More La Patisserie cakes!

The stitching on my wip is done!  I finished this cake from the La Patisserie pattern.

Now I think I will start on another cake.  There are five different cakes that are sized the same in this pattern packet and I want to stitch the whole series. 

You may remember when I finished this one.  I love the way it turned out, but I may want to stitch it again without any text...

So which cake is up next?

I think this one with the frosting rose on top - or maybe it is a chocolate rose?  I am going to enjoy doing the lazy daisy stitch around the cake!  I have transferred it onto fabric and now my next decision will be colors

Should I stay with the pink and red..or just pink or perhaps another color combination???

For this particular cake, here are the colors I used:

100 Stitches - Hemstitch

This stitch is the hemstitch.  It is the latest stitch I have learned on my 100 Stitches journey.  This is from a new category in 100 Stitches - the Drawn Thread Embroidery category!  This type of embroidery is done by withdrawing threads from the fabric and then stitching decorative stitches over the remaining threads.  You need a fairly loose woven fabric to be able to withdraw individual threads which is why I am stitching on this beautiful linen:

This fabric is very easy to stitch on, I love it even though it is very wrinkle prone!  I love the white on white look of this floss on the linen, the floss is pearl cotton {dmc blanc}

To demonstrate this stitch, I am using pearl cotton floss in a pink {dmc color variations #4180} so it is easier to see my stitches.  A pair of small sharp scissors is needed to snip the fabric so the threads can be withdrawn.

You can see the weave of this linen - the horizontal threads and the vertical threads are really easy to spot.  For this stitch, the horizontal threads are going to be withdrawn:

Cut a slit between two vertical threads.  You will be cutting through all the horizontal threads but between the two vertical threads:

Cut another slit the same way and the same size a distance away.  I cut the second slit about 1-1/4" from the first slit.  All the horizontal threads between these two slits will now be free and you can carefully pull them out.  I found a needle helped to get them started:

You will be left with only vertical threads between the two slits.

To start the hemstitch, the needle comes up through the fabric on the bottom right hand side of the open area.

Pull the thread all the way through.  Bring the needle around and slip it behind a few of the vertical threads:

Pull the thread all the way through:

Now bring the needle back around and again go behind the threads and this time go into the fabric and back out a few rows below the bottom of the open area.  Notice when the needle emerges, it is going to pass under the working thread:

Pull all the way through.  That is the first hemstitch.  To continue, bring the needle around and slip it under the next few vertical threads:

Just continue with the same steps all the way across:

And then do the same thing for the top of the open area.  I turned the hoop upside down and started back across just like I had done the bottom.  This time it is a little easier because the vertical threads are already separated for you!

And complete!

One thing I did notice is that the edges of the slits are raw.  There are no instructions in 100 Stitches for how to finish these edges for this particular stitch.  In the general description for drawn thread embroidery, it explains that the threads are withdrawn from the fabric and the edges of the space of withdrawn threads are embroidered over.  Maybe I should have done the hemstitch along the vertical sides of the open area as well?  If anyone is familiar with this, I would love your advice!

*****Update!  A wonderful way to finish the raw edges I was concerned about can be seen here : http://www.needlenthread.com/2009/02/hemstitch-in-drawn-thread-embroidery.html on Mary Corbet's excellent embroidery site Needlenthread.com.  I can't wait to try this out!*****

Finally - here is a picture of the underside of the stitching:

This stitch was so fun to learn, it is really different from the other stitches I have learned so far.   I am really looking forward to the rest of this drawn thread embroidery category!  This stitch is #75.

A new wip

My first stitching project for 2013 is this fancy cake from the La Patisserie pattern.  For the floss colors, I am going to use pink and red. 

I have done the cake stand in red, using the back stitch and the double knot stitch for the top rim of the cake stand. 

For the cake, I am doing the back stitch using three strands of pink cotton floss.  For the frosting decorative border I am using three strands of satin floss.  It is really beautiful!  I am using the couching stitch with this, to hold the strands in place and give the border a draped look.  In between each draped element, there is a round shape and I am using the satin stitch to fill those:

I was having a hard time doing the satin stitch with this satin thread :) the thread kept slipping out of the needle and it was becoming very frustrating.  I remembered that I had some smaller needles that have a smaller eye so I switched to this size 28 chenille needle.  It made all the difference!  I had been stitching with my size 24 chenille needle - you can see the difference between the two - the top is the 24 and the bottom is the 28:

The 28 really holds the satin floss better.  Since the 28 is shorter I find it easier to work the satin stitch.  Here you can see the two needles threaded, I am using only one strand of the satin floss to do the satin stitch.

I will be sure post my pictures as I make more progress on this one!

Cold weather and some new floss

Happy 2013 -  I hope your year is off to a wonderful start!  Mine is starting out with embroidery :)
I just bought some new embroidery floss.  I picked up two each of a few of my favorite colors:

I also found these two colors, which are new to me. They are dmc #3032 {the sage green one} and dmc #3824 {the coral one}.  I had never seen these two colors.  I have a sage green already that I love using, it is dmc #611 but this #3032 is much lighter and has a silvery look to it.  These are both really pretty and I am looking forward to using them.

Speaking of a silvery look, it is a bit chilly here today - I had to capture the beautiful sight of the frost on these little maple leaves:

Brrr...! 

100 Stitches - Buttonhole Insertion Stitch

This interesting stitch is the buttonhole insertion stitch. I am starting a brand new section of 100 Stitches - the Insertion Stitches category.

This stitch is for joining two pieces of fabric.  I practiced this stitch several times with disappointing results.  I had such a hard time keeping the two pieces of fabric the same distance apart while stitching them together.  I kept looking at the example in 100 Stitches and finally noticed that they recommended going back to the front of the book and reading the special instruction notes on Insertion Stitches before working them!  The special instructions are to stitch your fabric to a piece of stiff paper and then work your stitches.
For my demonstration, I just turned under the raw edge of the fabric 1/2" to act as a hem.  If I were making a finished product, I would actually hem each piece of fabric:

I used this green card stock and pinned my fabric in place at about 1/2" apart.   Then I stitched the pieces of fabric to the paper, leaving the folded edge free:

Next, I drew some guide lines.  I drew mine about 1/4" in from the folded over edge.  This line will help me keep my stitches the same size!

This stitch is really simple.  It is sets of four buttonhole stitches worked alternately on the two pieces of fabric.  Just start the first buttonhole stitch at one end - I hid my knot under the folded edge:

I stitched the buttonhole stitch, first on the left side:

and when I had four done, I moved to the fabric on the right side and did four stitches:

When those four were finished, back to the fabric on the left:

and so on until the two pieces of fabric were joined:

Then I took the joined fabric off the card stock and washed out the marker lines:

Beautiful! I think this stitch would be perfect for joining panels on a table runner or table cloth.  I can't wait to try it on a real project. 

This stitch is number 98 on the 100 Stitches list.  The floss I used is DMC pearl cotton color variations #4060.

Some Christmas Stitching

I just finished stitching this beautiful motif:

I used the back stitch as a filling stitch.  I really like the way this stitch worked as a fill:

I used three strands of cotton floss  {DMC #321} and everywhere you see gold glints, I added a few strands of gold blending filament {Kreinik Metallics #002HL}.  Now I have two more words to transfer and stitch - Peace and Noel.  I am trying to decide if I want to do all three in the red/gold or maybe each one in a different color combination.  Wouldn't these make a nice set of pillows for Christmas?

Gingerbread house completed

 Remember my gingerbread house wip?  I finished it!

Well, the stitching is finished anyway :)

I really like the pastel colors on this one

Can you see the sparkle in the gingerbread frosting?

I used my new favorite blending filament to add some sparkle.  I love this!!!

I didn't use too many advanced stitches, mainly back stitch and french knots.  For the candy tree trunk I used the open chain stitch.  I had to go back and review my own 100 Stitches post to remember how to do it!

I am really happy with the way this turned out! 

Now I just have two more gingerbread houses left to transfer and stitch:

Here is a list of the beautiful floss colors I used for this project: