I had the pleasure of taking an all day class at market taught by Amy Bunger. With a class filled with a noted needlepoint author, nationally known teachers and shop owners, she moved at great speed. My head was spinning when we broke up after the morning session.One of the many tips that Amy gave related to the green and black band on this Pretty Peasant Dress canvas. Although I heard it, it didn’t register again until I stitched the band at home. The red scissors on the right show the wrong way to work a satin stitch around the black squares. The stainless steel scissors on the left show the right way to work the stitch.
On the right you can see that I stitched across the corners of the squares, thus clipping or rounding the corners. The right way to stitch around the squares is to end the satin stitch in the corner of the square and begin another one in the corner of the square, splitting what would be a long stitch into 2 or 3 sections.
And now it’s time for me to go back and rip out a few stitches….
Who knew how helpful a class could be? I've never taken a needlepoint class, but I'm sure I could pick up a few tricks...
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Have you ever used two needles at once? I've ordered a floor stand (never used one, I don't skew the canvas hardly at all) which is scheduled to arrive today; the canvas I'm working on has alternating ivory/deep red stitches (four white, four red, four white, etc.) and it seems more efficient that I'll simply keep the red, say, threaded, hanging under the canvas, stitch the white, then pick up the red, etc. Any thoughts on this? I actually bought the stand because of this project, a copy of a Caucasian rug from the book ORIENTAL CARPETS IN MINIATURE by Frank Cooper, a gem of a book!
Just thought I'd ask!
I often use several needles and threads at once. The best tip that I can offer is that you park the needles and thread not in use on the top of your canvas, not hanging underneath. This will keep you from catching the loose threads in your work. As Joan Lohr says, children and threads are best kept where you can keep an eye on them. Once you have used your stand, you will never want to work without it. It frees both hands for stitching, especially important when you use decorative stitches.
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