Monday 3 September 2007

A Difficult Wing

The second wing has been giving me a few problems and I am not sure why. I am really pleased with the stitching on the first wing, but the second one does not look as good, despite unpicking and re-stitching several times.

I think the problem may be that I am stitching the 'wrong' way. On the first wing, I stitched from top/left to bottom/right so that I am stitching towards myself. A tool called a Tekobari is used to stroke the thread to help to make is smooth and shiny. On the second wing I stitched from bottom/left to top/right because I wanted the stitches to mirror those on the first wing. In this case I was stitching away from myself; this is the 'wrong' way. I could have stitched top/right to bottom/left, but with the angle of the stitches this felt cack-handed.

© Jennifer Ashley Taylor/Carol-Anne Conway

Now I have a dilemma. I want to remove the stitches and try again, but I am beginning to feel the pressure of time. It has taken me three months to get to this stage and my deadline is just two months away with three butterflies remaining. I think I will leave this for now and review it when I have stitched the remaining butterflies.

Happy Stitching

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I haven't done this type of embroidery but I do understand that it must have been awkward to work in the wrong direction.

Sometimes I turn my piece so that I can always work top to bottom when I need to lay my threads.

Also one suggestion before you rip it out. Look at it from the opposite direction - it may be that it's just the way the light is catching the silk that it doesn't look right.

I do think it's beautiful !!

~Pam

coral-seas said...

Thank you, Pam for you comments. I tried to turn the work but this wing was too far across for me to stitch comfortably. I think I will stand the work upright like it will be when framed, as you suggest, it may look different viewed that way.

CA

Anonymous said...

I've been following this along from the beginning. I think this time, you should hold off on doing it again. It's true - the light will hit it differently once it's being displayed. There will always be something that catches your eye as "not quite right" but others won't even notice when they see the overall beauty. *S* just my opinion

Ellen said...

Oh my, this is gorgeous!

KV said...

Carol -- There is an old saying in the US which is attributed to the Amish people in their quiltwork: There has to be a mistake put in somewhere because only God is perfect!

However that may be, I think you have accidentally given the piece some realistic dimension with the thread running in a different direction.

At any rate, this is absolutely stunning work!


Kathy V in NM

Sue said...

Carole I looks lovely and I can't wait to see it finish.

Carou said...

Fabuleux
VoilĂ  presque une heure que je suis sur ton site et que je suis en adoration devant ton travail
Bravo Bravo Bravo