Module 3 (Spirals) - Chapter 4 Decorate with Stitchery (first part)

Today I'm uploading the hand-stitched samples I prepared during the summer. I scanned them all so hopefully they are clear enough, photos do somehow seem to come out better but I'm far from proficient in that area too (sometimes I think I should take a basic course in digital photography ... )

This is a first hand-stitched sample on dyed muslim. I darned multicolour pearl cotton, stranded cotton and metallic thread and then couched some orange and blue ribbon to give more definition.

SAMPLE ONE (18 x 16 cms)

This is another one. I used one of my monoprinted fabrics and simply back-stitched big spirals in pearl cotton. SAMPLE TWO (13 x 20 cms)

The background of the third sample was obtained by hand needle felting together two layers of cheesecloth dyed bright orange (bottom) and burgundy (top), with the orange threads becoming enmeshed into the top layer. When I did this I was obviously thinking of the fantastic effects we obtained during last summer school with the embellisher. I don't have one yet so I used felting needles but it's a totally different story ... Then I couched spirals in knitting variegated yarn and within these spirals other chain stitch ones in variegated pearl cotton No. 8.

SAMPLE THREE (20 x 25 cms)

Since I had the felting needles at hand I made another background. The bottom layer is blue self-dyed cotton with a yellow scarf applied on top and distressed.

Spirals in golden knitting yarn and tubular blue/light blue cotton.

SAMPLE FOUR (25 x 25 cms)

And finally a small sample to try my hand at machine stitching.

I whipstitched and zigzagged small spirals without a frame (I avoid using frames whenever I can) and finished by hand/machine couching two different knitting yarns.

SAMPLE FIVE (18 x 18 cms)