Tutorial Tuesday

This will be the last of the Satin Stitch Tutorials.  And the last Tutorial Tuesday for a while.  I'm trying to decide what to do next, and I'm coming up blank.  If there are any Hardanger techniques you'd like to learn, please let me know in the comments on this post.  Thanks!

So this week is a "sunburst".  This was a lot of fun, and really quick to stitch.  For a review of how to make the base shape, the Star, click here.

The arms on this sunburst curve to the left.  To make the arms curve the other way, do these steps backward. :)  (Text instructions for this are at the end - pictures are limited because this literally stitches so quickly that I forgot to take pictures in between!)

Start with a left-hand diamond - mine starts by covering 2 threads, and it covers 6 at the widest part.

Run the needle behind the stitches, and come up 2 threads away from the right edge of the bottom stitch.  Work a right-hand vertical ship.

(To make a right-hand curve, start with the left-side vertical ship - curve to the right - then work the right-hand diamond.)

Run the needle behind the stitches and come up 2 threads down from the right edge of the bottom stitch (turning the corner).  Work 1 left-hand diamond and 1 right-side vertical ship on each side.  When it's finished it will look like:

If it goes the opposite direction, it will look like:

And a look at the whole Tutorial Sampler so far.  I want to do something interesting in some of the diamonds - instead of cutwork, I mean.  And I need to finish the wrapping and filling on the sides.

Tutorial Wednesday

It just doesn't sound the same, lol.  I am feeling much better, thank you.  I even had a fun stop-in at my LYS, looking for the elusive blue and orange yarn.  She will order them for me, and I should have them by December 1.

In keeping with last week's Hardanger theme, here is a link to a post I did in the past about the star motif common in Hardanger.  This motif can be incorporated in any number of designs.  I know I promised a tutorial for the ship, and as I'm sitting here trying to write it, I realize I don't have the pictures for it that I was sure I'd taken.  So I will show you some examples of how I've used this motif instead.  A ship is basically a star with 4 funky arms.

This was my first attempt at understanding the directions I found.  You'll see that I put them together to make a cross shape.  To make an actual ship-shape, the "funky arms" should be on the side portions, with the star points at the top or bottom.

This shows another use for those "funky arms" - flowers!  You can also see what can be done by making only half of the star motif.

I am motivated now to stitch a ship and take pictures of it - I can't believe I lost those!!!

New Motif - Star

The satin stitch star is an easy way to embellish any stitchery. In Hardanger, it's often used as a focal point of a piece (like in Baroque, on the left). It can also be used as a border by only stitching half a star.

You stitch each point individually, making an angled diamond. When you have completed one point, go back to the center and work on the next point.

I begin with the top left point. Starting at the narrow bottom of my diamond, I come up on the right and go down on the left. Depending on the thread count of my fabric, I will skip one or 2 threads. Next I bring my needle up one hole above my starting point, count over one extra thread, and go down on the left (i.e., if I skipped 2 threads in the first row, I skip 3 in the second). Continue increasing each row until you reach the desired width for each diamond (usually about 6 threads wide). Remember, that you will stitch another diamond for this side, so your finished width will be double.

Now we decrease. This time, instead of matching up the "inside" holes in a straight line, we will match up the outside hole. This will give us the angled look. So come up on the right side, one row above your last stitch, and one hole to the left. Go down on the left in the hole immediately above your last stitch. Decrease by one hole on the right side each row until you reach your top point. Again, consider your fabric when deciding whether to make your point one or two threads wide. Some fabrics are not friendly to one thread satin stitches.

To achieve the drawn thread look, always bring your needle up in the shared holes in the vertical line between points (see picture). So when you stitch the other half of the top of the star, you will come up on the left, and go down on the right. To keep the back neat, slip your threaded needle under your completed satin stitches to go back to the bottoms of the points. Should you need to change thread while stitching stars, loop your thread around a couple of stitches and pull all the way through a completed diamond before cutting.

Sorry for the picture quality on some of these - I was photographing while I was stitching, so I had the fabric propped on my lap, and I was trying to stay out of my own light....As always, if something is hard to understand let me know.

Something else that's important to know - while these are satin stitches, they are not the same as Klosters! You cannot cut along the edges of stars - your fabric will fall apart (trust me!)

New Hardanger stitches I'll be covering soon

I'll be adding tutorials for eyelets and more things to do with satin stitches - stars and ships. These motifs can/may be worked into your SAL piece, but they also make a great addition to your stitch repertoire - they make everything look more finished.

I used a star as the center of my "Baroque" piece (on the left), and there are eyelets between the buttonhole edging and the Klosters of the same piece. I often use the ship motif to make an interesting looking flower.