OT - Stitchin' Stuff

Got a newsletter from needlework shop that opened a month or so ago (they
have a web site, but there's not much there as of yet -
http://www.fancy-works.com/), and they are offering several classes. I
signed up for the following:

# Intro to Linen (one 2 hour class, working with linen fabrics, over one &
two threads)
# Punchneedle (one 3 hour class, this one was expensive, due to the
materials involved)
# Bargello (two 2 hour classes, also expensive due to materials)
# Working with Overdyed Threads (one 2 hour class) (I looked at their stock
of overdyes, and was drooling and wishing I had one of everything)

And they are also offering a 'class' where you make Christmas/holiday
ornaments - they have a different one each month, so I've signed up for the
next two available, each 2 hours.

DH complained about the cost (over $100), but then reminded himself that he
spent $3000 for a telescope and about that for digital camera equipment ....
so he just grinned and bore it rather well. The plus is that it will get me
out of the house.... and I'll be having fun!!!!

I just can't wait for the first class, the Punchneedle, on August 22!!!!
They had an earlier class for that offered, but, unfortunately, I have a
previous commitment for that day I feel like I'm bouncing off the
walls!!!
--
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy former-blonde
in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)©
email me at nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep

On 2006-07-24, Magic Mood Jeep© penned:

I just can't wait for the first class, the Punchneedle, on August 22!!!!
They had an earlier class for that offered, but, unfortunately, I have a
previous commitment for that day I feel like I'm bouncing off the
walls!!!

Nice! It's so important to take some time for yourself.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Magic Mood Jeep© wrote:
Got a newsletter from needlework shop that opened a month or so ago (they
have a web site, but there's not much there as of yet -
http://www.fancy-works.com/), and they are offering several classes. I
signed up for the following:

# Intro to Linen (one 2 hour class, working with linen fabrics, over one &
two threads)
# Punchneedle (one 3 hour class, this one was expensive, due to the
materials involved)
# Bargello (two 2 hour classes, also expensive due to materials)
# Working with Overdyed Threads (one 2 hour class) (I looked at their stock
of overdyes, and was drooling and wishing I had one of everything)

And they are also offering a 'class' where you make Christmas/holiday
ornaments - they have a different one each month, so I've signed up for the
next two available, each 2 hours.

DH complained about the cost (over $100), but then reminded himself that he
spent $3000 for a telescope and about that for digital camera equipment .....
so he just grinned and bore it rather well. The plus is that it will get me
out of the house.... and I'll be having fun!!!!

I just can't wait for the first class, the Punchneedle, on August 22!!!!
They had an earlier class for that offered, but, unfortunately, I have a
previous commitment for that day I feel like I'm bouncing off the
walls!!!
--

I think that's awesome. It sounds like something I'd like to learn,
too. Be sure to post an update!

Sherry

Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

Got a newsletter from needlework shop that opened a month or so ago (they
have a web site, but there's not much there as of yet -
http://www.fancy-works.com/), and they are offering several classes. I
signed up for the following:

# Intro to Linen (one 2 hour class, working with linen fabrics, over one &
two threads)
# Punchneedle (one 3 hour class, this one was expensive, due to the
materials involved)
# Bargello (two 2 hour classes, also expensive due to materials)
# Working with Overdyed Threads (one 2 hour class) (I looked at their stock
of overdyes, and was drooling and wishing I had one of everything)

Oooo, that sounds fun. I never got the hang of needlework, but I still
enjoy doing it. (Haven't done it for a while, though.) My front sides
always looked good, but the back was a mess, so clearly I was doing
something wrong...

I don't like working from a picture - I'd rather design my own. But the
problem is, I'm not skilled enough for that. I did make one of my own
design once - a Celtic knot in several brilliant colors - and it looked
nice (on the front, that is ), but then I tried to sew it onto a bag
as an applique, and that just did not work! I guess I didn't do the right
finishing techniques or something. The edges of the applique looked all
ragged and it all ended up looking like a mess.

Actually, I wouldn't mind working from a painted canvas that someone
else designed, and there certainly are a lot to choose from, but I
pretty much hate them all! I really wish there were some decent patterns
out there.

Anyway, it sounds like you have a lot more experience at it than I do.
Hope you have fun in the classes! What's "overdye," by the way?

DH complained about the cost (over $100), but then reminded himself
that he spent $3000 for a telescope and about that for digital camera
equipment .... so he just grinned and bore it rather well.

LOL - you're $100 down, and $5900 to go.

Joyce

wrote:
Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

Got a newsletter from needlework shop that opened a month or so ago
(they have a web site, but there's not much there as of yet -
http://www.fancy-works.com/), and they are offering several classes.
I signed up for the following:

# Intro to Linen (one 2 hour class, working with linen fabrics, over
one & two threads)
# Punchneedle (one 3 hour class, this one was expensive, due to the
materials involved)
# Bargello (two 2 hour classes, also expensive due to materials)
# Working with Overdyed Threads (one 2 hour class) (I looked at
their stock of overdyes, and was drooling and wishing I had one of
everything)

Oooo, that sounds fun. I never got the hang of needlework, but I still
enjoy doing it. (Haven't done it for a while, though.) My front sides
always looked good, but the back was a mess, so clearly I was doing
something wrong...

Mine don't look too good on the back either - that's why we frame them and
hang them on the wall - so nobody can see the back! There is a trick to
making the back look good, without the front looking 'stripey' (if you sew
everything in straight lines, it shows)


I don't like working from a picture - I'd rather design my own. But
the problem is, I'm not skilled enough for that. I did make one of my
own
design once - a Celtic knot in several brilliant colors - and it
looked

Sounds neat!

nice (on the front, that is ), but then I tried to sew it onto a bag
as an appliqué, and that just did not work! I guess I didn't do the
right finishing techniques or something. The edges of the appliqué
looked all ragged and it all ended up looking like a mess.


Ich. I know what a lot of people do to get cross stitch on a garment and
have all the stitches even is to baste a the cross stitch fabric onto the
garment, and then stitch through *both* layers, and when done, 'pull' the
cross stitch fabric out (some fabric is made to do just that, for 'pulled
thread' designs - saw a christening gown that someone had made that had
white-on-white embroidery, embellished with pearlescent white beads and the
edges were made into 'pulled thread' lace!).

Actually, I wouldn't mind working from a painted canvas that someone
else designed, and there certainly are a lot to choose from, but I
pretty much hate them all! I really wish there were some decent
patterns
out there.

It takes me a while to find a 'pattern' I like too. Usually works if it has
a cat or two in it - and they aren't too cartoonish


Anyway, it sounds like you have a lot more experience at it than I do.
Hope you have fun in the classes! What's "overdye," by the way?

I had to ask too. It's like the 'varigrated' colors, but instead of
blending from one color to the next, it is all one color, but it 'fades' in
and out a couple shades - some that I looked like you could barely tell the
difference unless you looked very closely! A lot if it is hand dyed too -
it gives the finished project a subtle 'tie died' look!




DH complained about the cost (over $100), but then reminded himself
that he spent $3000 for a telescope and about that for digital camera
equipment .... so he just grinned and bore it rather well.

LOL - you're $100 down, and $5900 to go.

but this is just *one* of the many "useless" things I "waste" money on. He
buys the big ticket items, I nickel & dime


Joyce

"Magic Mood Jeep?" wrote:

Mine don't look too good on the back either - that's why we frame them and
hang them on the wall - so nobody can see the back!

Hee hee... well, it's good to know I'm not the only one.

I've seen some people's needlework, and the back looks as neat and
pretty as the front. Perhaps I don't need to be quite so anal about
it, though!

I don't like working from a picture - I'd rather design my own. But
the problem is, I'm not skilled enough for that. I did make one of my
own design once - a Celtic knot in several brilliant colors - and it
looked

Sounds neat!

I went on the web and googled for Celtic knots, and when I found one I
liked, I printed it out. It was just the outline, so I would be able to
trace it on the canvas. That was the hardest part, actually, because I
wasn't really able to see through the canvas that well to trace the lines
on the drawing. It came out OK, though.

nice (on the front, that is ), but then I tried to sew it onto a bag
as an appliqu?, and that just did not work! I guess I didn't do the
right finishing techniques or something. The edges of the appliqu?
looked all ragged and it all ended up looking like a mess.

Interesting that the word "applique", from my comments above, show up
with an accented "e" at the end, when I didn't use the accent when I
typed that message. I use an old-fashioned news reader that's text-only
and doesn't support accented characters. (On my newsreader, the accented
"e" shows up as a question mark.) I wonder how it got there?? How did
it know it was supposed to be accented?

Ich. I know what a lot of people do to get cross stitch on a garment and
have all the stitches even is to baste a the cross stitch fabric onto the
garment, and then stitch through *both* layers, and when done, 'pull' the
cross stitch fabric out (some fabric is made to do just that, for 'pulled
thread' designs

Wow, I wonder how that's done? Is the cross stitch fabric perforated to
be easily taken apart?

I don't actually do cross stitch - I've only done needlepoint, Continental
stitch, a la the Joyce variation (ie, the variation that makes a huge
mess in the back) .

What's "overdye," by the way?

I had to ask too. It's like the 'varigrated' colors, but instead of
blending from one color to the next, it is all one color, but it 'fades' in
and out a couple shades - some that I looked like you could barely tell the
difference unless you looked very closely!

Oh, you mean it's monochromatic, but lighter and darker in different
places?

Joyce

wrote:
"Magic Mood Jeep?" wrote:

Mine don't look too good on the back either - that's why we frame
them and hang them on the wall - so nobody can see the back!

Hee hee... well, it's good to know I'm not the only one.

I've seen some people's needlework, and the back looks as neat and
pretty as the front. Perhaps I don't need to be quite so anal about
it, though!

I don't like working from a picture - I'd rather design my own. But
the problem is, I'm not skilled enough for that. I did make one of
my
own design once - a Celtic knot in several brilliant colors - and it
looked

Sounds neat!

I went on the web and googled for Celtic knots, and when I found one I
liked, I printed it out. It was just the outline, so I would be able
to trace it on the canvas. That was the hardest part, actually,
because I wasn't really able to see through the canvas that well to
trace the lines
on the drawing. It came out OK, though.

Might have worked better if you had a light-table?


nice (on the front, that is ), but then I tried to sew it onto a
bag
as an appliqu?, and that just did not work! I guess I didn't do the
right finishing techniques or something. The edges of the appliqu?
looked all ragged and it all ended up looking like a mess.

Interesting that the word "applique", from my comments above, show up
with an accented "e" at the end, when I didn't use the accent when I
typed that message. I use an old-fashioned news reader that's
text-only
and doesn't support accented characters. (On my newsreader, the
accented "e" shows up as a question mark.) I wonder how it got
there?? How did
it know it was supposed to be accented?

That was my spell checker - it changed it.. My newsreader is OE, and it
*can* read & post in html, but since it's a pain to those who have text-only
newsreaders, I don't


Ich. I know what a lot of people do to get cross stitch on a
garment and have all the stitches even is to baste a the cross
stitch fabric onto the garment, and then stitch through *both*
layers, and when done, 'pull' the cross stitch fabric out (some
fabric is made to do just that, for 'pulled thread' designs

Wow, I wonder how that's done? Is the cross stitch fabric perforated
to
be easily taken apart?

I've not done it, but you "pull" the threads out, like you are unraveling
it. sounds painstaking, but since some fabric is made for this, maybe not
as painful as I think

I don't actually do cross stitch - I've only done needlepoint,
Continental stitch, a la the Joyce variation (i.e., the variation that
makes a huge
mess in the back) .

I've done needlepoint, mostly smaller items (Michael's here in US carries a
line called Stitch-n-Zip - they are little coin purses and eye-glass cases
that are already assembled, but the main seam is a zipper instead of a sewn
seam: you unzip it, stitch the pattern printed on the needlepoint fabric,
zip it back up and voila!)

There is a way of stitching needlepoint, but it works best on larger areas
that are one color, I think it's called basket weave - and that's what the
back side looks like! It avoids getting the lines if you go up one row and
back the next, but you use up almost twice as much floss/yarn, because
you're going across it diagonally..

What's "overdye," by the way?

I had to ask too. It's like the 'varigrated' colors, but instead of
blending from one color to the next, it is all one color, but it
'fades' in and out a couple shades - some that I looked like you
could barely tell the difference unless you looked very closely!

Oh, you mean it's monochromatic, but lighter and darker in different
places?

Yes! It's called overdye because the base color is the lighter, they just
used too much dye (or over-dyed it) to make the darker parts.


Joyce

"Magic Mood Jeep©" wrote in message
...
Got a newsletter from needlework shop that opened a month or so ago (they
have a web site, but there's not much there as of yet -
http://www.fancy-works.com/), and they are offering several classes. I
signed up for the following:

# Intro to Linen (one 2 hour class, working with linen fabrics, over one &
two threads)
# Punchneedle (one 3 hour class, this one was expensive, due to the
materials involved)
# Bargello (two 2 hour classes, also expensive due to materials)
# Working with Overdyed Threads (one 2 hour class) (I looked at their
stock of overdyes, and was drooling and wishing I had one of everything)

And they are also offering a 'class' where you make Christmas/holiday
ornaments - they have a different one each month, so I've signed up for
the next two available, each 2 hours.


All of that sounds like so much fun. We were just talking about cross
stitch the other day. I haven't been doing any and Mandy wanted to know
why. I guess I just haven't been able to get into it, which is sad as I do
really enjoy it, even if Huey does steal my thread cutters.

Pam S. who's cats always like to help out with crafts

wrote in message
...

I've seen some people's needlework, and the back looks as neat and
pretty as the front. Perhaps I don't need to be quite so anal about
it, though!


I guess I'm anal, as I go nuts if the back looks too messy and have been
known to remove the stitches and re-stitch that part of the picture. I also
stitch a lot slower than most people, so a two hour project may take me as
long as three hours to complete. If I can keep my attention on it for that
long.


I went on the web and googled for Celtic knots, and when I found one I
liked, I printed it out. It was just the outline, so I would be able to
trace it on the canvas. That was the hardest part, actually, because I
wasn't really able to see through the canvas that well to trace the lines
on the drawing. It came out OK, though.


I learned about light tables and using light colored towels under dark
fabrics to help show the threads and dark colored fabric under light fabrics
to show the threads from Monica Ferris stitching oriented mysteries. I'm a
big mystery buff and if I get a free pattern as part of the book, I'm more
than happy. I keep meaning to design a sort of cat oriented sampler to hang
in the house. I haven't done anything about it yet.


Ich. I know what a lot of people do to get cross stitch on a garment
and
have all the stitches even is to baste a the cross stitch fabric onto
the
garment, and then stitch through *both* layers, and when done, 'pull'
the
cross stitch fabric out (some fabric is made to do just that, for
'pulled
thread' designs

Wow, I wonder how that's done? Is the cross stitch fabric perforated to
be easily taken apart?


I've used this myself on patterns on sweat shirts and such. I can't
remember the name of it right now, but basically, it's a loose weave 14
count aida that removes fairly easily. The hard part is making sure that
your stitches are even so that they look right when you remove the aida.

I don't actually do cross stitch - I've only done needlepoint, Continental
stitch, a la the Joyce variation (ie, the variation that makes a huge
mess in the back) .

I've been teaching myself how to do needle point with kits from the craft
stores. I'm not great at it, and the only stitch that I do well is the
basket weave which actually seems to give the background more depth. I'd
love to take some needle point and other embroidery classes. I used to do
classic embroidery, but the only stitch that I can really remember is the
lasy daisy stitch.

What's "overdye," by the way?

I had to ask too. It's like the 'varigrated' colors, but instead of
blending from one color to the next, it is all one color, but it 'fades'
in
and out a couple shades - some that I looked like you could barely tell
the
difference unless you looked very closely!

Oh, you mean it's monochromatic, but lighter and darker in different
places?


Sounds yummy. I love playing with thread. So do the cats, unfortunately.

Pam S.

On 2006-07-25, Magic Mood Jeep© penned:
wrote:
Anyway, it sounds like you have a lot more experience at it than I
do. Hope you have fun in the classes! What's "overdye," by the
way?

I had to ask too. It's like the 'varigrated' colors, but instead of
blending from one color to the next, it is all one color, but it
'fades' in and out a couple shades - some that I looked like you
could barely tell the difference unless you looked very closely! A
lot if it is hand dyed too - it gives the finished project a subtle
'tie died' look!


Ooh! When I was a teenager and making lots of friendship bracelets, I
loved this stuff. I probably have reams of DMC floss somewhere, if I
didn't give it away.


--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca