Froggy Eye

Time for some interesting stitches:-) The iris is to be a buttonhole in a circle. In the center I always bring the needle to the same spot.
You can see that I'm trying to work properly, as I made a knot at the right side that would be snipped afterwards:-)

Two small stitches as a base. They come from inside the iris.

This is quite interesting stitch (it probably has a name:-D), and I'm sorry that I couldn't enjoy it very much at such a small object:-)
I led my needle between the two stitches, brought it under one of them and repeated with the other side.

It will look scary, won't it :-D
I'm lucky to be finished with green now.

Froggy and Portugese Stem

Not a lot of progress on my frog. This is how I measure where the next couching line should lay (to keep the parallelism).

I feel like loosing my emboidery patience and enthousiasm. And cure? Start with another part:-) Change is freshening.
This is a Portugese form of decorative stem stitch. I saw only Czech name so if you could advise me about the English one, I'd be pleased.
The beginning is like a usual stem stitch. However, when you are in the middle of the former stitch, you don't go forward, but stop to twist the thread twice around the stitch (backward direction). You should always pick both threads, which is not visible at the first stitch. Then you go on.

I have chosen This stitch instead of the stem stitch cause it's wider (to fullfil the huge gaps between each embroidered area), it's more decorative and it doesn't have such problem to stay integrated in the corners.

By the way, can you recover the place at the frog where I stopped the green embroidery with intent to change direction of couching? Then I decided not to and covered this gap with couching.
I think it will be wasy:-)

A Long Post

And a long day.
Another pouch: I used only two pieces now. I ironed them to a similar size. In fact this is for a friend of mine who wants me to make her a dress with yellow lining. At her pouch I just swapped the fabrics.

I inserted the cotton at the bottom and couched as yesterday. It's necessary to catch all of the layers with the needle.

At the top I made a tripled couching stitch and inserted the ends between the layers before the backstitch (for more see yesterday). It was more comfortable.

You can see that there's no embroidery. My friend is quite skilful and I put inside instructions and some cottons to decorate it for her.

At the next pouch I can show you how to make a fingerloop cord.
I tie a magical knot that's used e.g. for crochet, on a double thread. The slipping part must be at the longer side.

I insert one loop in another..

..so that the knot doesn't undo when I pull one of the loops. I hold the cottons like in the picture.

Then I put my forefinger into the loop and yarn on, like when crocheting. When I have the new loop on my finger, I pull the other cord tight. Then I do the same with the other hand. On and on. That's it.

This is the pouch. The dark blue is stem stitch and the light blue is a little cross over a big cross.
You may notice that I used the same red as the canvas is for the back stitches. That's because I placed the cross too upwards.

The last pouch. Velvet, machine sewed (very very little time left). I didn't embroider it. I decorated it with tassels. I don't remember myself making tassels before. I took an inspiration at Matcheld's.
I wove blue cotton around two fingers and tied tight with brown cotton.

Then I cut one end, combed a bit with my fingers and started to wind silver around the tassel to form a certain neck and head. I didn't bother myself solving a knot or other way of ending, I just threaded the silver in a needle and brought it through the center downwards. I made two knots on the brown cotton before sewing it to the pouch.

Two long circles of lace for easy fastening and done. This is a pouch for a lady who often wears court dress.

I also managed to sew a coat for manger for my niece-to-be :-) (I don't even talk about the baby-carrying shawl between this and the pouches)

It was annoying, as I didn't want to make a tunnel for the rubber band but sew it directly on the fabric.

And now, Christmas can start.
By the way, it's six in the morning and I should go for a nap.

Icon Day 4

As far as the pouch. I took some inspiration at Racaire's and at Cotte simple. I tried to iron four identical rectangles.

I took six strands of cotton and sewed the pouche's sides couching them with a red thread. I liked its look. And did something wrong. I accidentaly cut some strands off. Yeah, this is an experienced seamstress:-D

I put the snipped ends between two layers of the canvas and inserted new ones at their place, then I continued couching. You may spot it between the third and fourth couching stitch:-)

I luckily made all the couching and got to the upper part. I made a back stitch line through each two layers of the fabric, snipped the cotton and laid it above the back stitches. Couched. By the way, this is how I end up the golden threads - when I tuck them under the fabric, I don't make a knot but couch a short piece instead.

Then I sewed these layers together with red thread just above the cotton (only a few stitches at one place).

I sewed the upper sides together with my favourite "rice stitch". I already know its name. From now on it'll be a whip stitch:)

Some fingerlooping and .. done:-D
There are two circles of cord for easy fastening.

Icon Day 3

I finally made the embroidery. So about three days this icon took. (Consider the fact that I'm quite lazy and slow:-D) I was quite afraid about the faces. Medieval artists put the accent on expressions of their saints.

And at night - my beloved work with gold. The aureola. You can see how I couched the golden thread. I folded it in the middle and attached with a small stitch (I had been considering a red thread as a couching one but eventually this one won). I went on couching, always taking two threads at once.
When I reached the end I attached the outer golden thread with two small stitches - to form a little part of rectangle, leavin a space for the inner thread. This one was attached next - with one stitch normal and the other one to catch two threads to form a sharp turn.

Quite happy about this one finished:-) Now I only have to make a pouch out of it and three others (certainly not so complicated and time consuming:-D).

Only.

Icon Day 2

This is how the icon looked in the morning. I tried to make most of the outlines yesterday. When I'm losing patience I just swap a colour and start with another part. It usually works;-)
By the way, to draw the image to the canvas I used a special marker that should disappear after about two days, depends on the kind of the fabric. I had to laugh finding out that it disappeared in quarter an hour - I didn't even manage to draw the whole picture! :-D

And this is in the evening. I tried to make a photo without flash to maintain the colours. I feel like a hero cause I was able to make one good picture in about fifteen bad :-D

I didn't think the colours of the fabric and the cotton would be so similar! But what can I do now..
I'm quite pleased I used the split stitch, with some stitches (e.g. chain stitch that would be faster) I have a problem making curves and acute angles.

Icon Day 1

I wished to make a pouch for my friend as a present. I was searching for a symbol to decorate it, when I remembered she loves icons:-)
I collected some cottons, found a picture on the Net and started.

Illogically I didn't start with the outlines but with the red. I don't know why:-D
Technique - split stitch.

Cookbook Cover

I have a favourite cook book of mine. In fact I'm just learning how to cook. It's an old ancient looking book with title We Cook in a Healthy, Tasty and Economical Way.
I like it so much I decided to make a cover for it as it's in a plastic one (ugh) that's already shredded.

The main character at this future cover is (hard to guess) a froggy. When I started I didn't have any suitable writer on hand. I basted the picture, that's why it's a bit odd:-) I'm not used to drawing by basting.
You can see how I was progressing at the Bayeaux stitch. Racaire made a wonderful handout if you wanted to know how to. I just didn't go back along the stitch I made, but I passed every second stitch. When I reached the end, I went back fulfilling those gaps. Then I made the anchor stitches as usual.

In fact the right reason to do this was probably me missing embroidery. Especially in the tambour. I have no embroidery project, everybody wants just sewing from me:'-(

More Mathematics

This is so called butt function.
It's my way to cope with Maths, when I embroider these little creatures. By the way on Monday I got F from a test. Funny, isn't it:)

Mathematics Progress

There are some new functions that met me lately. It's this likeable Sine Formula and Mr. Integral.

Griffin Cap Done

I finally made the draft. The threads are laid too densely. I see that there's a lot to learn about this kind of embroidery to master it:)

This part's what I call combing:-) At the beginning you have a chaotic mass of threads, at the end they are laid nice in rows. The technique is well explained by Racaire (refilsaum). I made the tiny stitches after every second thread. In my opinion it would have been better to change direction of the threads at legs. Next time..

Combing is fun. You just have to get through all other work to get to it :-/

Math-Fire T-shirt

One Ufo's done! Cool, maybe caused by the lack of time left for finishing. My friend's birthday's on Monday. I managed to terminate today, althgough at the end I had to force myself to finish it.

The web (supportive fabric) was fault, I admit, and if it minds I'll rip it out for her.
The writing means "Club of Fiery Mathematicians", but fiery's not exact, French word enflammé would be more suitable, as it means something like enthousiastic.

Ambiguous T-shirt present:-) I hope she'll like it.

UFO Queen

If I go on like this I'll soon become a queen of UFO - UnFinished Objects.
Today I have a project that should end up in a present for a friend of mine. I love it and I hope she'll do as well.
It's T-shirt. About her.

I tried to use a toughtening fabric (web) under my embroidery for the first time. I don't have any experience with it and maybe it shouldn't be used like that.. Smeg knows..
I basted the supportive fabric onto the T-shirt. I put a magazine in order to make stitching more comfortable (I don't have to care if I sewed the front and back side together;-P ).

This is the basic drawing.
And below there's what it turned into. Something more than three seminars and this is done.
Just a backstitch. What I particularly like about the stitch is that you don't have to deal with any special behaviour at the corners and it's symetrical. I wanted to use a special stitch that reminds of chain for the chain part but I decided not to spoil the style instead and finish as beginned.

Her birthday is 7th April. I was afraid I wouldn't catch it, but now I'm not anymore.

Oh my Maths

I found a post called Scientific Embroidery that rocks! I'm usually not into simple embroidery but this is just cute.
Having a mathematical test today I decided to use this chunk of inspiration. I have a problem with formulas - at high school I used to write them at one place in the exercise book but now I have to acces them and possibly cumulate as many of them as possible to pass my Math exams. I'll have mathematical pants:-D Adding a formula from time to time..

I used simple backstitch as well, I can't remeber myself using this stitch for real embroidery before..
And this is the first formula - sinus derivation.

Poor natural logarithm is too big and still has visible lines as I tried to make it smaller than drawn. I hope they'll perk up these pants I haven't been very fond of.

And this is likeable cosinus at its place under the bottom.

Today I didn't prove myself well at the test. Next time I must pass!

Gryffin's Outline

If you can remember the gryffin cap, I got down to it a bit and I finally have the outer brown line. It's a tiny split stitch.

I know I'm not a good embroideress, if I were, I wouldn't mention this small work ;-*