Stitchin' Away

You may remember that I started a piece of handwork that I can take with me to rehearsals.  So far it has not made it to a rehearsal, but it has certainly had some hands-on time.

You see,  my character comes onstage later in the play.  The director is rehearsing the play in order, so I have only been to the original read through. My first rehearsal is in about a week.  But I could not resist doing some stitching on this project.  And when I sit down with it, time passes easily.  I love the unplanned creativity in making this type of work.  I simply decide what thread and what stitches I am going to do as I go.

Originally I was planning for this to be a landscape orientation, but that changed. Of course, it could change back later, but I am enjoying the shapes in this orientation for now.

There is some machine couching on this that was done in the first step.  However, there is one thread that is hand couched.  That thread is larger and the only needles I have in that size are not sharps.  So I threaded it and forced the needle through the fabric, then I couched it with  a fine thread by hand. At the end, I forced it back through the fabric and knotted the end. I think it looks great.  It makes me glad that I didn't have the correct needle yet; so I learned the difference in machine and hand couching.
 I think machine couching presses the couched thread further into the piece. But the hand couching allows it to lay on top and have a greater textural impact. 

Fortunately, I have one of the fabric pieces I painted that will become my next handwork piece.

I also experimented with dyeing a skein of thread to use in my handwork. This thread is one that I have on a big cone for weaving but was about the same size as some of my perle cotton threads.

Hand dyed threads - I am not sure if it is cotton or bamboo.

The thread took the color nicely but it spread more than expected. (It is a learning process.)  It sews nicely so I am planning to dye some more in the next few days.  The next time I will be aware of the fact that it wicks so much and hopefully get more of the result I was going for.   But even if it surprises me, it will still be useful in this process.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

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