October / November Stitchalong

When picking up a stitchalong bag last month at Seata, the autumnal coloured French knots drew my attention, particularly when I read Christine’s brief: please use a similar “autumnal” colour scheme, but feel free to stitch whatever you like in the remaining squares.

I love the autumn colours: orange, rusts and golds, the odd splash of reds, burgundies and yellows. I’m still a big kid at heart and enjoy scrunching through the fallen leaves, and can never resist a conker. When I put my hand in a pocket and find one I picked up weeks ago, it still makes me smile.

I started with feather stitch going diagonally across the square…..

…..in varying weights of perlé, then started changing direction…….

……. building up layers. I’d had fallen leaves in my head as I stitched, but by the time I’d got to this stage I thought it looked like flames. A bonfire? An open fire? Or a wood burner?

I added some rusty coloured rayon over the top, and decided that it did make me think of bonfires, the way the front of you is toasty warm and your back is cold, until you turn round to cool your face, going round and round like a spit roast. Happy times and memories.

“Moving on”

We have had another “Move it on” session at S.E.A.T.A. today, but I started by default earlier in the week at “In the stitch zone” when I discovered I’d picked up the wrong bag and hadn’t got my bigger piece of felt with me. The previous week I’d gone without my sewing kit, though this was soon remedied by borrowing a needle and scissors.

Fortunately, I’d got several unfinished pieces (works in progress) in my bag, so made a start on the felt (Karen Lane) that I’m making into a hair slide piece. First I did a tiny bit of weaving, one of the prompts from the “Springboard Project” that we have done this term with Alex. I decided I’d try and get all ten prompts on this piece, but I’m not sure if I’ve really managed it; some are a little tenuous but certainly have layer, knot, scrunch, wrap, cut …..

I reached the stage where I was ready to assemble it, but with trying it out, and in consultation with Alex, decided it needed another layer of pelmet vilene which was also at home. Then a bit of a shock, I’d hadn’t realised how grey my hair is at the back.

First job this morning was to cut another piece of pelmet vilene, then to gather with running stitches around the backing fabric, but the piece of green that I intended to use was slightly too small to overlap enough to make it strong enough not to fray, (another prompt, but not one I want to happen on the construction). The only suitable piece of cotton fabric that I had with me was the background fabric from the vegetable garden, the perfect colour of silk I had would just slide too much.

I managed to get it smoother and flatter on the back than I expected only to discover I’d put it on the wrong side of the pelmet vilene – it would have been against the felt leaving the back as pelmet vilene with the extra fabric on the back. This was soon remedied by putting another layer of fabric to hide the raw edges and it’s reinforced the ends of the hole where the metal goes through under my hair. The raw edges are all going to be hidden inside.

I’ve button-hole stitched the five layers together on the centre hole ….

…. and around the edge.

So it’s finally finished….

…. and the back is neat too.

I’ve also finished the holly and ivy bauble with five tiny red glass beads, and neatened the top and the bottom.