Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Easter Project - Part Three

 


I finished the stitching on my first Easter wip and I wanted to share this helpful tip.   

When I take the finished stitching out of the hoop, I immerse it in water to remove the water soluble ink pattern lines.  I make sure to immerse it because sometimes, if you just dab the lines with water, a blue spot will appear where the ink wasn't completely washed out.  I have learned the hard way to always immerse my project! 

Next, I carefully squeeze out the excess water. I have noticed that since the heavily embroidered areas dry much slower than the unstitched base fabric, often the fabric dries with a lot of wrinkles.  I always iron my projects but I don't like to iron over the heavily embroidered areas in case I flatten out the floss too much.  So to solve these problems, I try to dry it without letting it wrinkle up too much.  The best way I have tried so far is to use a big absorbent towel and some straight pins: 


I place the wet project on the towel and using the straight pins I pin it into place on the towel.  The pins hold it taut and in place while it dries.  Sort of like blocking wool projects.  I usually keep smoothing the fabric and adjusting the straight pins as it dries.





This has worked really well for me.  When it is all dry, I remove all the pins and you can see it dries without too many wrinkles or the hoop marks:


Then I carefully iron it to remove any wrinkles that did form and here is the result:


I used quite a few different stitches on this project.  Lazy Daisy Stitch for the pink flowers, Roumanian Stitch for the purple flowers,  French Knots for all the yellow and pink dots, Long and Short Stitch for the pale purple flowers, Back Stitch for the flower stems and most of the text - the E is done in Chain Stitch, and Fishbone Stitch for all the leaves:

 

Here are the floss colors and their numbers I used in this project.


12 comments:

Lilasesazuis said...

Kim, dear,

Thanks for the tip drying embroidery.

I'm finishing embroidery carnations and was about to wash my fabric ...

You're a love!

What I can tell from your project?

Wonderful, like everything you do.

kisses,

Ligia e = ^. ^ =

Annette-California said...

oh Kim!!! Your finished Easter piece is Gorgeous. At first I thought it was the top of a cake. Waaaay beatuiful!!! Of all things I was glued reading every word of your how to get rid of the lines. I just finished a needlepoint wip that I have to block and have never done so before. So this post was soo helpful. Also I haven't tried using a water soluble ink due to the fact that I didn't think it would really wash out.
I just love your embroidery work and the colors are stunning and super cheerful. Fabulous project.
Thank you love Annette

Beena said...

wow super work

Kim said...

Ligia - Thank you! I hope this was helpful, your project sounds beautiful!
Annette - Thank you! I thought it looked like a cake too :) I love needlepoint! I am sure it will turn out beautiful - I know what you mean about the water soluble ink, I have never had a problem after immersing the project, but I have had ink return when I just dabbed the lines out - but then even that ink it is still removable as long as you haven't ironed it yet!
Beena.stephy - Thank you!

Starr White said...

Your Easter project is lovely, Kim! and that's a great tip about how to dry an embroidered piece. I usually iron mine when they're still slightly damp with the embroidery facing down on a big fluffy towel, but there are some things I just wouldn't iron! Your method will suit those perfectly - thanks!

Darlene said...

Bright and Beautiful!

Ana Love Craft said...

Hi Kim, your Easter embroidery is wonderful and the stitches are gorgeous! What's the name of the one you used on dark purple flowers?I love it!
I also finished my Easter embroideries :)
Thanks so much for sharing helpful tips.
Have a fabulous day and rest of week!
Hugs from Portugal,
Ana Love Craft
www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I first thought it was a cake that you had baked. Then I saw it was the embroidery that you were doing. It has turned out well. thank you for sharing the finished work.:)
Mallika

Наталья Снежная said...

Very beautiful embroidery! Thanks for the advice, it is very important!

Kim said...

Starr - Thank you! Yes I like to use the method you described too - it works well!
Darlene :) Thanks!
Ana - Thank you! The stitch on the dark purple flowers {I just realized I forgot to mention that stitch in my post!} is the Roumanian Stitch. You can see my 100 Stitches post about this stitch here: http://bigbgsd.blogspot.com/2010/11/100-stitches-roumanian-stitch.html. It is an easy stitch to do and it worked really well on the curved parts of the flowers. Your Easter embroideries look beautiful - as well as your photography! Have a great week/weekend too :)
Mallika - You are welcome - It looks so much like a cake :) lol
Natalia - Thank you! Yes this has helped me a lot.

Sparklyjools said...

Great tip Kim. Many thanks for sharing, and the completed design is lovely, very spring like and charming - as always!

Kim said...

Jules - Thank you!