My first TAST stitch! Maybe not the easiest one to start off with, but I’ve ended with an OK result (I think!).
The first step was to work out how to do normal cable chain stitch! I’m clearly not terribly adventurous, as I’ve not ventured further than chain stitch before.
Now is time for a little confession – I was a little confused by the instructions for cable chain stitch on Pintangle, and after not finding the stitch in my stitch dictionary (time for a new one maybe?), I headed over to this video by Mary Corbett on Needle n Thread. The penny dropped! It did take a few attempts to get the stitches to their current standard, and still improvement to be made. I think this is where using an even weave fabric would be beneficial!
The interlacing step I found easier, but it still took a couple of attempts. For contrast on the lacing, I chose a thin, polyester thread by Sajou. Mainly because I had it on hand, and not having used it before I wanted to give it a go! You can see from the photo below that the laces aren’t particularly even, and I need to work on getting them to ‘sit’ in the middle of the chain stitch. I am reasonably happy with the result, although I wasn’t sure how tight to pull the laces, and I think the answer is tighter than I did!
So, the important part – what did I learn? Firstly, even weave fabric is the way to go when learning new stitches that look better when even! Too late for this at the moment, but I’ll try putting that into the memory bank for next time!
Secondly, I first started the cable chain stitch with one strand of thread. After looking at the effect, I decided it would be better in two strands, and I’m much happier with the result.
I think one of the problems with my cable chain stitch is that my ‘cables’ are too long. I couldn’t decide how long to make the ‘cables’, and I think I ended up a little on the long side.
So not too bad, but it would have been easier with straight lines! Still some practice needed, but I enjoyed learning a new stitch, and seeing how it could be used as a decorative filling.
This week is twisted chain stitch – I think my chain stitch will be improving this year! I’ve never used this stitch before either, so another learning experience!
How did you go with this stitch? Any suggestions or tips you have and would like to share would be wonderful to see!
Such lovely work!
Thank you! A good learning experience, and I really enjoyed playing with this stitch ☺
Welcome to TAST – have fun with it I hope you have many hours of pleasure learning new stitching stuff – your start is lovely!
Thanks Sharon! Thanks for giving us this great opportunity to learn new stitches and challenge us to improve the ones we already know. I’m just planning out the next TAST stitch! Looking forward to a great and challenging year.