My Labor Day weekend obsession
Weekend was generally pretty quiet. Dull even, although game night was nice. We did little otherwise. Kids went to a birthday party on Saturday for a friend, which Daddy took them to. This meant quiet time to clean the kitchen and otherwise enjoy the quiet on the computer for me. Craig was here, but he was quiet, too, prepping for game.
Sunday Craig was still over, to spend time with the kids. We did little but enjoy a day off. Well, as "off" as parents get to be with their kids. I just didn't do much chores.
Today I've been sewing, as I need to get two garments done by mid October. So I finally got off my gears and cut & sewed on the kirtle. More on that on my sewing blog, kimikosews as I update that. I've got some photos that I took today, but my brain isn't up for a writeup tonight.
Otherwise, today I've also taken it easy. I've otherwise been thinking (obsessing is more like it) this weekend, trying to figure out which style of embroidery I really want to delve into.
Blackwork is nice, but I want more color play. I think I like the silk long & short stitch a lot, but not sure I want to paint pictures with my needle, when I am doing that with paint (and that's a little faster). I like goldwork, but not all over goldwork. I like the two together, like I've been doing with my Floral needlework project from Thistle Threads (see photo here). However, I don't know what this style of embroidery is actually called. It isn't fully Elizabethan embroidery, as those stitches are more - complicated, with lots of ins and outs of the needle, and very little long & short stitch. It isn't Jacobian style. I thought maybe Japanese, but the beginner's book on that style that I just got in seems to indicate a very delicate satin stitch, done with flat silk, and minimal amounts of goldwork.
So, not knowing that this is I wrote Tricia, of Thistle Threads, on our project blog and asked her. Hopefully I will hear something soon. I know in the instructions she wrote that it used the simpler silk stitches in order to focus on the goldwork, but I like this style more than the images of Elizabethan embroidery that I have. Maybe, if I tried that on something I would also like it, but... it is the shine of the threads, and how the threads shift color as the light angle changes, and how the flowers look more real because of the long & short stitches, that's what has my interest. I just want to know what this style is known as so I can find an appropriate book to learn more. Right now it is a toss-up with a Goldwork book that has mostly info on goldwork, & a little on silk stitches, and a book focused on long & short stitch, which would give good info on improving that style. Or ... I might just get both books. They aren't too expensive, and I've found both of them used on amazon. But, knowing I won't be able to actually start this until after the two garments are created, I am trying to force myself to let this go for now, and actually focus on sewing my garments instead. So far, once I am in my sewing room I can do that. When I am not in there, I obsess on this topic.
And having written that, I am going to go finish the dishes and then head off for an early bedtime. School again tomorrow, and then time for some more sewing when my brain is refreshed.
Sunday Craig was still over, to spend time with the kids. We did little but enjoy a day off. Well, as "off" as parents get to be with their kids. I just didn't do much chores.
Today I've been sewing, as I need to get two garments done by mid October. So I finally got off my gears and cut & sewed on the kirtle. More on that on my sewing blog, kimikosews as I update that. I've got some photos that I took today, but my brain isn't up for a writeup tonight.
Otherwise, today I've also taken it easy. I've otherwise been thinking (obsessing is more like it) this weekend, trying to figure out which style of embroidery I really want to delve into.
Blackwork is nice, but I want more color play. I think I like the silk long & short stitch a lot, but not sure I want to paint pictures with my needle, when I am doing that with paint (and that's a little faster). I like goldwork, but not all over goldwork. I like the two together, like I've been doing with my Floral needlework project from Thistle Threads (see photo here). However, I don't know what this style of embroidery is actually called. It isn't fully Elizabethan embroidery, as those stitches are more - complicated, with lots of ins and outs of the needle, and very little long & short stitch. It isn't Jacobian style. I thought maybe Japanese, but the beginner's book on that style that I just got in seems to indicate a very delicate satin stitch, done with flat silk, and minimal amounts of goldwork.
So, not knowing that this is I wrote Tricia, of Thistle Threads, on our project blog and asked her. Hopefully I will hear something soon. I know in the instructions she wrote that it used the simpler silk stitches in order to focus on the goldwork, but I like this style more than the images of Elizabethan embroidery that I have. Maybe, if I tried that on something I would also like it, but... it is the shine of the threads, and how the threads shift color as the light angle changes, and how the flowers look more real because of the long & short stitches, that's what has my interest. I just want to know what this style is known as so I can find an appropriate book to learn more. Right now it is a toss-up with a Goldwork book that has mostly info on goldwork, & a little on silk stitches, and a book focused on long & short stitch, which would give good info on improving that style. Or ... I might just get both books. They aren't too expensive, and I've found both of them used on amazon. But, knowing I won't be able to actually start this until after the two garments are created, I am trying to force myself to let this go for now, and actually focus on sewing my garments instead. So far, once I am in my sewing room I can do that. When I am not in there, I obsess on this topic.
And having written that, I am going to go finish the dishes and then head off for an early bedtime. School again tomorrow, and then time for some more sewing when my brain is refreshed.