Design No.11 Started

One question that I pondered at this point was the choice of thread colour to use to do the transfer tacking of the design. 

I could have 

• matched the the thread to the colour of the piece to be stitched so it would blend
• used the same colour thread as the fabric which could make it hard to see
• used a contrast colour that could be removed if I wanted to as I stitched

I like to think common sense won out and I went with a contrast thread.

It wasn't so bad to do. Sure it took a little while but I found removing the tissue paper less fun, especially where little bits got caught. 

I removed all the tissue paper at once.

I have since learnt that you could remove the tissue paper as you progress with the stitching. This would protect the fabric and transfer tacking as you complete the design. I must try it sometime but to be honest as doing all the Stem Stitch Scrolls was first up, it wouldn't have made much difference.

Then it was time to start stitching and this is where I got up to before life intervened and my Intermediate Crewel Class started.

I didn't like the Long and Short Stitch in the Blue Leaf, that was going to have to come out for sure. It looks a bit like Block Shading to me - no long and longer happening here! 

I did have some 'thread encounters' when bits of the tacking thread seemed to get stubbornly intertwined into the crewel wool and made life a little difficult, especially if it involved a knot. 

I wish I had read Mary Corbet's Needlenthread : Transferring an Embroidery Pattern using Tracing Paper before I started as I could only agree with her conclusions:

• think very carefully about the colour thread you are going to use, it turns out not to be as invisible as you first thought
• Mary recommends no knots - I did knot as I went, my mistake and I wouldn't do it again
• remove the tracing paper carefully, it comes away readily enough but so might your stitches
• have tweezers handy, you will need them to tease out those last bits of fluffy tracing paper or stubborn bits of thread

This technique does a good job transferring your design accurately, I would do it again.

It will be a while before Design No. 11 makes another appearance, all the while that Blue Leaf will bug me!

Design No. 11 Selected

I was successful in my application to do the EGV Intermediate Crewel Class but there was a little bit of time to fill before it started so I selected another design from Shelagh Amor's book - Crewel Embroidery - A Practical Guide.

I had admired this design from the moment I saw it. All those gorgeous scrolling curves and such a variety of stitches to work.

There were some other things I wanted to try as well:

• using another fabric not the usual linen twill
• working a larger design on a frame (fabric measurement is 50cm x 40cm)
• trying out a different transfer method, this time tacking the design through tissue paper.

Fabric

I had recently bought some twill fabric at a Craft Fair in two colours. This fabric was a fairly heavyweight linen/cotton mix and was quite sturdy. I did ask around about a good test to see if a fabric can handle Crewel Embroidery and testing French Knots with 2 strands of Crewel wool in a Size 3 needle seemed a reasonable trial. My fabric choice was fine.

I chose the natural stone colour to use but did decide to back the fabric with some lightweight interfacing. I had an idea at the time of what the completed piece might turn into so wanted to cover all bases.

Design Transfer

The design was then traced onto tissue paper directly from the A4 page in the book. This is a particularly good feature about this book, the designs are life size and instantly usable. No mucking around with photocopiers or trying to re-size the patterns bigger or smaller. Everything is ready to use.

Framing Up

By now I had read about Slate Frames and how Crewel Embroidery is traditionally done on such frames. Slate Frames are different from Tapestry Frames in that the side bars have holes spaced along them to enable the fabric tension to be controlled effectively.

Slate Frame side bar and cotter pin

However Slate Frames aren't as readily available as Tapestry Frames and can be relatively expensive so I settled for buying a Tapestry Frame large enough to trace the complete design. 

I imagine you could roll the fabric around the end rollers of a Tapestry Frame if you had an even larger design but that would entail lots of re-lacing and re-tightening of screws and wingnuts. Now that would be a distraction if you were well into the stitching!

But for me and and as I wanted to give working with a larger frame a try, I was very happy with my Tapestry Frame set up - so far, so good.