Let's Get Stitching!

Here in Oklahoma the weather is starting to really heat up, and from what I've seen, so is the rest of the country. There has been an uptick in the humidity which makes it even more miserable to be outside, however, most of the time we have some kind of breeze or wind that helps a lot in these temperatures. Enough of the weather and let's get down to stitching business shall we?

Book Find

First of all, I have been digging through the bookshelves and there is a book I want to let you know about. It is called Embroidered and Embellished by Christen Brown. Now this is an embroidery book, but there is absolutely no reason that those stitches cannot be used in cross stitch projects. As a matter of fact, because you already have a ready made grid in the Aida cloth, it would make it much easier to keep your stitches straight and spaced correctly. The really lovely thing about this book, besides everything it contains, is that Christen walks you through using ribbon, thread, floss, beads, and so much more. Here is the break down:
*Stitching Techniques and Terminology
*Fabrics, Trims, and Laces
*Embroidery Threads and Ribbons
*Beads and Embellishments
*Embroidering with Confidence
*Traditional Embroidery
*Silk Ribbon Embroidery
*Raised and Textured Embroidery
*Bead Embroidery

The instructions are actual photos of the stitch being done and they are very clearly explained so novice to expert will have no problem doing them. It's about 159 pages and illustrated throughout. I bought this book sight unseen so I really didn't know what I was getting into but when I got it and looked inside I knew I had discovered a real treasure. It is a true mixed media stitcher's delight, and I love going through it and thinking about all the possibilities for projects. Truly inspirational! Even if you do not want to go with mixed media, just the stitches for the embroidery are worth the price of the book, there are 85 of them.

Here is a link to it on Amazon and you can get a peek inside here too:
https://www.amazon.com/Embroidered-Embellished-Stitches-Step-Step/dp/1607056631

More Wonderful Wools
How do I love wool? Let me count the ways! Too many to count actually! It stitches beautifully, is very strong, gives that little bit of oomph to stitching since it is a thicker fiber. In my search for wool on Aida cloth, I discovered Fleur de Paris Bella Lusso. This is a 100% Merino Wool fiber that comes in 45 yard skeins. This is so soft too and is just a joy to work with and it comes in a nice variety of have to have beautiful colors, 154 of them. It is made in Italy and I looked for care instructions but could not find any. Since it is a wool though, I would not wash it. Again, be aware of other fibers you use with it since some are washable and others have to be dry cleaned. It is reasonably priced for 100% wool, Needle in a Haystack carries it for $3.00 a skein, which is where I have purchased mine.
Here is a link to that shop if you are interested:
http://www.needlestack.com/WebStore/Thread/FDP_BellaLusso.html

 

 

 

The Stitch Sampler
So here is the first of many stitch samples. This took more time than I wanted to spend on it simply because I did the three different variations on the reversible cross stitch and in the future will only be doing one a week. I can see where it does look neater on the back when stitched this way but this is not my cup of tea. I try to keep my back as neat as possible but some designs are going to be all over the place and it will show on the reverse no matter what you do. Here is my take away from doing these stitches:
1.) Let's talk the back first. Yes, the back does have a more interesting and neater look, however, these were just sample stitches going in a straight line back and forth and realistically if done on a pattern with lots of color changes with a variety of places, I think you could go absolutely mental in trying to accommodate any three of these. You are actually doing two jobs by trying to make the front and back both look good. When working over two you get to see the difference of the stitch on the back, however, if you are working over one square, then the design is not that noticeable if at all. Tucking the tail of your thread under the stitches in the back pretty much ruins any lovely effect you may be looking for and especially on #3 it was hard to ensure that the tail was secure with the open blocks.

2.) Now for the front. Numbers one and three look like cross stitches. Number two looks like a decorative stitch. So if you want the cross stitch look then you have to go with number one or three. A problem I ran across in doing this is transitioning to the second row and making it look like the first row on the backside. After a couple of frustrating attempts, I then just flipped the fabric and stitched it upside down and I got the match. Going from row to row on the front it made it look the same, however, you can see where it looks a little hinky on the back. There is probably an easier way to do this but I was getting frustrated and just wanted to get on with it. If I had a lot of time to play with it I could figure it out but currently it wasn't worth the time for just a sample. More floss will also be used in doing these since you are adding an extra stitch to any of the three, plus the extra time it takes to do them. I had to absolutely keep my attention on them since there was the extra stitch involved which would not be a problem if you did these a lot.

3.) What I discovered is that an extra stitch over a leg of a cross stitch really isn't apparent to the naked eye. That was a revelation. Next, these stitches are not going anywhere when they are each anchored with an extra stitch. This information could come in handy for some future work. The down side of that is that it is not easy to pull them out either when a mistake is made. So it is a trade off. Also, I did like the way stitch number two looked on the front, but again, you would have to stitch it over two in order to really see it and I have a feeling there may be a comparable looking stitch in the upcoming pages of the book.

4.) Conclusion. Actually, I'm glad I tried these stitches because I always was curious about them. I was actually going to try the reversible stitch from Jane Greenoff's book, "The Cross Stitch Bible", which looks the same on the front and the back, but that would have taken even more time and floss and I wasn't keen to lose more of either. I have made a notation on the sample in reference to it though just in case it is needed in the future. This was good practice for the upcoming stitches and I daresay these would be handy for anyone that is concerned with the look of their work on the back as well as the front such as table linens, baby bibs, afghans, bookmarks, etc.. Try them and see how you like them!

Here is the completed front of the first stitch sample for the book.
I have included how many strands used, over how many, the floss
color and page number in the book it can be found, all pertinent
information that could come in handy in the future. Remember,
"It is better to have and not need than to need and not have!", at
least in this particular instance.

Here is the back side. Different but is it truly better? That is for
the individual to decide.

This is a photo of when I had to flip the Aida upside down in order
to do the second row to make it look like the first on the back. These
stitches were a lot of work to be sure.

 Artist Spotlight
Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti, aka Alighiero e Boetti (December 16, 1940 - February 24, 1994)
This artist led a very interesting life and his road to becoming an artist proved it. He had two works that were embroidered and they are just magnificent and imaginative. Here is his story on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alighiero_Boetti I salute Mr. Boetti for being a man doing fiber arts, especially at a time when stitching was so associated with women's work. He showed that stitching is an equal opportunity art, available to all.

Here is a link to pictures of his work:
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=alighiero+boetti&qpvt=Alighiero+Boetti&FORM=IARRSM

Very sad that he died of a brain tumor in Rome at 53, it would have been fabulous to see how far he would have gone with his fiber work.

Until next week here is another thought nugget:
 "Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics."
~Victor Pinchuk