motif 1 Motif 2 Tied Windmill Stitch Large Smyrna Cross Stitch Work the cross stitch first, following the key. Then Work the cross stitch first, use Indigo Ocean/DMC following the key. Then 924 to work the tied use Black Cherry/DMC windmill stitch. 3740 to work the large Smyrna cross stitch.
Motif 3 Double Herringbone stitch
This stitch is worked in two stages. First, work a row of herringbone stitch using Zebra Wood/DMC 451. Then work a second row of herringbone over the top of the first using Burnt Orange/DMC 402.
Motif 4 Satin Stitch
Work the flower in Satin stitch using Impatiens/DMC 761. Then work the leaves, again in satin stitch, but this time use Indigo Ocean/DMC 924. Depending on your fabric, you will need at least 3 strands of floss to work the satin stitch.
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Bonus Pattern – What Now? By Carol Rice of Adventures in Stitching Here is a lovely pattern from Carol Rice. View more of her designs including the companion piece, “He Loves Me” on her website.
www.adventures-in-stitching.com
This design is a twist on the classic “He Loves Me – He Loves Me Not”. It springs from the fear one has when you find out the boy you have been dreaming about loves you. The borders are drawn thread with satin stitched corners. The flowers are lazy daisies, perfectly suited for petal pulling. While this piece assumes a familiarity with counted thread charts it is perfect for the beginner at draw n thread work. Stitched with hand dyed silks there is no backstitching required. Many Copyright 2004 Carol Rice thanks to Susan Duke for stitching the model; it is All Rights Reserved on 28-count white Lugana using silk floss from Hand-Dyed Fibers by Vikki Clayton. Stitching Information Materials Design area Stitches Used
Hand-Dyed Fibers by Vikki Clayton Stitch count: 58W x 85H Cross Stitch 2 skeins Raspberry Crème Floss 25 count: 4.8” x 7” (12.1 x 18 cm) Lazy Daisy 2 skeins Blueberry Crème Floss 28 count: 4” x 6” (10.1 x 15.5 cm) Satin Stitch Fabric 30 count: 3.8” x 5.6” (10 x 14.3 cm) Basic Hem Stitch (Plain) 10”x12” 28 count white Lugana 32 count: 3.6” x 5” (9.2 x 12.7 cm) Hem Stitch (Single twist)
General Directions On the chart each square is 2 threads on the fabric. The stitch guides show how the stitch looks on the fabric unless noted differently. The easiest way to make sure the piece is centered on the fabric is to start in the center of the design. For this piece that means you will start with the specialty stitches. Find the center of the fabric and mark it with a pin or spare needle. I also recommend marking what will be the top of the design. Start with the center lazy daisy; stitch it using 2 strands of blueberry crème silk. The vertical (up and down) and horizontal (left and right) petals are over 8 while the diagonal petals are over 6. Use the following diagrams for all lazy daisy stitches in the piece. The tack-down stitch for the horizontal and vertical is over the 8th thread and over the 6 th thread for the diagonal. NB: All of the petals in a flower share the same starting hole, numbered 1/2, that is where you come up for 1 is also where you go down for 2. www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 15
Vertical Lazy Daisy Diagonal Lazy Daisy
Here is the complete lazy daisy flower, with the petals numbered in the order that I would work them. Using your needle the individual stitches may be adjusted slightly after stitched to make them appear more even. If they aren’t perfect it doesn’t matter as long as they are all about the same size. Next work the lazy daisy stitches around this central flower. This will help keep your design centered. The lazy daisy circles are stitched with 2 strands of raspberry crème silk. Stitch the lazy daisy flowers off of the vertical and horizontal petals of the center flower first. Then fit the other 4 between them. Ideally the tack-down stitches of 2 of the petals should share with 2 of the petals in the flower next to it as in the following diagram. Now that the center motif is complete, count over and do the lazy daisy rings on the right and left sides. The lazy daisies on either side should share the tack down hole with the lazy daisy in the center. I would work this next motif in a different order to make placement easier and for there to be less of a chance of miscounting. I would start with the lazy daisy that needs to share a hole with its neighbour. Remember that this is in the ring and needs to be stitched using 2 strands of raspberry crème. Once that daisy is in place I would work the center flower using 2 strands of blueberry crème. Once the center lazy daisy flower is in place then I would complete the lazy daisy
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ring as in the center motif. Stitching them in this order means not having to count over as far and helps to minimize errors. Work the motif on the other side of the center motif in the same way. NB: The six lazy daisy flowers that are not part of the circles are stitched using 1 strand of blueberry crème and 1 strand of raspberry crème, in others words they are blended. Work the 4 lazy daisy flowers on that are between the rings next. Now that the main flowers are all in place use the main chart to place the letters using 2 strands of floss. The words, “He Loves Me!” at the top are stitched in Blueberry Crème and “He Loves Me Not” are stitched in the Raspberry Crème. Because the colors are over dyes and vary significantly the best way to stitch the words is to cross each X immediately. This will allow the color changes in the floss to show best. Go back and place the flowers on either side of the text using 1 strand of blueberry crème and one strand of raspberry crème.
Corners Use 4 strands of floss for the satin stitches in the corners. Count up and over from the letters to where the satin stitching in the corners is. Stitch all of the lines for the blueberry crème before filling in with the raspberry crème. The shortest stitch is over one while the longest is over 20. This image shows the first 4 stitches done in the blueberry crème floss, continuing working in the same manner until you have done both over 19 stitches. Then fill in with the blueberry crème starting with the over 2 working up to the over 20 which will be on the outside of the longest red stitches. Repeat for all 4 corners.
Drawn Thread Now with all the stitching done it is time to prepare for the drawn thread, which goes between the corners. Sharp scissors with a very fine point are important for drawn thread work as you are going to be cutting threads of the fabric and you don’t want to leave frayed edges or cut too many threads. I recommend cutting just 1 thread at a time although others will cut 4 or more at a time. I believe control is better when dealing with a single thread. As you do more drawn thread work you will develop a feel for what works best for you. The next image (to the right) shows where to cut as a green line. Cut very close to the stitches where they enter the fabric without cutting the stitches. If you are right-handed keep the stitches on the left side of the scissors so that the cutting edge is close to the stitches. Therefore, if you are left-handed you need to keep the stitches to the right of their blade. Once you have cut close to the stitches on all four corners you need to remove the threads between the corners. Use your needle to unweave the fabric one thread at a time. As you get more unwoven it helps to trim the thread so you don’t have to pull so much of it through each time. When you have finished pulling out the threads, you will have a framework upon which many different kinds of weaving can be done. We will start with a very basic woven thread pattern. Using 2 strands of blueberry crème anchor the thread behind the satin stitches. There is no way to end and restart a thread easily in drawn thread work so make sure to cut enough. If you normally work with 12-inch length, you will probably need to go to at least 18 inches for the area in this design. Come up on the left of the fourth vertical thread at the bottom of the cut space. Loop over the four threads, pulling it snug, but not too tight, creating a bundle before counting over four more threads dragging the stitching thread on the backside of the fabric. You will need to push the threads down so they rest close to the www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 17
fabric. The idea is to create the bottom edge of a frame so the flatter you can get this the more like a frame it will look. Repeat for the opposite, top, edge to complete the side. Now repeat for the other three edges. Remember to snug the floss down as close to the fabric as possible to get a straight edge.
Hem Stitch - Single Twist This stitch is worked from left to right. Using 2 strands of raspberry crème secure it behind the satin stitches that make up the corner getting close to halfway between the top and bottom of the open space, stay on the wrong side of the fabric . Keeping the floss on the wrong side go over to the edge of the first bundle you created with the previous stitching and come up, this should usually be 4 threads but some bundles may have 5. The key is working with the bundles already created by your first two passes in making the “frame.”
Step 1 Single Twist Step 2 Single Twist
Come back to the left going over 2 threads. Continue to the left going under the remaining threads in the bundle bringing the needle to the right side of the fabric
Step 3 Single Twist Step 4 Single Twist
Pull back to the right, keeping the needle on the right side of the fabric, which will twist the bundle. Take the needle to the wrong side of the fabric, go to the right under the next bundle, and repeat the steps www.thegiftofstitching.com Issue 1 February 2006 Page 18
Once you get to the other edge secure the floss under the corner. Cut a new piece and repeat the steps for the other three sides. Make sure to leave enough floss to secure under the corners. Your piece is now ready for framing.
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