The stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) week 22 is an interesting version of Chain stitch, called Cable chain stitch. This is a pleasant stitch to work because you can develop a good easy-paced rhythm. It is also a very useful stitch, as it is a linear stitch that can follow a curve well. As usual, the tutorial for Cable chain stitch will take you through the step-by-step process and give you a few ideas on how to use it.
Take a Stitch Tuesday Week 22 Beyond TAST
For the Beyond TAST challenge stitch, I have a bit of doozie. I think it’s lots of fun. I encourage people to try Buttonholed Cable Chain stitch. Since this stitch is a variety of chain stitch, it will follow a curve. One thing I really like to do with this stitch is to tuck a bead in the middle of the buttonholed chain. So check out my tutorial on Buttonholed Cable Chain stitch — give it a try and have fun.
Take a Stitch Tuesday Design Challenge June
For the design challenge this month I am asking you to think about spacing and how spacing plays an important role in stitching. It is easy to change the spacing of your stitches and a common thing to do. For instance, Buttonhole stitch and Blanket stitch are the same — only one is worked close together, the other is spaced further apart.
When we look at a few examples of stitches you can see how decisions about your spacing will affect the look of your embroidery project. For instance, in the example above you can see that the foundation row of this stitch is Herringbone which was then laced with a cord. Additionally, most of the impact is the silk ribbon embroidered rose buds and the metal flower-shaped beads. If, when I set out the foundation row of Herringbone stitch, I had not spaced it quite far apart there would be little room for building on the stitch.
It is a very easy step to change your spacing. So here, in the sample above, I have some spacing variations of Herringbone Stitch.
In this sample, I have changed the spacing of Double Herringbone stitch. The last row also included a height (scale) change. These variations become even more fun if you also change the height of your stitches too.
Above is a sample of Double Chevron stitch. Look at the next sample and you can see the difference if you change the spacing and height. Of course, I added beads, as well, as the height and spacing of the first smaller row of Chevron stitches opened up a space for either a bead or other stitches.
Space your stitches to allow enough room to add other embroidery stitches. In the next sample, I have added detached chain stitches arranged in a fan shape to Tied Herringbone stitch. So you need to plan ahead a bit and give things a bit of room to do work like this.
My tip is to not be too timid. If you want to work other stitches in between a line of stitches, give yourself enough room. Then when you lay the first row down, it often looks as if the spaces are too big but experience has taught me that you need quite a bit of space to be able to work a good fit. Sometimes I have seen lovely stitches worked in the spaces set up in a line of stitches but unfortunately, they are not very effective because they are too cramped.
Allow enough space to add beads to your stitching. The same applies when you add beads – give yourself room.
Don’t forget your stitches do not have to always be a straight line! In this sample, I laced a thread through a zig-zag line of Detached chain stitches. Of course I thought about spacing to work this!
What is the challenge this month?
The challenge is to create your own design — an abstract or representational piece — and play around with changing the spacing of your stitches.
Previous TAST design challenges are found here
- The Design Challenge for January is on week 1
I hope you enjoy this design challenge and Take a Stitch Tuesday week 22.
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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