Some positive news for the day! I have finished fully the mushrooms and acorns! All mounted and in their new home, with the box already being put to use by hubby as he quickly claimed it! I think it did come up quite nicely for my first attempt at mounting and finishing something!
But, it wasn’t all smooth sailing I have to say! My first mistake was thinking that I knew better than the measurements stated on the box, and mounted it on too small a board! You would think I would have trusted the person who actually made the box wouldn’t you?! Not to worry, more practice at lacing (and cutting out the previous lacing!). It was just a good thing I left plenty of fabric on the back the first time round, so that it didn’t matter that I needed to enlarge it a bit. In my first attempt I also drew the lacing too tight on one of the corners, which made it buckle, so needing to start again wasn’t such a bad thing!
I’m not overly happy with the way I finished the lacing in the corners off either. I figure it won’t be seen, and it didn’t seem to impact the front of the piece at all, however I’ve done some more hunting around on the web (I seem to do things backwards don’t I?), and have finally come across an idea that looks like it doesn’t involve full mitred corners (even after backing several baby blankets these still scare me), but it does end up with a nice clean result. So I’ll give that a go next time!
All in all however, it seemed to work quite well, and the stretching did the embroidery a world of good. Lessons learnt for next time, whenever that may be!
I’ve also started the finish of my crewel work into a cushion. It’s almost finished drying out in the blocking stage (another miracle occurred there! You won’t believe the difference it has made!). I’m currently working through in my head how best to approach the closure of the cushion. I’ve opted for buttons, as I found some really lovely large wooden buttons which compliment the embroidery and backing fabric nicely, and it’s something a bit different to a zipper. I’m just toying up how to actually finish this off. Do I do a buttonhole, or do I use a piping cord or ribbon loop? Decisions decisions!!
I also found another little stumpwork piece that is almost finished in my WIP pile, so I’ll show that to you soon too. It’s partner piece is all finished, so it will have it’s sister soon! I have no idea what I’m going to do with them once they’re done, however I am thinking with Christmas coming up soon I might make them into a gift! Very sneaky given how long they’ve been in the pile for!
A while ago I also signed up for Kathy Andrew’s Trevelyon Cap Course and just as the course started I had my blackout and fractured my skull. FINALLY I am well enough to make a start on it (she has just released lesson 4!), and I made a huge breakthrough today as for the first time in my life I actually set up a slate frame! I have always been terrified of those things, and when the bracing needle arrived that I ordered to set it up, my fears were heightened! Gosh that thing is big and dangerous looking. I’ve even bought a special container to put it in! But, working through it all slowly and actually following the directions, I now have a very taut piece of fabric ready for me to begin my embroidery! I’m so excited to finally start! My hubby is a little worried, as I’ve started talking about all the other ‘old’ style clothes I could re-create…. One step at a time.
I think I’ll head back to try and finish off this little stumpwork piece. If anyone is interested in the kit for Mushrooms and Acorns, it is by an Australian designer, Jan Kerton and you can find it on her website, or in other Australian needlework shops. If you would like it and are having trouble finding it, let me know and I’ll get you some links.
Happy stitching!
