TAST Week 20

TAST Week 20

The stitch for TAST week 20, is Bullion Knot. I know many people feel intimidated by this stitch, but read the tips in my tutorial for Bullion Knot Stitch and hopefully, they will help you. In the tutorial, there are many illustrations to help you see where those tips can be used too! They are worth persevering with. This sample illustrates Bullion knots used as the body of this praying mantis.

Bullion knot stitch sample 3

Take a Stitch Tuesday Week 20 Beyond TAST

For Beyond TAST, I suggest you explore a version of feather stitch, Triangular Feather stitch. This stitch is good to work along the edge of a project or to use as a seam decoration in crazy quilting.

Triangular Feather Stitch

If you add a bead or so it really takes on a different life. You can also build up patterns with this stitch if you work lines face-to-face or back-to-back; the pattern formed is different and makes a very interesting filling stitch. As usual, visit the tutorial to see how it is worked and have fun with  Triangular Feather stitch.

If you are new to hand embroidery the challenge is to learn the stitch and share what you have learned. If you are an experienced embroiderer, enjoy Beyond TAST and give your work a modern twist. And of course, share it online so beginners can see what can be done with a little imagination.

If you are looking for past TAST stitch challenges the archives are in the Take a Stitch Tuesday category

Where to Share

If you are doing the design challenge you have a month to work on your design and stitch it up.

So the idea is to stitch a sample, photograph it, share it in the Take a Stitch Tuesday facebook group, or use the hashtags #TASTembroidery and #PintangleTAST on Instagram.

If you need more information the challenge guidelines are on the TAST FAQ page.

I hope you enjoy this week’s TAST!

Thread Twisties!


Experimenting with different threads can be expensive. You would normally have to buy a whole skein of each type of thread. My thread twisties are a combination of different threads to use in creative hand embroidery. These enable you to try out stitching with something other than stranded cotton. For the price of just a few skeins, you can experiment with a bundle of threads of luscious colours and many different textures.

These are creative embroiders threads. With them, I hope to encourage you to experiment. Each Twistie is a thread bundle containing silk, cotton, rayon and wool. Threads range from extra fine (the same thickness as 1 strand of embroidery floss) to chunky couchable textured yarns. All threads have a soft and manageable drape. Twisting them around a needle makes experimental hand embroidery an interesting journey rather than a battle.  Many are hand dyed by me. All are threads I use. You may find a similar thread twist but no two are identical.

You will find my thread twisties in the Pintangle shop here.

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