Saturday 7 August 2010

The Reason I Abandoned Free-Style Embroidery?



When I was about 15 or 16 years old, I saw this kit advertised in one of my Mum's magazines. With the over ambition of youth, I totally ignored just how big it was an bought it! Well ...... seemed a very nice picture! I probably didn't even really notice the dimensions of 18" x 40"!

The instructions recommended putting the fabric on a frame but, as I only had an embroidery hoop, this was what I used. In truth, a hoop is not the ideal thing for this picture because you will inevitably end up crushing some stitches as the picture progresses. However, I made a start!!


I made a pretty good start over on the far right-hand side of the picture. Even if I say so myself, I'm quite impressed with the stitches and my standard.



For some reason, I then jumped over to the only bright yellow flower over on the left. It was here that I hit problems....... I wasn't happy at all with the satin stitches on the yellow flower or the orange flower ............. they seemed too long and I wasn't happy with how the material was slightly puckering. Perhaps I didn't have sufficient tension in the embroidery frame? Perhaps the satin stitches ARE too long, although I was following the instructions and they have the stitches this long.
So ...... I put it away and have only just recently found it ...... approximately 35 years later!
Looking at it now, my stitches don't seem too bad and I am left thinking that my 15 year old self was too critical! Could I attempt to carry on with it? It's tempting! However, I really don't want a picture this size!
What other use could I put it to if I were to finish it?

4 comments:

Rachael said...

You must finish it Elaine, you have made an excellent start. I'll have a think about what else it could be made into as you don't want a large picture.

joy said...

all I can say is "wow"
joy (jms) xx

Dinah said...

I do hope that you finish this wonderful piece of work. I am in a similar position with a rather large tapestry which I started over twenty years ago and then came to a complete stop ! LOL

Elaine said...

Hi,
I am both amazed and humbled by your responses to this abandoned piece of work!

Isn't it funny how we can be our own worst critic and can't see what others see?

I'm now inspired to try and finish it ..... once the rug is done!

(Although .... I haven't mentioned the cross stitch tiger's head that also needs finishing .... that hasn't been abandoned for quite so long though. It only went on the back burner when I realised the faded pattern of the rug needed my urgent attention! LOL)

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