faking the bouillon stitch, an easy mini tute

First of all, let me correct myself–it’s BULLION! I always want to call it a bouillon/chicken/broth stitch for some reason: sometimes my spelling becomes fractured french, living in a bilingual country as i do

Marg was admiring my roses from a previous post but those are actually buttonhole bars, not bullion. I do however have a method to fake the bullion stitch, as i’ve never had luck with the real thing. And to Marg, a big apology for promising this a week ago!

All i do is lay my bars, then wrap them! You have to be careful to make sure each wrap is taut and snug against the previous wrap, or the threads will create bunchies and twists.  Drop your threaded needle once in awhile so the thread can untwist. (I do this with EVERY kind of stitch as twisted thread can really change the look and coverage–which sometimes can be interesting too— but i digress..) This method uses more thread than a conventional bullion, and you must make sure your initial length is a good size as it’s impossible to add halfway through, but the look is worth it, i believe.

Here are some on one of the GIRL pieces:

First, lay your bars. These can be in any configuration you like, but for my purpose today, mine will be in a straight line as a stem accent:

I left one on its own and have “joined” the rest with a back stitch. This breaks up the line a bit, but still carries the eye. The back stitch also anchors the bar better so it doesn’t pull up too high from the fabric when being worked.

At the end of the line, i come back up to the end of the bar:

Without going through the fabric, start wrapping the thread around the bar:

Make sure each wrap is snugged up against the previous one.

Occasionally a wrap will try to go over a previous wrap–just wiggle it down with your needle until it’s properly placed:

Continue until bar is covered with the wraps. Don’t force more than will fit comfortably. I find that a half inch bar will accommodate 8 wraps of this 6 strand embroidery floss. Then take the needle back down through the end of the bar and start on the next one.

The line done:

With a little practice, these work up really fast, and add a wonderful texture, especially when piled. Work them over each other as well for real dimension!

 

imperfect circles, imperfect world, and that’s all right Mama

I was extremely bothered at first by the wonkiness of the circles in this one—and then realized after several comments at the last Contextural crit night, that i am striving to make something perfect with a method that results in anything but. The point of FrankenStitch is that it isn’t perfect, isn’t “supposed” to be “perfect”, that the fabric is moved and shaped as the stitch forms it. How did i forget that????????? Sometimes a slap up the head from friends works wonders

The tiny back stitch in the surrounds of the lace motifs is working up much faster than i thought it would, puffing up the floating effect beautifully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PS Deb reminded me of a very important point. Working with rust and with natural (any!) vegetation can allow entrance for tetanus–make sure you have a booster shot if you haven’t in the last 10 years! I’m almost due again–i’ve had them regularly due to working in the floral industry for so long—-roses and their thorns especially are one of the worst culprits. The organism is present in most soils, on vegetative growth and if animals are involved in any form, whether live or through fecal material (and that can be your organic manure!), it’s even more possible. And when we use rusted metals? Buried rusty nails are common dwelling places for such anaerobes,so that anyone stepping on a nail and driving it through the skin causes self-inoculation.

 

hitting the National! EDITED: MORE NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m still on my “sabbatical” but just have to share my news:

Above, my favourite photo of “Winter Prairie” in its last stage of completion.

And done:

And off now to the CQA National show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT: 619PM Second show acceptance of the day!!!!!!!!! “Padded Cell” will be at the DaDe Gallery’s “FABRICation” show !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Padded Cell: Boro'd Time

Padded Cell: Boro'd Time

And Beautiful Bones is featured in the current issue of “A Needle Pulling Thread” magazine, in an article by Joe Lewis.

 

home run with colour

And look at the dimension beginning in the second one:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was just puddling around this morning, not trying to “make” anything, just playing with colour and shape on a small scale, sort of piano scales with Procion Instead of being just sampling, these are now bases for some hand work in the Advanced FrankenStitch class. (It is a hand oriented class, but nothing says you can’t mix or add or begin with machine.)

Now that i can finally get Procion to work, i’m thrilled with the results. The turquoise wasn’t quite as deep as i wanted, but still damn pleasing. A bit more powder next time i think for the intense result i got before by accident! Time to mix some of the other colours i desire, with confidence.

‘Kay, now after 4 hours of stitching and weebling happily, i really must walk DogFaced Girl in our sunny 3C weather–next week we expect snow and -22C tempos, so make walkies while the sun shines!

 

toothless but biting into UFO’s :)

Okay, having 3 teeth pulled from one’s bottom jaw wasn’t/isn’t quite as bad as i thought it would be…….The worst part is the devil tongue constantly seeking what is not there —-but i survived and so it goes on….

 

One more off the list!

The minute the last stitch was put into Raggedy Black Heart, i threw it in the washing machine. I had noticed when i photographed parts of it for FrankenStitch, that there were miniscule fuzzies creeping through it everywhere, especially on denser areas. It survived through the washing and drying with only 1 small area that will need a touch up with a needle and thread.

Raggedy Black heart

Raggedy Black Heart detail

I think the person who this was made in commemoration of would have approved. More shots in the Gallery 2011.

Time to do the last work on Sea Change now.

 

FrankenStitch classes waiting list

If you are interested in taking a class with me online, a second FrankenStitch class will be offered in January. Please email me    arlee dot ar at gmail dot com   and i’ll add you. I also have a more advanced FrankenStitch class planned, and recommend that if you haven’t taken the first one, that you either be an experienced needlebiter and/or very open to experimentation (Taking the first one is NOT a prerequisite.) The advanced class will have *some* machine use, but the techniques are also do-able by hand. The first class will start on the 2nd of January, the advanced on Jan 15th.

The class will be listed in my FybreSpace shop at the end of November. You are not obligated to take the class if you are on the waiting list.

 

Attention FrankenStitch students!

The first lesson and demo have been posted on the class blog!

 

FrankenStitch class full

Thank you all who signed up!  I want you all to know that your faith, support and interest has really been heartening. I only hope i can meet *your* expectations!

 

Class filling fast!

I’m thrilled that so many of you have put your faith in me by signing up for the FrankenStitch class! As i write this, there are are  5  3 spots of the 20 limit available! Thank you all so much!

Ah, now the pressure is on I’m quite excited by this and have woken the past few mornings with feverish scribblings added to my bedside journal and blathering like crazy to long suffering Greyman even before i’ve had my first cup of Cawfee.

My weekend was made complete too by my son coming down for a visit so that he could see the Residency show at ACAD. Does an artist and mother’s heart good to honestly impress a person who knows all the rotten things about said artist and mother

Though most of my time at the present is being taken up by lesson plans and supply lists and the administrative logistics of private blogs, emails and questions, i will be staying here too, and plan on showing new things, or bits at least of new things on this blog sometime this week.

Whew, take a breath, arlee.

 

FrankenStitch class registration opened

NOTE: THIS CLASS IS DONE. NEW CLASSES STARTS JANUARY 2

 

There’s more to life than running stitch and lazy daisies–boot up your embroidery with lumps, bumps and nodules, learn how to straddle a valley, use variations of buttonhole in dimensional and highly textural design elements, add darts, pinches and domes for bas relief effects. Lift your textile art to new heights!

Classes will be on a private blog, open to posting by students, with access to PDF and videos. Work at your own pace, ask questions and develop your stitch repertoire.

Fabrics used in this class do not have to be either hand dyed or ecoprinted, and do not have to be bought from this shop, though students will be offered a 20% discount. You are not obligated to pay for anything other than the class!

You’ll have to forget some of the rules about embroidery we’ve all strained to achieve when first learning: even stitches, perfectly aligned fabrics and untwisted threads, none of them are welcome in this spontaneous, intuitive and eccentric style!

Registration is now open.
Class will begin Oct 3/11