So when I start a new piece like this
using a dark fabric my marking pens won't show up on,
I will draw/trace my pattern on a piece of thin tissue,
then outline the pattern in a contrasting thread on the piece,
using 1 strand and a loose straight stitch, that is easy to pick out as you go
I use the tissue from clothing patterns because I have a lot of it
but you can buy pattern tissue from the store.
For those of you Following along on Instagram
will already have already seen the progress on this piece
The books I use for the stitches however, Beyond Tatiana Popova's wonderful Crewel Embroidery book, She is From Ukraine and It would be wonderful if you all could support her by buying either one of her patterns, books or one of her kits.
If you do please buy through her website and not amazon as more of the proceeds go to her and not the corporate overlords for another stupid yacht.
Crewel Birds and Crewel Twists by Hazel Blomkamp,
Crewel Embroidery by Shelagh Amor,
& Creative stitching by Sue Spargo,
Which you can find anyoldplace.
A hoop or stretcher is a must when you are going on this little adventure
you really do need to keep it taught so I recommend a hoop that has an internal ridge to keep the fabric from slipping
Or stretcher bars with tacks or rollers and side pullers you can tack it to
Otherwise your beautiful, time consuming *It took me f*&king hours!* Work will be irretrievably puckered and we don't want that!
On to some of the specialty threads I have been playing with
They come from Oliver Twists by Jean Oliver
She has specialty thread mixes that are to die for! but the website is vast and you do have to hunt things up, so don't go broke looking around because there is a lot of tantalizing stuff there to play with!
And so here we are at the end of what I have to say
I really need to fix that feather!
