Patty G's Spin on my Blackwork Purse (Pomegranate & Peas Purse)

While I was attending the needlework conference at Winterthur in October, I saw an unexpected sight - my blackwork purse... on someone else!  I'm new enough at designing and teaching that it still shocks me to come across one of my designs being used by someone else.  Shocks in a pleasing way, of course.  The purse was stitched and worn by Patty Smith Gardner, from Pennsylvania, who approached me during morning break to show me that she was wearing it.  She had attended my EGA Regional class in 2009.  I remember Patty's enthusiasm for the project during class, which helped me to overcome the nervousness I felt teaching my first class comprised largely of people I didn't previously know (my prior classes had been taught at my local EGA chapter).  I believe she finished her purse, including assembly, in a little over a month.

Patty did a great job on the embroidery.  Notice that she chose to outline the scrolling gold vine (plaited braid stitch) in black stem or outline stitch.  My design did not include this.  In class,  I shared slides of period pieces done in speckling technique and pointed out that sometimes the plaited braid vine was outlined.  Patty chose to add it and it really makes the gold 'pop'.   If you would like to compare it to my purse, click here.

Also, she enjoyed speckling so much that, as she put it, she went a little speckling crazy. The speckling looks great - even though she termed it 'speckling crazy', it's not at all overdone.  She just chose to add her own individual elements, such as in the seed area of the pomegranate, where she added a pattern to the background of the seeds, rather like a shadow.  That's what's so much fun about speckling - it's a technique that easily lends itself to individuality.









I love how Patty finished her purse - completely different from mine! She added a long, beaded chain, choosing bead colors that matched those in the purse, and also chose not to add the bauble at the bottom.  In the photo to the right, you can really see the beautiful chain she made to go with it.  It's perfect for the purse.

Update:  Patty has informed me that the chain is a tubular herringbone/Ndebele with four beads around.








Here's the purse 'in action' at the seminar.  The black cord behind her beaded cord was for our seminar name-tag.  It looks great with her outfit - an eye-catching accessory.


Great job, Patty!  Thanks for sharing your photos with us.

Antique or Rolled Hem

 I'm hemming the edges of this scarf using an antique hem from Therese deDilmont's book on Needlework.  It's a rolled hem.  I used a regular white sewing thread, dual duty, fine.  Use a thread that matches your fabric color, preferably linen or cotton / poly.

 I thought I'd describe first how I prepare the linen to hem my scarves (works well for table linens, too).

I usually leave 3/8" between the cut edge of my linen to where I pull threads to make the somewhat open look of the hem.  Here you see the scarf, after it's been removed from my slate frame (an embroidery frame similar to a scroll frame).  I'm trimming the 1/2" of excess linen off the edge.  That was the area I used to lace my material onto the frame.

You can see here that 3/8" in from the edge of the linen, I've pulled 2 threads.  This is 60 ct linen.  If it were 36 ct or courser, I would only have pulled one thread. 

Starting at one long edge, knot your thread and weave the thread thru an inch or so of the linen so that the knot will be hidden within the rolled edge of the linen as you hem. Roll your linen as shown at left (click on photos to enlarge).  Bring the needle up thru the linen as shown and then pick up a group of threads in the pulled thread area as shown.  Pull your needle thru (see right photo)

Now, bring the needle up thru the linen again and repeat the above process. 

Spiral Trellis Stitch Instructions

Spiral Trellis was used here to create the Ladybug's body with silk perle thread.  

Notice the spiral effect of the stitches.

Needle and Threads:   This stitch is best worked with a tightly twisted thread, like perle or gobelins, (use #8 embroidery needle for perle, #9 for gobelin).  Trebizond silk was used for this tutorial to make it easy to see the individual stitches. 

Spiral Trellis, as its name implies, is worked in a spiral, making it perfect for filling circular shapes.

Begin with an away waste knot, and outline the circle in back stitch.  If using perle thread, backstitches are about 1/8" long, shorter if using finer thread.

As shown here, to backstitch, bring the needle up thru fabric 1/16"-1/8"(depending on thread thickness) ahead of the last stitch.  Needle goes back down thru fabric against the last back stitch (sharing the same hole as last stitch).

Continue in this way until the outline is complete.

Once the circle is outlined, begin the Spiral Trellis by bringing needle up thru fabric between the first and last back stitches.

Looking down on the circle, the working thread has come up thru the fabric between first and last back stiches.  We will be travelling counter-clockwise.

Slide the needle under the first backstitch as shown.

Wrap the working thread around the needle exactly as shown here.  Be sure that the thread wraps over the needle first and then under .  The most common mistake in Spiral Trellis is to wrap the thread incorrectly in this step.

Keeping the wrapped thread in place (with a finger pressed against it if necessary), pull the needle the rest of the way under the backstitch.

When done correctly, a knot will be formed on the backstitch; pull the knot tight.













Continue counter-clockwise, repeating the last 2 steps until a knot has been formed on every backstitch...

Once a knot is formed on each backstitch, Row 1 is complete.  Take a second to look closely at the Trellis stitches.  Notice that on either side of each knot is a "leg" connecting the knots. To begin the second row of Trellis stitches insert the needle under the first leg of the first knot.

Below is a closeup of where the needle is inserted to start Row 2.  The knot on the right is the first knot of Row1; the needle is inserted under the leg.

As before, wrap the working thread around the needle and pull it through to form a knot.

Continue working the knots (or Spiral Trellis stitches) around and around to close up the circle.

As you progress, the knots will start to get crowded.  Skip a stitch occasionally, to alleviate the crowding.

To finish, plunge the needle down through the center of the circle, catching a bit of a "leg" on the opposite side, as shown here.

The only stitches appearing on the back of the fabric will be the backstitched circle.  Run the needle under 5 or 6 stitches to secure it and trim the excess.

Spiral Trellis worked in Trebizond silk thread

Try to cut enough thread to complete the entire process.  If you run out of thread part way through, or want to change colors, end the old thread after making a knot, by plunging the needle down through the fabric where the "leg" of the next knot would be.  Start your new thread with an away waste knot and bring the needle up through the fabric close to the last knot formed. Continue as before.

Reverse Chain Stitch Instructions

This stitch can be worked in cotton, silk, or metal threads.
For cotton or silk, use a waste knot to start your thread and after completing the embroidery, cut the knot off and wrap the beginning tail under 4 or 5 stitches on the back of your work.


This demonstration will be worked in gold metal "thread" (#371 wire), threaded in a size 11 Japanese needle.  For goldwork, tie a double knot to start the thread.  This double knot is not cut off later, but left on the back of the work.  To tie a double knot, first tie a single knot as shown in the first photo....

then wrap the loose end, or tail, through the loop again as shown at left.






Pull the knot closed.  As it's closing it will begin to look like a figure 8 as seen here   >

This is a good indication that it was tied correctly.






Reverse Chain Stitch is begun by making a small back stitch at the beginning of the line that is to be covered.   Do this by bringing the needle up through the fabric about 1/8" in from the beginning of the line.  Pull the thread up through the fabric until the double knotted end is firmly against the back of the fabric.


Plunge the needle back down through the fabric at the starting point of the line as shown at left.  This produces a small straight stitch on the fabric surface, called a back stitch.

Next, bring the needle back up through the fabric about 1/4" away from the backstitch and run it under the back stitch.

Return the needle back down through the fabric in the same hole.
This creates a small loop on the fabric surface as shown below.













Next, bring the needle back up through the fabric,  about 1/4" away from the first loop.











Run the needle under the first loop....

and back down through the fabric in the same hole, creating a second loop.

Continue to fill the remainder of the line by bringing the needle to fabric surface 1/4" from last loop, running the needle under the last loop and plunging it back down through the fabric at the same point.

 At the end of the line, finish the last loop, taking the needle to the back of the fabric.













The surface of your work will look like a chain laid on the fabric >












To finish off the thread, turn fabric over so the back is facing you.  You will see a series of straight stitches creating a line...











Run the needle under 5 or 6 stitches, wrapping the thread around them.









Trim the tail close to the fabric.

The back of the work after thread has been tied off.

Note:

When turning a sharp corner it’s necessary to begin a new row of chain stitches.  To do this finish off the last chain stitch, taking the needle down through the fabric.  Turn the corner and start with a backstitch, as before, running the first chain stitch under the backstitch.