TAST 2016 – Stitch 27 – Bonnet Stitch

I’m continuing on with my catching up of TAST stitches, and have now completed  bonnet stitch. Nearly caught up! This is not a stitch I have heard of before, so this is proving to be a useful activity already!

I struggled a little more with this stitch than I have with the others so far in this year’s TAST challenge. At first I attempted to stitch in a circle as Sharon had said this was effective, which it was in her sample! I however did not get far before I decided it all needed to come out and that I should start again!

Sharon recommended stitching this stitch in a twisted thread, like a perle. She recommended a perle 8, but since I seem to only have perle 5 in my stash, that is what I used! It does look a little thick next to the other stitches, but not to worry! It’s all part of the journey of learning and exploration! Having not stitched this in a standard standard cotton, I can’t give any insight into the advantages of using a thread with a twist I’m afraid.

stitch 27 bonnet stitch 1

One of the trickiest things I found with this stitch was that it is worked from right to left, which seems backwards to my poor English brain, but I can’t see how it would work if stitched from left to right! Just the way this stitch is I guess.

Once I was out of circle mode, I got into the swing of the stitch quite easily, as I did working from right to left! Each of my rows were quite short, but I added the additional challenge in of trying to ‘link’ them up as they joined at a point on my design.

Overall I was quite happy with the end result, and once I understood each step in the completion of this stitch, I moved through it quite quickly. And I really like the twisted look of the stitch! It makes quite a lovely decorative stitch, and would make a lovely border. I imagine you could get quite creative with this stitch, varying the lengths of each stitch, and the distance between them, to achieve some beautiful effects.

stitch 27 bonnet stitch 3

The important part – what did I learn?! I’m not sure if you can see in the photos properly, however in the first row of stitches I completed (the one on the left), I didn’t quite get the tension of the stitches correct. It seemed the step of threading back under the straight stitch needs to be at a reasonably tight tension. If not, the stitch looks messy. I think you also need a bit of ‘room’ to complete the stitch successfully, so you aren’t crowding in the stitches too much. I think this might have contributed to why my first attempt at the circle failed – it was too small!

It was a great stitch, and I loved learning it – thanks Sharon! If you worked this stitch, how did you find it? I’d love to know your thoughts!

stitch 27 bonnet stitch 2

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Catherine of Hillview Embroidery

Thanks so much for visiting today! I’m Catherine, and it’s great to have you here. You will find here lots of information about my projects and designs, what worked, what didn’t, what I enjoyed, what I didn’t!

With a Certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery from the RSN, combined with my current technical studies in depth of each technique at the San Fransisco School of Needlework and Design, I strive to complete each piece to a high degree of technical excellence. But I also like to stretch the ‘rules’ and explore my own methods and techniques!

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