Work continues on the body bag, it's a true pleasure to have this to pick up as and when. It probably looks the same to you, like there hasn't been a single new stitch added but it's all about the seams, the joins. Each seam is double stitched. By that I mean they are secured with either running stitch or stab stitches and then they are adorned with another stitch, a decorative stitch as opposed to a securing stitch, bullion knots, French knots, cross stitch, buttonhole lace....and on and on.......sigh.
Simply Stitch 4......you have videos coming later.....
Sections of the body bag/sampler cloth are being joined now, pleated muslin alongside embroidered silk pieces. For the moment they are just tacked, I plan to titivate seams this evening. There are also strips to be added, to bind the muslin, It will all become clear.
Going forward, I will need more pleated muslin and more binding strips. I'm not in a hurry but I am excited.
The lemon pouch from yesterday had more embroidery added last night. That is waiting to be damp stretched. I do need to extend that piece and I have a plan for that. I will be doing that over in SS3 this weekend and then you will get to see next week.
I hope all your Christmas plans are coming together. I have a HUGE list....I thought I was organised but I ran out of tags and wrapping paper yesterday so this afternoon I must go out and replenish my stock. My turkey was ordered last week. It's so big it probably needs to go in the oven tomorrow!!
As you can probably gather, the body bag is on my mind a lot at the moment. For now I'm just looking, from tomorrow I will be connecting pieces and joining sections together. That means I will have to pleat more muslin and damp stretch a few of the finished silk pieces. I will do that later today, the damp stretching anyway.
I have been feeling a bit ''off'' since Thursday. Sore throat and a little prickly around the face....does that make sense. I was up half the night last night too. I couldn't sleep because of a general ''yuk'' feeling. Consequently the house is only half trimmed for Christmas. I have my main tree up in the dining room. I gave up on the smaller one for the lounge at around 7 pm last night. The lights were spread across the carpet all night, plugged in as we were testing they worked and I have to say....an illuminated carpet is a very pretty thing to behold. If you want to see any of this then it's on myInstagram...
So I hear you say, what on earth has this got to do with embroidery? Well there is a connection, a tenuous one but it's there. Because it's nearly Christmas I'm going to extend my dining table, open it out. I really do know how to live an exciting life don't I? Anyway.......that means I can get my HUGE damp stretching board out and stretch all my lovely silk pieces....see....told you there was an embroidery link here.
Earlier this week I laid out all the pieces of embroidery that are finished for the ''body bag'' alongside the artwork/design work/ ledger which accompanies it. I am trying to gauge how much more I need, how many pieces of embroidered silk and how many pleated muslin panels. The answer? I need to pleat more muslin and begin the joining process. Thing is, the spanner that may disrupt the works, I always get new ideas when I do something like this. I am liable to get distracted, go off an a tangent. I have given myself a good talking to. I have insisted to myself that I MUST be more disciplined. Let's hope it works.
Yesterday.....did you miss me? I was up North delivering Christmas related thingies and spending time with my niece who is visiting from Sweden. I only ate one piece of cake all day....but then again I did slightly over indulge in home made cheese and onion pie....
a little message for Beverlee.......I have tried to respond to you both times....I honestly would not ignore you. Unfortunately when I send you an e mail they bounce right back. I am at a loss as to what to do?
I am about to pat myself on the back. The whole weekend wasn't, as it happens, spent cleaning the house there was a fair amount of creativity happening too. Another block is finished for the sampler cloth/pocket/body bag and a new piece of paperwork is taking shape.
Gauging how much more work I can do before I leave the country is a little difficult. I can stitch this evening but not tomorrow. Tomorrow I am going ''up North''. Wednesday there will be last minute things to attend to and then I may stitch a little in the evening. All in all I may not get much more done embroidery wise until I come back.
So....I won't be here tomorrow...insert sad face....but I will be here one final time on Wednesday. Following on from that I may post whilst I am away. I have tested that process out and my images do post but the wrong way round. I guess it might be exciting not knowing whether or not you will get to see something upside down! I have visions of you all standing on your heads to look at whatever picture I post. I will most definitely have a presence on Instagram whilst I am away...wi fi access permitting and you will see me lurking on facebook too. But.....I haven't gone yet......see you on Wednesday!
I'm having trouble with facebook....can't upload, can't update my status. Anyone else having problems or should take it personally?
Two more pieces for my sampler cloth/pocket/body bag are taking shape in fact one of them, I am thinking, is finished. The hexagon piece has more added to it. There are applique petals, another hexagon motif and several little flowers dotted across the surface. The other piece here was started last night. Three patches and a huge applique circle which has partial edges of bullion knots are waiting to be embellished further. I think there will be cross stitch on here and more petals perhaps.
There has been longing for a wrapping cloth here over the past couple of days. The reason? some of the simply stitch group are finishing their cloths as part of the simply stitch process, uploading images to the group. I have such a connection to those cloths, a connection I hadn't realised was so strong........I do have an almost finished wrapping cloth languishing here. I may just have to finish it.
More silk, more embroidery, another piece for the body bag which in essence will be a human sized pocket, a cocoon, a soft, safe, secure and comfortable place. I may need to lay everything out soon, assess how much more I need, how many pieces of embroidered silk, how many panels of pleated muslin and how many panels of lace cloth....
Meantime, whilst this was damp stretching, I played with more paper. You can expect to see some of that later this week....
Simply Stitch 2 finishes today. I can't believe how quickly the 8 weeks have passed. As soon as I'm finished here I will be dashing over there to say goodbye. That means my ''holiday'' begins tomorrow. I'm not going away tomorrow but my free time begins in the morning and it will be time to make lists for going away, to get together any last bits and pieces I may need and to start cleaning the house. That's my Monday sorted then......
Do you remember when I said I wonder if a few panels of lace cloth would enhance the body bag? Well there is only one way to find out so this morning I have been creating lace cloth and laying it next to my body bag pieces....I think it works, I think it will enhance. What do you think? It will be hard to get a final idea until I have created a larger piece of the lace, a piece that is a similar size to the embroidered and pleated sections but that should be tended to later today.
The wedding is getting ever nearer......I leave two weeks tomorrow, on October 24. The wedding is October 29 and as well as playing the role of mother of the bride, (I am far too young. I think there has been a terrible mistake) alongside that I will be doing a little visiting of other American places about which I am very, very excited. I will be posting on Instagram...... obsessively.....you have been warned.
After the excitement of securing Glastonbury tickets yesterday and the stress of working a crucial part of THE bridal bag I decided last night called for some quiet stitching. some relaxing, no pressure embroidery. So I now have another tab for the body bag almost finished, a bright tab, a colourful tab that will find itself, eventually, securing a panel of pleated muslin.
I have been giving some thought to the body bag this morning actually, whilst taking these photos. I am wondering if I should have some panels that are purely ''lace cloth''? I will ponder and perhaps run it past my girls......but I'm thinking....why not? Watch this space.
I am also working on little pieces of paper, adding cloth to them, stitching on them. I hope to gather quite a lot of these for a bigger project....another idea....I have so many. Too many? Maybe but that's better than none and did I mention that I am such a domestic goddess that I made chutney yesterday? I didn't? Well......I made tomato chutney yesterday......
( I don't like cooking....at all...BUT you cannot buy nice chutney here so if I want nice chutney I have to suffer and spend some time in the torture chamber....sorry, kitchen)
These pictures take yesterdays theme a little further. This is progress that I have made with the ''simply stitch 2'' group. The hooks and eyes haven't found a home in this yet, in the actual piece of work. Yesterdays pleating with the added metal was a sample. There is some way still to go with this, my body bag. You will hear me refer to this quite a lot in the future. The body bag is essentially a human sized pocket....body bag. Work on this will definitely carry on through simply stitch 3 but hopefully not beyond that.
I am making progress on the wedding bag too and hope to have that damp stretched and beautiful for you tomorrow. I am definitely on a deadline with that but have plans for more surface embroidery....and then some more....I can't stop.
(and I now have a pashmina, (an overrated shawl) and wedding shoes..........happy days.)
