Work on the Way To Completion

OK! What on earth is this I imagine you are saying!

Well, the year before last (I think it was anyhow!!) I had two little needlepoint projects on the go that were small enough that I didn't need to do them in a frame. However, this did mean that they did get very slightly pulled out of shape in the course of stitching and needed to be stretched before they could be made up.

At long last, just recently I asked John to mark up a couple of sheets of marker board with ruled lines so I could do this stretching.

This little kit is from Cleopatra's Needle and is a spectacle case worked entirely in tent stitch using wool. As you can see above, in the working the canvas has been very slightly been pulled out of the true square.

Now ...... in looking round the Internet, some sites say to damp the work before trying to stretch and some say to do it after pinning it out on a board. Nevertheless, one thing for sure, as I live in a hard water area I decided that if I used tap water, I'd probably end up with limescale marks on the work.

So, I bought some ironing water and, deciding to damp first, I lightly damped the back of the work.

I then set off and started to carefully pin it out on the board.

Never having done this before, I wasn't really sure how best to do it! In the end, since the top edge was straight and 'true', I carefully pinned this edge, putting pins in approximately every centimetre. I then carefully stretched and pinned the left hand edge, then the bottom edge and then the right hand edge.

 I used stainless steel mapping pins; rust proof and strong!

One minor hiccough! The pins are long enough that they go through the board a little bit and can stick in you if you're not careful!! But ..... hey ..... perhaps 'art'(?) needs a little pain :)

Since the spectacle case went so well, I went onto a square pin-cushion that I bought a long time ago when we visited Winchester Cathedral. I really enjoyed making this since it involved several different needlepoint stitches that I hadn't tried before. However, you can see how these stitches have pulled the side pieces out of true.

A back view of the work! Something people don't often see!

The following closeups show more clearly how the side pieces have been pulled out of true. You can also see some of the different stitches used.

Again, I damped the work before pinning to the board. Stretching was a little more tricky but here is the finished pinning.

Once they are dry, I can remove the pins and see how well the stretching has worked!

Vintage Tapestry Pictures Number 1

I am aware that my blog just recently has drifted well away from my initial idea of describing my needlework efforts, both those I'm doing currently and those I've done in the past.

Well ...... here I am waiting for a washing machine repair man to turn up, so I thought I'd do something about this :)

The last time I mentioned my needlework efforts when I was younger, it was to mention the large free-style flower picture embroidery that I did not actually finish!

However, the horse picture above was one I think I started when I was about 16 years old. I can't really remember. It's about 14.5 inches square in size. I'm pretty sure I bought this one for myself and it will have been the image that attracted me as I was horse mad when a girl. I did about half of it and then got fed up with it. I then started it again in 1981 and finished it in December 1981. The only reason I can give an accurate date is because I wrote this date on the back! In those days, I didn't use a frame and it needed quite a lot of stretching. However, this was the picture that got me 'hooked' on Penelope tapestry kits.

The one above I completed in March 1982 (again, thankfully I wrote the date on the back!) and it was 'Spring', one of a series of four, one for each season.

This one was the 'Winter' in the same Penelope series. I finished this one in April 1983, the month and year we got married! Again, I wrote the date on the back ..... plus my single name of Elaine Lawrence so at least I know it was before the 23rd April 1983! I didn't do Summer or Autumn as I didn't like them as much. Both of these are about 12 inches square.

All three are stitched with tent stitch and, at that time, I don't recall that you could even get kits that used the many other needlepoint stitches available to stitchers. Many think that doing vast areas of tent stitch is boring. However, I find such stitching to be very meditative. Also, there is something magical seeing the colours 'pop' out of the canvas from the subdued image on the painted canvas as you complete the stitching with the wool. It really can be a 'just one more stitch' every time you stitch one of these canvases.

All three of these were framed using non-reflective glass but I must admit to having problems taking photos of them. They all look a bit 'washed out' with a little bit of glare on the glass, even though I've tried to adjust the contrast and colour saturation. The two seasons pictures I actually put down on the floor to try and improve things but that has only been partially successful.

It probably needs more experimentation on my part ....... unless someone else knows some magic tricks?

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy and Peaceful Christmas. This time last year, I hadn't discovered the world of Craft and Needlework blogs and so I'd like to express my thanks to the wealth of talent and inspiration so freely shared by so many people around the world.

I thought I'd share with you a few items I made many years ago that form a set part of the Christmas tradition in my family. The cross stitch stocking in the photo above I made for James when he was about 3 years old from a kit from Readicut. It is 16 inches from top to bottom and 10 inches across at the 'foot' part of the stocking. It is stitched on 11 count Aida and the backing is a cream coloured cotton material. It took me ages to complete, primarily because the black and white chart that I had to follow was the most difficult one I have ever done! It had obscure Greek letters as the chart symbols and the pattern was very faint in some areas. I'm sure it was a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy!

In the following photos are the tent stitch Christmas tree ornaments that I did so long ago, I can't remember exactly when they were made. Again, it was a kit from Readicut and they are stitched on 10 count plastic canvas. They vary in size from 2.5 to 3 inches. However, they were fun to do and they are lovely and colourful on our tree. One added advantage is that they can't be broken! This is useful when you have two cats who think it is great fun to 'hook' things off the Christmas tree :)