Don't Know Where to Start

Here it is June 1st already!  A whole month without posting, I've just been feeling quiet lately.  Sort of a brain vacation.

Usually this time of year is full of working on the fair entries.  I signed up and then decided to drop out.  Usually I redo the entries thinking they aren't nice enough and end up ruining the projects.  So instead I'm leaving them alone!  That leaves me a whole month of working on something new.

The garden is full of tomato plants.  The trees have lots of hanging baskets of herbs.  The basil and catnip are hanging out of the way of snails and cats.  Lee bought a clematis for me and I started it growing on the wisteria. 

 

I've also been working on a small potted garden under the olive tree.  So far I have two miniature roses, two fuchsias, snapdragons, violets, peppermint, lilies, white potato vine, hollyhocks, narcissus, gladiola, and three orchids.  I only had two orchids but they needed to be split.  The one was so pot bound that all the wood chips had been consumed.  So with some ambition and a heavy knife I worked on seperating it into two plants.  Even with the roots curled they were over 30 inches long.  Needless to say $8,000 and an emergency MRI later I now have them separated.  Thank goodness I have insurance again.  Still the copay would have bought a lot of orchids.  So no more wrestling with huge orchids.  Yesterday I pulled out some irises to make a small herb garden.  Hit myself hard in the head with the unpointy end of a pitch fork.  Happy about that!  So now there are herbs closer to the kitchen.  Now to find homes for the displaced irises.  They are small, 18 inches tall, and a beautiful deep purple.  They even bloom twice a year with extra care.  They are prolific and all my friends are trying to get rid of extras from irises I gave them years ago!

 

Embroidering has been my main hobby lately.  Working on surface embroidering mostly and slowly working through the needle painting book.  Just like painting it takes time to get the hang of shading and highlights.  But I am getting tired of working small pieces.  So I am considering making embroidered quilt squares, just need to find some nice fabric.  My butterfly  making has gotten better.  Using finer wire and cotton and silk sewing threads together seems to be the best combination.  I made a butterfly to put on my name tag for EGA meetings. 

 

 

Stumpwork butterfly.

 

 

Butterfly closeup.

 

A friend found a great deal on real French bias silk ribbon. She got me four rolls for $24.00 and the rolls have 28 yards each and are 1 1/2 inches wide.  Also the YLI 4mm silk ribbon was on sale for 50 cents.  I've never had an abundance of silk ribbon to play with before.

 

 

French bias silk ribbon.

 

 

Green and pink striped silk ribbon.

 

The green and pink ribbon was a challenge to work into a flower.  At first I didn't think I could use the ribbon.  After looking at ribbon flower books I decided to tried making it into a carnation.

 

 

Silk ribbon carnation.

 

The ribbon works beautifully as a carnation making it's own calyx with it's green stripe.

 

The carnation looks so real it is hard not to sniff it.  The other ribbons will make lovely roses when

I get some time to work on them.

Currently I am working up samples for a beginners embroidery class.  Hopefully I will be able to help someone learn to embroider.

Stumpwork Dragonfly wings 2

Finished edge embroidery of wings.

Finally finished embroidering the wire outlines on the dragonfly wings.  Now to embroider the veins inside the wings.  This is a little more delicate than the outlines.  It is important to take tiny stitches because the sheer fabric shows everything.

You can use the same thread as the outline but it can be more fun to use a metal thread.  Black is also a good choice but is very stark against the organza.  For my dragonfly I decided on a fine silver thread from DMC.  It is tempting to take some seed beads and sew them to the wings for a stained glass type of effect.  Maybe next dragonfly!

So I used buttonhole stitch on top wings but it came out looking rather random.  So for the bottom wings I tried a sort of ray like structure and put a silver plated seed bead on each.  Just have to get those beads in somewhere.

Embroidered veins on wings.

Next comes the really unnerving bit, it is a good idea to have a bottle of fray check handy.  I don't like to use it because it can change the work color or harden the fabric.  But it can save your work!  Take the organza out of the hoop.  With good lighting and a pair of small sharp scissors cut around the wings as close to the edge as possible.

Cutting a wing out of the organza.

You can breathe again!  Once all the wings are cut out is is time to get the second frame ready.

Here is the outline on my base fabric.  Those are flower shapes not kidneys.

The base fabric should be pretty and strong.  Many embroiders choose a silky or satin type of fabric.  I chose a poly/linen white fabric.  You will also need a piece of muslin.  Stumpwork is embroidered through both pieces of fabric.  So you can either tack the fabrics together working from the center out or if you have a really good hoop just place them together.  So with the outline on the top piece you can now embroider the dragonflies body.

Starting with the abdomen you can choose a fiber or use beads,  I found a long silver tube and stitched it to the fabric with the silver thread.  Remember avoid knots and lock the thread by making a small stitch and bringing the needle up through the stitch.  I also added pincher's at the end but they didn't show up.

Abdomen added to fabric.

Now it is time for the wings.  Separate the wings into left and right.then bend the wires 90 degrees,  push the wire through the fabric where you drew the wings.  If  getting the wire through the fabric is difficult use an awl or large needle to punch a hole first.  Once the wings are where you want them bend the wire flat against the back of the hoop.  Next sew the wires to the back of the fabric.  I used a heavy quilting thread, wrapping around the wire and biting into the back of the fabric.  The wires should be attached to the fabric but should still allow the wings to move a little.  Move the wings to the shape and angle you want.  Now with a chenille thread embroider the thorax.  This will stabilize the wings.  Use a needle that is just big enough for the chenille.  I stitched three straight stitches across.  Then two stitches from the top of the thorax to the bottom.  Finally two stitches on the diagonal,  I think it looks cute and bit furry, the color was accidental because it was a multi colored piece of chenille.  The color couldn't have come out better if I planned it.

Wings added to fabric.

Thorax added to fabric.

Now for the head.  I like bead heads especially the iridescent ones.  My dragonfly looked good with a pearl finished size six seed bead and two size 11 metallic rainbow teal beads for the eyes.  I used heavy quilting thread to sew them on.

Seed bead head and eyes sewn to embroidery.

We are almost done!  Finally to embroider the legs.  I used a thick black wool and straight stitches.   I did need to move the wings a bit to get the legs embroidered.  Done!

Finished dragonfly.

The finished dragonfly is 1.5 inches by 2 inches.

Stumpwork Dragonfly Wings

Embroidering dragonfly wings is probably the trickiest part of a stumpwork dragonfly.  But it isn't as bad as it sounds.  This is not really meant to be a tutorial but just some hints to help.

Some fun fibers.

The first thing to do is to choose the materials.  Which can be  hard when you have so many choices! You will need a small piece of organza.  A thread that will complement the organza, this will be for the wing edges.  A small hoop, straw or other fine needle.  Some fine wire, around 26 gauge should be flexible enough. You may also want a different thread for the veins on the wings.  Can't forget some beads for the eyes and head.  My dragonfly uses bugle beads for it's abdomen.

Cotton floss.

Decide what color you want the dragonfly wings to be.  You will need organza in the dragonflys color.  This limits your color choices but the wings look great in organza.  Or choose a white and then embroider with a colorful thread.  You may also want to get organza that is extra sparkly  after all it's a dragonfly!

Once you have the organza you need to draw dragonfly wings on the fabric,  These will be freestanding in the embroidery so space them apart for ease of working.  I use a pen on the fabric, I know you shouldn't but it is hard to see light lines on organza.   Just keep drawing until you have four wings.  You will need them to also be right and left or opposites of two of the wings.

Dragonfly wings drawn on organza.

Put this in a tight hoop.  Now the fun begins.  Take and cut the 26 gauge wire long enough to go around the wing and add 2 inches.  Cut with wire cutters.  Start to roughly shape the wire to the outline of the one wing.  The wire ends will be together at the narrow point, this is where the wings attach to the dragonfly.  This doesn't need to be exact because you will shape while working it. 

Shaping wire to dragonfly wing.

Once you have a good shape you can start embroidering.  This is fine stitching so you will need only one strand of thread.  Cut embroidery thread between 12 and 18 inches.  It's better to have to add another thread then to have worn looking threads.  I start by making a small stitch on the outline and then come up from the backside and split my stitch.  This will take the place of  a knot.  Never use knots because they can pop to the front of the work.  Place the wire on the fabric and roughly couch over the wire shaping it as you go.  It always feels strange starting because the stitches are so tiny and the fabric so fragile.  But keep with it because once the wire is couched to the fabric it gets easier.  A lot of people take the end wires through the back of the fabric, I don't because then you can't see them and the thread gets tangled in the wire. 

Once the wire is couched you will need to embroider over the wire.  I find it easier to get a neat stitch if I slightly angle my stitches.  When coming up angle from under the wire and up, then when stitching down angle slightly under the wire.  It really helps to angle the stitches but if that is hard just stab stitch up and down.  Be sure to work over the beginning thread neatly,  These wings have to be as beautiful as possible and small details are essential.  No messy backs!  Repeat on other wings.

Couched wire being embroidered with one strand of turquoise thread.

Embroidered dragonfly wing.

Back of dragon fly wing.