First finish of the year!

I’ve stitched a little gold star with Madeira Metallic on the top of my Rhodes stitch Christmas tree…….

…… it’s very subtle and may need a bit of tweaking.

Then on to the glueing round the edge, with neat PVA this time. I left it overnight to make sure it was completely dry, and then for the scary bit of cutting it out. The white cut threads of the canvas show up too much…….

……. so I used a damp Inktense pencil in a dark green around the edges, both front and back, a yellow around the star, and left it to dry again. Then I put another layer of PVA, just to make sure.

I cut a slightly smaller triangle of mount board to go in the middle, and found some green felt to stitch on the back. I had stitched another piece of felt to make a pocket for a pencil on the inside, to use as a trunk for it to stand up. I found a wooden reel for a tub, a reel of red, and couldn’t decide which to use. Then I found a dark green Sylco on a wooden reel to stitch the pocket and the front to the back. I realised when I’d stitched across the bottom, up one side and about an inch up the other side, that although it would stand up I’d not put the mount board in the middle! I thought it would be worth undoing that little bit, and managed to wriggle it in.

Now the stitching’s finished.

The pencil’s in place, and I decided that the green reel looked better than the empty wooden reel or the red one. I can easily take the pencil out and use the thread, if I need to use such a dark green for anything else. I think Lorna is right, and the star needs to be more obvious, but I’d not got anything suitable with me.

So it’s not really quite finished…… yet!!!

Dala horses 2

I was intending to finish this weeks ago, and couldn’t find it. I pulled it out when I was getting something else out of my bag of projects earlier in the week, and I’ve been taking things in and out of the bag for the last month! Crazy!

As I wrote in Dala horses last month, he needed an eye on each side: a sparkly silvery hologram sequin with a black bead in the middle. I also added a line of couched thread across the nose before cutting out both sides.

I used overcasting to join them together, starting behind the front leg so that I could stuff as I went along, which makes it easier to do the bottom of the legs and the head. I left the belly open to finish the rest of the stuffing.

I used a Sylko thread in the same green as the felt, which makes the stitches virtually invisible as they sink in to the felt.

I found the point of balance, and added a narrow ribbon in the same colour as the mane and saddle to hang him. All ready to hand in to Ruth at Seata tomorrow, ready for the Festival of Christmas Trees in Ashby in December.

The colours that I’ve used are very much the autumnal palette that I’ve seen around me in the last month or so. The cherry tree leaves that I see when I open the curtains every morning were only just starting then, but now they’ve all but gone.

Vintage stash and Bargello cushion

In my stash I’ve found the perfect piece of old gold velvet to back the cushion and to frame the piece of nearly finished canvas work. It was just about big enough if I was careful with my cutting, even allowing for making sure the pile is all running the same way.

It was very much a case of measuring twice (O.K., several) times to work out how best to cut it. Once I’d trimmed the raggedy and uneven edges, I cut a long strip off one side for the short sides, along the canvas work once I’ve finished it. It’s not quite square. Then a zig-zag stitch along the raw edge, that will be folded under for the lower edge of the zip. I found one in my stash just the right length, if slightly pale. It’s totally hidden, so it’s not a problem.

I also found four different reels of gold Sylko thread that were all a pretty good match. That’s just as well because I’ve almost used up the one on putting in the zip and neatening the raw edges, which are the only bit where you will actually see a row of stitching.

I decided to use the oldest one, which also had the least on it. This was a bit of a trip down memory lane, with the Woolworth’s label saying 6 1/2; now is that “p”, or “d” which would date it pre-1971? Cheaper than I remember them, but on a plastic reel so nowhere near as old as some of my wooden reels of Sylko.

They had such wonderful names too: “Mustard Gold”, “Classic Gold” and “Old Gold”. Unfortunately the one on the top left has lost its name label.

I’ve put the zip in, the second side is pinned below. It’s the bit that I thought I was most likely to procrastinate about, so I’ve not finished the canvas work yet.

I don’t put in cushion zips in quite the conventional way, but make the top flap longer to make sure you don’t see the zip. This also means that it doesn’t catch on furniture or clothes. The back of the cushion is ready to assemble once I finish the front.

I’ve looked at the three possible colours to finish the canvas work along side the velvet ….

… and decided on the middle browny one. The light green is the same as the zig and wouldn’t give much contrast, as the wool would lie in the same direction, and the dark green I felt was too contrasty with the velvet.

I’ve laid a strip of velvet vertically and horizontally at the side of the canvas, and think it will all work. I just need to finish off the canvas work and assemble it all, a much less daunting prospect now that I’ve done the cutting and put in the zip.