Embroidered Pillow Tassels

Notice some 3D additions to this embroidery? Sequins and pillow tassels!  I am very pleased with the way these look - especially the tassels.  As you can see from the pattern, these tassels could be stitched using an outline stitch such as Back Stitch or Stem Stitch.  They could have been done with a filling stitch such as Satin Stitch. 

I made these tassels using 6 strands of cotton embroidery floss.  There are quite a few tutorials on YouTube on making tassels - most suggest using a safety pin to loop your embroidery floss.  When the tassel is the size you want, cut the safety pin free.  The floss is in a double layer of fringe, which forms the tassel:

Project Details - This fancy kitty is from my Le Chat embroidery pattern set.

The sequins are 5mm cup style.  

Here is the stitch information for this project. 

For the cat's outline, I used the Back Stitch.  I used one strand for his head and three for his body.  The ears, fur, mouth and eye and collar outlines are also Back Stitch.  The eyes, nose and collar jewels are Satin Stitch.  The whiskers and the pillow top outline are Stem Stitch.  The pillow bottom and accent lines are Back Stitch.  

My color palette floss numbers:

Le Chat - Part Three

I have a couple of finishes to show. You may remember back when I started these.  Now that the stitching is done on both, I wanted to share the colors and stitches I used. 

First up is this cat in a bicycle basket.  I used both Stem Stitch and Back Stitch for all the outlining. French Knots for the flower centers, Straight Stitch on the basket and the flowers.  I used Satin Stitch on the kitty's eyes, nose and the bicycle hand grips. 

Here are the floss colors and numbers I used:

Now for the kitten.  He was done in Stem Stitch and his eyes and nose in Satin Stitch.  His pink bow was also Stem Stitch. For the settee and cushions, I used Back Stitch, Stem Stitch and Straight Stitches.

Here are the floss colors and numbers in this palette:

Both of these were very enjoyable to stitch!  I especially liked making the eyes of both cats. To emphasize their eyes and make them sparkly, I first used a base color {green for the cat and blue for the kitten} and added some metallic blending filament.  I used Kreinik Blending Filament.  I love using it because it is easy to work with, it blends beautifully with any color I have tried and really adds sparkle:

Le Chat - Part Two

I have an update to share on my Le Chat work-in-progress.  You may remember this kitty from my earlier post {here}.   Since that post, he has been outlined in gray floss and had all his features stitched.

Once I finish the bicycle basket, I think he will look very comfortable surrounded by these beautiful flowers.  

I stitched the flowers in Straight Stitch with French Knot centers.

For the kitty's collar, I used Stem Stitch for the pink outline and Satin Stitch for the jewels.  I really love his eyes - this is blending filament satin stitched:

Here are the floss colors I have used so far.  I am still wondering about the best color to use for the bicycle basket...

I will keep you updated on my progress with this project!

Le Chat Stitching Details and a Work-In-Progress

After introducing the Le Chat pattern set on my last blog post {here},  I wanted to share some of the stitching details on this particular project. 

I used Stem Stitch on the woman's skirt, legs and shoe straps.  For her shoes, I used the Split Stitch.  I also used the Stem Stitch for the wrought-iron fencing and the Satin Stitch for the fence finials.   

For the cat's leash, I used the Stem Stitch in metallic cord.  It worked really well:

The cat is outlined in Stem Stitch, with two rows on back of his legs and tail to give a little more weight and emphasis.  His fancy collar is all Satin Stitch. 

For the cat's eye, I used Satin Stitch and I combined blending filament with the floss to add sparkle.  His nose is also stitched in Satin Stitch.  For the planter, I used Stem Stitch.  The leaves are Fishbone Stitch and the flower is Long and Short Stitch with a French Knot Center.

The curb is done in Back Stitch and the road edge is in Stem Stitch.

For all the floss I used, here are the color numbers:

Now onto my work-in-progress.  It is the cat sitting in a bicycle shopping basket.  I am selecting my colors and experimenting with which stitches to use!

I will be sure to post my progress!

Le Chat

I have a new pattern available in my Etsy shop!  It is titled Le Chat. The pattern set has 12 pages of wonderful motifs, all featuring a very pampered cat living in Paris. 

I am stitching up all the motifs and will share some project progress soon!

This is what the pattern set looks like - it is available here.