Module 2 Chapter 4 (page 19)

Cable Stitch

Cable stitch with the presser foot on

Sample 1 (below)

I used a variety of different threads for this sample:
a light blue Anchor hand embroidery thread
a thin, variegated purple wool
a thicker, textured purple wool
a mid-blue blue hand-dyed linen thread
a bright green Wonderfil thread (Razzle No.250, wt 8)

I sewed the lines of stitches very close together and enjoyed creating different textures this way - some threads were much more raised from the surface than others, and the textured threads created little 'nobbles' which I thought looked interesting.

I used a purple thread in the top needle throughout, and it was pulled through to the surface of the stitching. The wool was more difficult to sew with than the embroidery threads and there were places where the thread in the top needle got caught up and created loops on the surface.

Zigzag stitch

Sample 2 (below)

I tried sewing in cable stitch using different widths and lengths of stitch, with different types of thread. The following picures show:

metallic thread ( Wonderfil Dazzle No. 941, wt 8)

Madeira Glamour thread Col. 2070

Madeira variegated Decor thread (Col. 1591, wt 6)

thin purple silk ribbon (interesting knobbly effect, but the thread from the top needle kept becoming knotted).

and in the picture below...

light blue hand embroidery thread

purple wool (I liked the softer 'wiggly' effect of the wool, but it was too stretchy and kept skipping stitches or breaking).

Cable stitch and automatic patterns

Sample 3 (below)

I tried out a few different stitches and threads, with varying degrees of success! I found that the more 'open' kinds of pattern worked better on my machine, with threads that were not too bulky. Perle and hand embroidery thread were ok to use, as long as the machine didn't have to go back on itself because the thread then knotted and got caught on the bobbin.
Stitch Numbers used (top to bottom)
119
146
155
153
126
117
119
120
126
156
160
169

I liked the effect created by No. 119 and 117, which covered the background fabric well, but also liked No. 120 (with the open circles) for a more delicate effect.

Cable stitch and free embroidery

Sample 4 (below)

I used a metallic green thread here (wt 8) on black felt. The thread became a little knotted and caught up, but was easier to handle once I tightened the top tension a little.

Sample 5 (below)

For this sample, I used a viscose wt 6 thread (Madeira). I liked the effect created by using a variegated thread, but found this quite difficult to handle (lots of time spent untangling thread in the bobbin!)

Sample 6 (below)

I used a bright green wt 8 thread here, and still found this a little tricky to handle, as can be seen from the small knots and tangles on the surface.

Sample 7 (below)

For this sample, I tore strips of pink, blue and green silk and layed them on a backgound of white felt. I backed this with medium weight Vilene before sewing. This time I tried lots of different threads over the background in lines. This was much easier to sew than the previous three samples (perhaps because the layers were thicker?), and I was pleased with the final results. Threads that I used were cotton perle wt 8, a thick cotton knitting yarn and hand embroidery threads.

Comparing different types of threads

I drew a 4 x 4 grid, which I then divided into 16 squares and drew a different pattern in each one. Using a pink thread in the top needle, I then stitched the design in cable stitch from the back of the material.
For this first attempt (sample 8), I used a bright green Wonderfil thread in the bobbin (Razzle No. 250, wt 8). I loosened the bottom tension as much as possible and kept the top tension at around 3. When I turned the fabric over, the designs had come out quite clearly, but there were little knots and jumps in stitching. I tried tightening the top tension a little more (to 4 or 5), and this seemed to help reduce the problem. I also found that I had to keep moving, as knots would easily form if stitching too long in the same position.

Sample 8

For the next sample (No. 9), I decided to use a metallic thread in the bobbin (Madeira Glamour No. 2070). The thread seems to create a more dense effect here, and I think that the stitching is a little neater than my first attempt. I liked the metallic thread here and it was also easier to sew with than I thought it would be.

Sample 9

For my third attempt (sample 10) at sewing the grid, I used a pink perle Anchor hand embroidery thread in the bobbin (wt 8). I kept the top tension to around 4, and the stitching seems reasonably neat - there are only little knots and loops where the patterns are more complicated, such as the spirals.

Sample 10

Cable stitching a design

I found an image of waterlily seed pods that I thought would make a good design for this sample.

I chose some felt that had a mixture of colours as a background material (pink, green, purple) and used a stabiliser behind it. The outline of the design was marked out on 'stitch and tear' and stitched the outline of the seedpods from the back, using cable stitch in the bright green thread in the picture below (sample 11).
I also stitched around the openings for the seeds inside the outline in the same bright green, to link the colours together. The inside of the openings was sewn using cable stitch again in a dark maroon hand embroidery thread, in spirals, which raised the surface of the dseign a little. I kept a bright green thread in the top needle, and this has been pulled through to the surface, creating little speckles of green.
I stitched the inside of the pods in a variegated viscose Madeira thread (Decor Col 1591, wt 6), in lines and circles, which I like the effect of, but my machine found quite difficult to sew. Again, I kept the bright green in the top needle, as I liked the contrast between this and the pink of the main thread used.
Overall, I really liked the final design, and learnt alot about how to stitch with thicker threads, especially how to change the settings on my machine.
(Time spent = 7 hours 40 minutes)

Sample 11

Cable stitching the background of a design

I used the same waterlily design as for the previous sample, but this time changed the colour scheme and also took away one of the seed pods, in order to expose more background area (sample 12).
This time, I used a wider variety of threads, with varying degrees of success!

I stitched the outline of the pods using a light green hand embroidery thread, and a dark purple in the top needle. I had some problems with the thicker thread knotting and breaking, and couldn't seem to get the tensions quite right. I sewed the inside of the seedpod 'holes' in a dark purple hand embroidery thread, using spirals again, which my machine seemed to enjoy a little more, and this provided some tonal contrast to the other colours I used. I then stitched the background of the design in lines, using a metallic teal, purple wool, a light blue embroidery thread and a thinner, purple Wonderfil thread. The machine hated the wool, which kept stretching and breaking, but seemed to cope with the other threads reasonably well. I kept the dark purple thread in the top needle throughout.

I liked the colour comination of this design, and found it interesting to only stitch the background, but think for this to be more effective, I needed a design with more background showing. I was also itching to stitch inside  the seedpod on the left, as this seemed to be quite a large space to leave alone, but wasn't sure if this would be 'overstitching'.
(Total time = 4 1/2 hours)

Sample 12

Using the stitches from Chapter Three and Chapter Four

For the next two designs,  I went back to my source material for chapter one, and chose the flower image I had already used for some of the printing designs in chapter two.

I thought that using the same image, but in different sizes would create some depth to the design, and I also slightly overlapped two of the flowers to link the images together. I chose a blue and purple hand dyed piece of felt as my background and used a stabiliser behind this. For a colour scheme, I decided to pick up some of the purples from the felt, as well as adding touches of brighter colours.


Sample 13

The stiches and threads I used were as follows:
Granite stitch inside the flower petals in a variegated purple thread (Wonderfil Accent No. 10, wt 12)
Granite stitch inside the middle of the flowers in a variegated light green, blue and turquoise perle Anchor hand embroidery thread
Whip stitch for the outline of the flowers
Cable stitch to create lines around the shapes of the flowers (Wonderfil Dazzle No. 941 wt 8)
and the Madeira Glamour thread, used in earlier samples.
Vermicelli stitch to fill in background space in a variegated blue, green & yellow thread (Wonderfil Fruitti No. 02, wt 50)
Moss stitch in a variegated pink, purple, lemon and brown thread to fill in background space (Wonderfil Mirage No. 12, wt 30)
Whip stitch in the variegated light green, blue and turquoise hand embroidery thread used earlier, to outline the flowers. A dark blue was used in the bobbin, and can be seen if looking closely.



Close up of the stitching

(Total time spent = 9 hours)

Using stitches, a second piece

For the second piece (sample 14), I used the same flower outline as the previous sample, but this time on a background of transfer painted satin. I sponged the transfer paint onto paper before ironing onto the satin, to create a mottled effect, leaving the flower shapes blocked out by cutting out their shapes in paper and  fixing these to the surface. As I thought this looked quite harsh, I lightly ironed over the white patches to transfer a lighter coating of colour onto the satin.


Sample 14

I used a variety of threads and stitching to complete the design:
Cable stitch in a bright green thread to create lines around the flower shapes (Wonderfil Razzle No 250, wt 8).
Cable stitch in  light purple hand embroidery thread around the adge of some of the flower shapes
Moss stitch in  a variegated lilac, pink and light green thread inside the petals of the flowers (Wonderfil Accent No. 20, wt 12)
Granite stitch to fill in the centre of the flowers in a metallic purple thread (Madeira Col 213)
Granite stitch to fill in areas of the background in a lilac thread. I didn't cover the whole of these areas, I tried to echo the background colours by stitching over any lilac parts.
Vermicelli stitch in  an Anchor variegated blue, green and turquoise perle thread (wt 8) to fill in background areas. 
Feather stitch in the metallic purple that I used for the granite stitch, with a bright green in the bobbin

Close up of the stitching

This sample has a much lighter and feminine feel to it, compared with the sample I completed on felt. I felt that I had made progress with some of the stitching techniques, e.g. the moss stitch and feather stitch, but still have quite alot to learn about cable stitch! I think that I need to perfect exactly which tension to tighten to for the top thread for this to start looking neater. I did make the decision to stitch around the outside of the flower shapes, but do wonder what the design would have looked like had I left this, like the sample in the course materials. I like the way the lighter areas of fabric show through the stitching inside the petals though, and also liked the effect of picking up some of the colours in the background fabric, but leaving other areas showing though where I used granite stitch.

(Total time spent = 8 hours)