I am stitching a pattern that has a motif that has an area of long straight stitches in the design. It's Chatelaine's Greek Mandala, the windmills. They looked fine when I stitched them, but now, many months later, the stitches have gone slack and will obviously have to be redone. But how can I stop it from happening again? A lot of these stitches go out into empty space, so there's no way to tack them on the back.
Any ideas?
Sara
Sara:
I have several pieces like that - very frustrating. However, I find I have less problem if I use a laying tool when I do these long stitches. Because it straightens the floss, there seems to be less slackening later. I have one Tudor style band sampler where the satin stitches were quite long, and are now slack and twisted. I din't use my laying tool.
MargW
They're one ply. I definitely use my laying tool for multiple strand long stitches. I restitched some of the windmills, and did some unobtrusive tightening on the back for others. I'm still beading this one, and there are literally 100s of beads, so I'll see how they look when it's finally finished.
Sara
In Japanese (and other Asian embroideries) they use quite long stitches in a number of ways. Most notably plumaria (needle painting). But you can use this technique in other types of embroideries. You'll need to be able to get underneath and have the material stretched quite taut. As you make the stitch, you pull tightly on the back of the stitch (underneath the fabric). This ensures you won't get a slackening later on. It's tricky to learn, but once you "get it", it's something well worth knowing how to do.
Dianne
hey Dianne - are you sure of the name of the needlework? I'm not nitpicking but the name jumped out at me because my mother grew Plumeria (a flower used in making leis) for years. Lovely sweet scent.
I'm going to go look some more for a video - I'm the mood to try something "new" and it sounds handy for a crewel piece I saw.
Good the "hear your voice" Cheryl
Yes, plumaria is the original feather stitching term for needle painting. If you Google "plumaria embroidery" you'll find it. It's Latin for feather work and the word emerged centuries ago to define "needle painting".
Dianne
have you seen a video for the technique? I'm finding lots on the flower to embroider.
Not that I have time to try it and all, but would love to watch it done
Cheryl
I'm not sure if this would help you or not but there are tutorials on long and short shading on this website.
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