Thursday, February 26, 2015

A Filet Dragonfly

Behold my filet dragonfly! I am very proud of him as he is my own. Drawn on paper, transferred to a graph, then worked onto my own hand made mesh.

The mesh is made by drawing two threads, leaving two threads, in a pattern, both vertical and horrizontal. The remaining threads are then whipped together for strength. Making  this mesh takes time.

Using my dragonfly graph, I then worked out a weaving plan for linen stitch. This weaving plan has to be precise, as one incorrect turn of the needle, or one skipped over or under, will throw the rhythm of the linen stitch out.

Watch this space as there will be more filet to come.


Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A Wessex Band


Lately I have been moving on in my counted thread band sampler. This is the same one that has travelled more than me.

For this band I have chosen a Wessex band from the book "Wessex Stitchery" by Gay Eaton. I chose this band because it looked like little flowers, and was not quite as heavy as some of the others in the book. Using the pink as also helped to make it appear lighter, and it fits well with the other colours already in the sampler. Another reason I chose a Wessex band is to help cover up the "fix" I had to do. With lots of reweaving of broken threads. the tension of the weave has changed slightly. All these little flowers will help to hide them.

I have yet to finish the band, but is well on the way. I have one more row of flowers to finish, then I can outline them all and add in the green "trellis".

I love counted work, but this one had me stumped for a while. I found the counting a little difficult and hard to follow as a pattern, but I have now worked out my own  system of working so there are less mistakes. Hopefully this band will be finished soon and i can move on to the next one.