GBCW.....Tulip

                        Last two post GBCW 1 and  2 , we worked on Butterfly. Now we shall work upper flower which i call ' Tulip '.

                   To work two lower leaf of tulip, first add guidelines at the center of  leaf as shown in below picture. Start working ' fly stitch '  with 3 strands of thread and shade no 889 ( olive green )

Add guidelines to leaf

Fly stitch 

Fly stitch

                  Lets concentrate on center portion of tulip, work ' satin stitch '  horizontally with 3 strands of thread, shade no 10 (peach color).

Tulip, satin stitch

                Now work ' chain stitch ' on outer part of leaf covering center bud with 2 strands of thread, shade no 246 ( dark green ).

Tulip covering leaf, chain stitch

                     Now again work second line of ' chain stitch ' around outer part of leaf with 2 strands of thread, shade no 267.

Second line of chain stitch 

           
                 Once again work third line of chain stitch around outer part of leaf with 2 strands of thread shade no 256 ( light green). So first line will be dark green, second line is medium green and third line is light green. Same way finish inner part of leaf, work three lines of chain stitch with three tones of green.

Third line of chain stitch

                 Have look at below picture, working of all three lines of chain stitch.

Tulip leaf

                      Work ' stem stitch ' to mark center vine of leaf with 3 strands of thread , shade no 304. Work ' Detached chain ' on either sides of vine and also on left leaf with 3 strands of thread, shade no 329.

Highlight tulip

Tulip

                 
                    Work ' Laid work ' for bud. Over satin stitch add diagonal lines as shown in below picture with 3 strands of thread, shade no 304. Also work ' satin stitch ' diagonally on left leaf ( which shows inner portion of leaf, tiny area ) with 3 strands of thread, shade no 889. Its a very small area, satin stitch is worked diagonally inwards direction.

Laid work on bud

                   Again work diagonal lines in opposite direction on bud as shown in below picture.    Work ' straight stitch ' at intersection of two diagonal lines with 2 strands of thread, shade no 246.

Laid work 

                 

                       Finish top of bud by working ' stem stitch ' with 2 strands of thread, shade no 329.

Finishing Tulip

                         Have a look at finished Tulip.

Tulip 

                      Keep stitching. Next post, we shall deal with Grapes.  

GBCW, more on Butterfly

  

                   First post on GBCW, we worked little bit on Butterfly center portion ( thorax and abdomen)  and wings. Moving on, i shall try to complete working Butterfly.

            

                Work  ' Closed Buttonhole '  on all four wings with light blue ( shade no 1089 ) using 2 strands of thread. 

Wings of Butterfly

                 
                     Firm ' French knot ' worked in between each square on lower wings with orange color ( shade no 326 ) using 2 strands of thread and 2 warps.

Butterfly

French knots on Butterfly wings

             
                       Outer part of wings outlined with ' Stem stitch '  with shade no 189 using single strand.

Outlining Butterfly wing

         
                    After working first line of stem stitch with shade no 189, again work second line of stem stitch with blue color ( shade no 1089 ) using single strand.

Second outline, Butterfly wing

                         Work ' Satin stitch '  on head of Butterfly with shade no 1089 using 2 strands of thread.

Satin stitch on Butterfly head

                   For antenna of Butterfly ' stem stitch ' is worked with orange ( shade no 326 ) using 2 strands of thread.  Eyes of Butterfly worked with ' french knots ' just below antenna with shade no 401 ( Grey), 2 strands of thread.

              Now for upper wings of  Butterfly work ' cross stitch ' with shade no 326 ( orange ), 2 strands of thread, worked only on two alternate rows.

Finished Butterfly

                 Happy stitching !!!  Next post on upper flower ' Tulip '

Grapes and Butterfly Crewel Work

          Hi, its been quite long time blogging !!!   Well here is my first " Stitch Along on Grapes and Butterfly Crewel Work (GBCW) " .  I have tried to keep it simple, hope you all enjoy working it !!!

Grapes and Butterfly Crewel work

        You can get this pattern here " Grapes and Butterfly Crewel work ".

  Fabric, Needle and Thread :

       For this project i have used ' Kora ' fabric, you can use any cotton cloth with fine weaving or linen. Threads are Anchor threads and crewel needle 8 or 9 is suitable.


      Lets begin working butterfly. The center portion of Butterfly is worked with ' raised stem stitch ' , its blue color - no 170 ( anchor threads ). Both base stitch ( horizontal line) and stem stitch is worked using 3 strands of  anchor thread ( shade no 170 ).
   

Working center portion of Butterfly

            Before working wings of Butterfly, add guild lines to work ' Trellis stitch or Jacobean couching ' 
Spacing between parallel lines is less than half centimeter or 4mm.

Add guild lines to wings 

             Work horizontal and vertical lines over the wings of Butterfly using shade no 189 and 3 strands of thread.

Wing of Butterfly

Wing of Butterfly

           Work cross stitch on intersecting points ( horizontal and vertical lines ).

Butterfly Crewel work

                Cross stitch is worked with shade no 401 (grey color) with 2 strands of thread.

                 

Butterfly Crewel work

              Have a look at ' Trellis stitch or Jacobean couching ' on wings of Butterfly.

Tent stitch on Butterfly wings

         
                      Keep watching, more to come on ' Butterfly ' !!! Happy stitching. 

Crewel Work

         Crewel work is worked in fine " crewel 2 ply wool " on linen in its traditional form.  It was popular in 17th century and earliest forms of English surface embroidery, which is also sometimes known as " Jacobean Embroidery ". Crewel work patterns are bold,stylized flowers, birds, animals, trees, insects which links back to Elizabethan era of working style.

Crewel / Jacobean work

                  Most of the design is worked with " laid work " across the pattern from one side to other with only small stitch on back of fabric and then these laid stitch are held with couching , later finishing is done with stem stitch across the pattern.


            Most famous piece of  Crewel work is " Bayeux Tapestry ", commemorate the battle of 1066 between Britons and Normans using only eight shades of wool on linen.

Crewel / Jacobean work

             Above my work is done using cotton threads and not with wool. Many embroider say if a crewel work is not worked with wool, just say it as surface embroidery and not crewel work.


               Crewel work uses most of surface embroidery stitches, but laid work and different forms of filling stitches like brick satin filling, honeycomb filling, trellis, battlement couching are majorly worked. Apart from these stitches, chain, stem, buttonhole, herringbone, satin, long and short, bullion, french knots.... are used to complete a pattern.

              This being my first attempt, i personally enjoyed working it and simply loved this form because any shape can be worked with filling stitch in no time, time consumption is less compared to other form if we use filling stitches. And it gives bold effect.