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Creating an Original Design

On By StitchPrettyIn SRE kitsLeave a comment

Having fallen in love with silk ribbon embroidery (SRE) and having purchased a few embroidery kits I decided that I wanted to come up with my own designs and create some beginner’s kits to sell on my website. I grandly told myself that I could do better than those I’d seen on the market and that mine would be exceptional offerings: competitively priced and different from anything I’d seen advertised. So, searching for a theme that was my own I decided on British wildflowers. I decided that each design would be unique to me and my brand-name Stitch-Pretty.

Many months later I’m still learning and practising the necessary skills which I now know are many and varied. In my ignorance I thought that I could just choose a flower, sketch it on paper, decide which stitches would reproduce the flower and sew a sample before assembling a range of kits to be advertised – simple. In reality what I’m having to do is virtually a third year higher level study course. I’ve searched books, websites and real flowers to study the shape and colour of various wild flowers and their leaves. I’ve practised a range of techniques in silk ribbon embroidery to try to emulate the flowers. But one hard lesson learned is that knowing what a flower looks like and knowing how to embroider many different silk ribbon stitches does not necessarily equate to making a piece of ribbon look like a petal.

But onwards: I’ve experimented with various fabric backgrounds and learned how to create and transfer a diagram for stitching with minimum outlines so that the lines won’t show outside of the embroidery. I’ve discovered suppliers for the different widths and colours of ribbons while comparing choices, costs and quality. I’ve considered how to present the finished item and spent a fair bit on buying wrappings, packaging and labels. For market research and quality testing I’ve recruited friends to try out my diagrams, the instruction brochure, the how-to pages and the kits themselves. As I’ve taught myself I’ve written down what I have learned. The result of all this is that I now have some comprehensive general instructions about SRE as well as some pleasing tri-fold brochures tried out on various types of paper. My camera, computer and software have been invaluable assistants while I’ve been taking and reproducing photographs, writing detailed instructions and scanning and developing my hand drawn designs.

Currently I have two completed designs of my own with a third prototype still in development. This third one is a primroses and violets in honour of my mother because these were her favourite flowers. In my hoop is the developing design on plain while linen. But I’ve also transferred this design onto a coloured background using my neocolour soluble crayons. I want to compare the results of a wildflower scene on plain fabric against one with a gently coloured background. As I continue to work on this design I realise that it’s more advanced than I expected so probably unsuited for a beginner. for that reason I’ve reduced the number of flowers and enlarged the overall size of the design to perhaps make it easier to do.

This activity isn’t something that can be completed in a hurry as practice, review and improvement is needed at every stage. My ambitious timescale has extended to allow for the alteration of design and for the rehearsal of colours, stitches and layout. The very nature of silk ribbon embroidery means that production is a slow process and any attempt to speed it up can only result in unpicking stitches and a waste of ribbon.

But I have a goal. I’ve signed up for the Art Trail with Forest and Rivers Open Studios in July. By then I want at least three different embroidery kits ready to offer for sale. The Art Trail is centred around the rivers Severn and Wye as well as the Forest of Dean. These are in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire near to the border of Wales. Having that goal will drive me on to persevere with the kits and with the other stitching products that I like to do. In the meantime here are the two completed designs which are available in the shop.

learning silk ribbon embroidery

On By StitchPrettyIn Current Affairs, RibbonworkLeave a comment

Once I’d discovered an interest in silk ribbon embroidery I turned to some of the published books on the subject to learn the techniques. Here is a summary of what I found in a few of the many books on the subject.

Beginners’ Guide to Silk Ribbon Embroidery, by Ann Cox. This is a good starting point for anyone who needs to set themselves up with tools and materials. It describes ribbon sizes and shows how the various widths used will affect the look of an embroidery. Much that is touched on in this 48 page book is covered in more depth in Ann Cox’s The Handbook of Silk Ribbon Embroidery. This little hardback is a treasure trove of basic information. For a start, how to anchor the ribbon to your fabric and the many ways in which a second needle can help to manage and control the ribbon. Then, with many pictorial examples, the fundamental ribbon stitches are shown followed by some of the well known and popular stitches used by embroiderers such as straight stitch and French knots. Clear examples of how to create flowers and leaves in silk ribbon are very encouraging to a beginner. There are some projects to follow and many tips on how to paint a background for an embroidery.

Getting a bit more advanced, Ann Cox’s A-Z of Silk Ribbon Flowers again covers the basics and describes needles, hoops & frames, painting equipment (for backgrounds and for detail on the embroidery and for adding colour to ribbons). This book has lovely clear images of ribbon techniques and ribbon stitches. There are some finishing techniques for the confident embroiderer and a mouth watering choice of flowers to embroider and these are described in detail. Some of the projects in this book use wider ribbons to make larger flowers than in the two described earlier and there are some unusual garden flowers included in the projects.

Another author called Tatiana Popova has written: The Seasons in Silk Ribbon Embroidery. Again the first pages of her book go into ribbon widths and needle sizes, then moving on to threading and anchoring ribbon. She covers some unusual stitches and techniques over about 25 pages with very clear images and descriptions. She describes some surface embroidery stitches with thread which are often needed together with silk ribbon. There are lovely projects included. For example, Lilies of the Valley shown in a bowl and a Meadow Posy bouquet on linen. All with detailed descriptive instructions and with skill level guidance. The images are truly inspirational and the appearance of the book is a pleasure in itself.

Little Flowers in Silk and Organza Ribbon is by Di van Niekerk & Marina Zherdeva. It describes how to trace designs onto fabric. Suitable fabrics and backings are discussed including using Dupion silk. Again there is information about hoops and tools and the basics of using silk ribbons. There’s a section on interesting techniques such as making stems, seeds, 3D flowers, loose leaves and petals and flower stamens. The projects are unusual and include strawberry blossoms, double roses with blue violets and ring of daisies. There are some helpful drawings of embroidery stitches at the back of the book and overall this book is something useful and beautiful to have.

Finally, I have a book by Yuan Weilin with the title Silk Ribbon Embroidery Chinese Style. She describes using heat transfer for her designs. This book also shares the basic skills of silk ribbon embroidery including starting and ending ribbons and it has excellent illustrations. Basic ribbon stitches are described with a variety of variations such as twisting or folding the ribbon. Gathered ribbon flowers are shown in some detail as well as spider web roses and folded and gathered roses. There are a lot of projects, mainly with a Chinese theme and very delicate and beautiful. She shows how ribbon can be used to embroider the stitches that we mostly do with thread such as fly stitch, feather stitch, lazy daisy and French knots.

All of the books I’ve described here have something to offer and provide a great deal of information for a person wanting to learn about silk ribbon embroidery. There are many more books offering guidance as well as the ones I’ve mentioned here so I’m not suggesting these are the optimum books for a learner. They are a few from my own collection that I’ve used and found valuable for my own development. The treasure trove of inspiration that I’ve found in each of these books is what continually drives me on to want to do better.

SILK RIBBON EMBROIDERY

On By StitchPrettyIn Current Affairs, SRE kitsLeave a comment

A new ambition of mine is to develop, promote and sell silk ribbon and surface embroidery kits on-line. This plan has emerged after years of learning about and trying out all kinds of stitching techniques. After retirement I discovered a burning interest in sewing including embroidery by hand as well as experiments on my new computerised sewing machine. Over the years since then I’ve followed a convoluted road to arrive at this latest ambition. My stitching journey has embraced learning, teaching and selling some of the multitude of clothes, quilts, embroidered bags and many other items that I’ve made. But suddenly I want to specialise and focus all my attention on one thing. So now and my heart is set on creating quality kits for beginners wanting to learn and enjoy silk ribbon and surface embroidery.

A mixture of techniques
Silk ribbon embroidery
Surface and ribbon embroidery

I have discovered that embroidery is such a joy to do with minimal outlay for materials. It can be easily transported and takes up very little space. There’s a wonderful choice of plain and variegated colours in silk ribbons and threads, and another part of its attraction is the contrasting textures of silk ribbon against the more well known handle of stranded cotton embroidery thread.

Until now my own work has been achieved through following embroidery designs found in Inspirations Magazine or purchasing kits from well known and respected designers such as Lorna Bateman and Di van Niekerk. But lately I’ve spent many hours studying well known authors and teachers like Ann Cox to learn the techniques and detail of how to make silk ribbon flowers. I’ve combined this with my own embroidery skills learned during my City & Guilds embroidery course. So now I’m keen to specialise and create my own designs embracing both silk ribbon and embroidery thread, mainly for beginners who want to learn and try but not spend too much in the first place. So this is where I am now with one design and embroidery kit tried out with a group of local friends and itching to design and sew the next one to present on this website.

Asters & leaves
Delphiniums & asters with French knots in thread

However I do want something different for my beginners kits so the plan is to design wildflower scenes. This is the space to watch as I develop my early and initial ideas into tangible materials and instructions to offer kits for sale on my Stitch-Pretty website to instil colour and fun into the icy, foggy days of a UK Winter. In the meantime:

SOME HOW-TO TIPS FOR SILK RIBBON EMBROIDERY

Attach and Anchor the ribbon: cut a slanted end on the ribbon to make threading easier. Push it through the eye of a chenille needle and turn the needle to puncture through the threaded end of the ribbon. Pull the long end of the ribbon until it goes tight against the eye of the needle. Now it won’t slip off while you’re stitching. A normal knot can be used on your 2mm ribbons. But for 4mm and 7mm ribbons a flatter knot is better. With the threaded needle turned towards the end of the ribbon take two very small stitches in the tail end and slide them down the needle and over the threaded ribbon to the bottom where the knot will tighten and be quite flat.

Preparing the ribbon: cut the lengths of ribbons you need. Put the iron on a cotton setting and try a test on a short piece of ribbon to make sure the iron isn’t too hot. Hold one end of each ribbon and quickly pull it under the base of the hot iron to remove creases. Ironing them in the normal way could spoil the ribbon.

Muslin: it’s often a good idea to back your embroidery with muslin. Muslin will add extra strength to fabrics such as silk dupion and stability to fabrics such as linen. It’s also very useful for securing threads or ribbons on the back without having to stitch into the top fabric. If the edges of your muslin are curling over at the back and you’re accidentally catching embroidery stitches into it, then either just pin the corners out of the way, or trim off the corners outside of the hoop but leave enough to cover the back of your work.

An extra needle is often really useful. In straight stitch, when pulling the ribbon through to the back of the work use a second needle under the loop of ribbon to prevent it from going too flat. In ribbon stitch keeping the second needle in the curl of a stitch while pulling the ribbon through will stop the curl from disappearing. The eye of this extra needle can be used to ‘iron’ or smooth the ribbon if it gets ruched as it’s pulled through the fabric. You can also use it to hold the ribbon flat against the fabric while deciding on the length of your stitch and where to insert your threaded needle.

When stitches are close together: it can be difficult to avoid stitching through the ribbon at the back, but this can pull the stitches on the front out of shape and spoil what you’ve done. So keep an eye on the reverse and if possible stitch through the muslin in a space between the ribbon. However, if you do pull a stitch out of shape use the eye of the second needle to lift it and try to make good. Alternatively try putting another stitch over the top of the spoiled one. Also, if your next stitch is at a distance from the one you’ve just done don’t take long pieces of ribbon across the back because you’re likely to stitch through it. Instead, end-off the ribbon each time and start a new piece.

How-To Start and End without a knot: You can start or end-off ribbon ends with a couple of stitches into the muslin using sewing thread. Ribbons of 13mm and more need to be started and ended by stitching the ends of the ribbon to the back of the work because a knot would probably show on the front. However, don’t pull the whole length of ribbon through he fabric to get to the tail end because silk ribbons are delicate and the friction can damage the silk unnecessarily. Take the end of the ribbon to the back by threading it into a chenille needle and plunging just the end of the ribbon through to the back. Secure it with a few stitches of sewing thread that matches the background fabric.

What to choose as a background? Linen or silk dupion or something else? My own experience and learning has been influenced by the choice of other embroiderers who have mainly worked with linen or a linen blend. But my love for pretty stitching has encouraged me to try using blue or white silk dupion. As it’s unlikely that the finished embroidery will be washed either of the two fabrics are feasible. There are benefits and disbenefits with both materials. Creases in linen are difficult to remove and there are so many different types with varying thread count and drape it’s difficult to choose the optimum one for silk ribbon embroidery. While dupion can have a slub in the weave which can appear in the wrong part of the embroidery. To be continued ….

The Joy of Applique

On By StitchPrettyIn Current Affairs, Hand-stitchedLeave a comment

Hand stitching is so therapeutic and the results can give joy to the maker as well as others who see and appreciate the results. Stitching together with like minded people is a sociable and enjoyable thing. There are many craft and sewing groups around the UK and they do tend to focus on a particular branch of the craft. Quilting and embroidery are two of the most popular and hand applique can actually fall into both of those categories. Applique has many advantages: small pieces of work are transportable and can be picked up at odd moments when the opportunity arises. It’s easy to add colour and fill space with applique and can be done more quickly than with embroidery. Small pieces of materials can be used to make a varied and interesting surface. There are many books about applique offering different slants on the subject and some of them can become great favourites.

In my own case a great deal of knowledge has come from books which have guided me into the technical skills needed. One favourite example is ‘Beautiful Wildflower Applique’ by Zena Thorpe. Published by the American Quilter’s Society in 2011. As an English stitcher I obviously picked out the flowers which were those I see in the United Kingdom. There are always some favourite projects in every book and mine were primroses, wild roses, poppies and foxgloves.

Here you see primroses appliqued onto a quilt and again on a linen handbag. The wild rose sprays are on another handmade bag. I took liberties with the leaves and put my own spin on the design, bonding two colours of fabric together and cutting the leaves to shape. There was no need to hem the edges as the Bondaweb prevented any fraying from around the edges. I using my sewing machine to attach the leaves to the backgrounds stitching on veins in the process.

A completely different approach is described in Anita Shackelford’s book ‘Three-Dimensional Applique’. She describes how to add dimension using cording, padding and stuffing. Then in other examples she illustrates folding, pleating and rolling to produce 3D results where the flowers are standing proud of the backgrounds.

Here the flowers and slightly padded and the leaves embroidered. A piece for the front of another handmade bag.

Machine applique is a useful addition to the crafters toolkit too. I have a computerised sewing and embroidery machine which is a joy to use. I’ve made a lot of baby and children’s play quilts which showcase appliqued machine embroidery. This is such fun as the results can be produced quickly and there are many machine embroidery designs that can be found and downloaded from the internet. Here is one that I call Starlight.

Applique can be worked by hand or on the sewing machine and they each have their place. I love both.

Embroidered Little Bird

On By StitchPrettyIn Current Affairs, Hand-stitchedLeave a comment

‘Inspirations’ is the name of an Australian Magazine which features the most desirable embroidery designs. I buy it from a UK supplier six times a year and each time it arrives there’s something that I can’t wait to make. I save all my copies and from time to time browse those gorgeous designs longing to get started on making something for myself as well as wanting to share the enjoyment with my friends.

Recently I made a little felt embroidered bird from issue 116 which was designed by Anna Mallah. The bird outlines and the tail and beak templates are included in the back of the printed magazine, or the digital pattern can be ordered and downloaded from the Inspirations Magazine website.

Here is a description of how to make the bird with fewer specifics about thread but a bit more detail about the embroidery stitches used. The hanging cord shown in the magazine has seed beads threaded on a fine thread.

So you need some white wool felt and small amounts of red felt for the tail and pale yellow felt for the beak. First cut two 6 inch squares of white felt and also cut two 4 inch squares of tearaway stabiliser. Copy all the lines of both sides of the bird onto the tearaway stabiliser pieces. Centre each stabiliser over the squares of felt and pin or tack in place. With contrasting sewing thread work running stitches around all the outlines pulling the stitches quite firmly and ensuring that the thread is secured at the beginning and the end. Work running stitches along the design lines keeping the stitches small and firm. Using a single strand of black cotton embroidery thread outline the birds eyes with very small split stitches.

Remove the tearaway stabiliser. Using the point of a big needle score along the lines of the running stitches and carefully pull the stabiliser away from the stitches. If it sticks snip into the edges of the stabiliser up to the stitching and pull it away. Score around the internal design lines and the eye and gently pull the stabiliser away. Remove the smallest pieces with tweezers.

Draw over the running stitches of the internal embroidery design. Use a removable marker pen and then unpick the running stitches and remove them. Leave the outer stitches intact for now. Place one side of the bird into a 4 inch hoop ready for the embroidery. The stitches used in the design are: split stitch, long & short stitch, satin stitch, detached chain, backstitch & couching. See images below.

  • using split stitch go around the top of the shape of the four petals
  • stitching from the top and over the split stitch start to fill the shape with long & short stitch in a light red
  • blend in a darker shade to fill the bottom of the petals with long & short stitch
  • use split stitch around the edge of the centre green circle then satin stitch to fill it
  • using a yellowy green add some little straight stitches in the middle and outline the circle with backstitch
  • using 3 strands of yellow couch around the edge of the petals. Thread one needle with 2 strands and another with a single strand and knot the ends of the thread. Bring both needles to the surface and lay the double strand around the edges of the petals while using the single strand to catch the double thread down. Fasten off all the threads on the wrong side
  • for the leaves fill with long & short stitch but using 2 colours of green. Couch around the edes of the leaves in the same way as the petals
  • use couching stitch along the stems.

For the second embroidered side I decided to use goldwork thread for the couching. The laid thread was a thicker 3-stranded type and the thread to catch it down was a single strand Japanese thread.

For the eyes work satin stitch across the eye with black thread and straight stitch for the eyelashes. Add highlights with small seed stitches in white thread.

Now for the tail and the beak:

  • trace the tail and beak onto firm tracing paper and cut out the shapes
  • use these shapes to cut 2 tails from red felt and beak from yellow
  • using 2 strands of red stranded cotton embroidery thread work detached chain stitches on the tail pieces to represent feathers
  • with wrong sides together join the tail pieces together around the outer edges with buttonhole stitch
  • now draw along the running stitch outline of both sides of the bird with a heat removable fabric marker, or other type of removable marker
  • remove the running stitches and cut out each side of the bird
  • to make a hanging cord cut a suitable length of fine thread and secure inside one half of the bird with a needle that will fit the thread but also go through the hole in the beads
  • thread the cord with the beads until it’s the right length for hanging up and then take the needle back through the beads for extra strength
  • alternatively use a thicker thread in a pretty yarn or a narrow ribbon
  • remove all marked lines with a gentle heat or method to suit your choice of fabric marker
  • with wrong sides together pin the two sides together leaving the hanging loop free
  • use two strands of thread buttonhole stitch the edges together all round but leaving the straight edges of the tail open
  • leave the needle and thread attached

Fill the birds body with toy stuffing until firm & smooth. Open the tail slit wide to slot in the end of the tail making sure the tail is facing the front of the bird and stitch the opening neatly closed. Secure 2 strands of yellow thread at the position for the beak (mine is a bit to low down). Centre the little yellow felt diamond over the seam and backstitch across the centre. Secure the thread behind the beak and pinch the 2 halves together.

Mine’s not perfect – you will do better.