We thought we were safe with me working for a charity and hubby in healthcare, but nope. Hubby is being made redundant and everything has been thrown up in the air and is currently fluttering down our ears in little pieces whilst we try to make any sense out of it all.
On the day we found out I had decided to try embroidery for the first time ever. I bought a hoop from Hobbycraft for under £2, I used some cheap fabric I had from Ikea which I generally use for lining, and I found some threads that I used to use for making friendship bracelets. I poured some wine, I stuck the telly on, I referred to an old 1970s book on crafts, and I had a go.
I ignored pretty much all the warnings about not anchoring the thread with a knot, not using unravelled thread, and I worked freehand without any kind of design. Ahem.
First I tried some flowers.
For these I used satin-stitch for the leaf, lazy-daisy-stitch for the petals, rhodes-stitch for the centre of the flowers, and stem-stitch for..well..for the stems.
I then decided to try some letters. I sketched an L lightly in biro (it was all I had to hand) and then used satin-stich to make the letter. I then employed the same techniques I had tried with the flowers to entwine some small blooms onto my L.
The satin stitch is, as the picture shows, a little wonky, but I was quite pleased with it as a first attempt. I used stem-stitich on the most narrow bits of the L. Looking at it I now think I should have done this in a very intricate stain-stitch, but I am quite fussy.
I would love to do my daughter's name in her favourite colour (pink!) covered in little flowers, then frame it for her room.
I still have a lot to learn on this. But I really enjoy it and it is keeping me sane. Trust me anything that keeps me sane at the moment can only be a good thing.
I think it's awesome for a first attempt! I don't follow the "rules," either. I love to freehand, and I prefer knots, although I do try to do it the "right" way sometimes just for practice or on items where the back will be seen, like a napkin or towel. I think you've found a new medium--and the good news is that it's a really inexpensive hobby! ;) (Thanks for visiting my site!)
ReplyDeleteThank you! And thanks for visiting my little blog of nonsense! It is good to be doing something inexpensive, mosaics are very costly (but so much fun!)
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