Not much stitching time

I have not made a post in over two weeks.  I really have not been stitching much at all.  I have worked a tiny bit  on my Gingerbread boy.  I added whipped chain on his shirt.  The green is the same mystery floss used in the belt.  It is whipped with one strand of white floss.  The belt was outlined with one strand of DMC floss 321 to make a buckle.

Whipped chain added to boy's shirt

 And I had to add at least one picture of spring in my yard.  All blogs need at least one flower picture.  I also clearly need to clean out the old leaves from last fall.

Making a beaded flower or button

This post will show how I made the buttons for my gingerbread boy. I used Nymo and a beading needle since I go through each bead 2 times.

First I added 2 beads over a 4 x 4 square of linen.

First 2 beads

 

Then I added the next 2 beads as if doing a cross stitch. I adjusted the beads before pulling the thread all the way through so that one fell on each corner.

2nd 2 beads adjusted one on each side

Next I came back up through the first bead, added the center bead, and then down through the other side of the cross.

Back up through the first bead

Adding the middle bead

Finally, repeat the other side of a traditional cross stitch passing right to left through the center bead.  When done, the four bottom beads will lay at angles and the top bead will be vertical on the top.

Pass a 2nd time through the middle bead

Finished button or flower

Week 4 TAST finally

Week 4 TAST was the Cretan Stitch.  I decided where I wanted to use it, but I had to get there first.

I found Rose's raised Cretan stitch on her blog when looking at everyone's work.  This was not a stitch I was familiar with, so I used my trusty friend google to find instructions.  Then I stuck both of them on my TAST Pinterest page so I could find them again later.

For the boy's pants I used Perle 5 DMC 321 and Ribbon Floss 142F-12.  They are just slanted satin stitch.

For the belt I used 3 strands of mystery floss from a stash given to me by a friend some time ago.  She had gathered a lot of odds and ends and put them in a bag.  Some were orts, some were whole skeins.  And everything in between.  I did the back stitch base with the floss.  Then I added 2 strands of the metallic sewing thread (also a mystery fiber) that I used in his sleeves to do the raised Cretan. A bit of the metallic sewing thread is pinned at the bottom so you can see it.

Close up of the Raised Cretan Belt

 

Boy got pants and a belt

Bag of partly unided thread

Using pastel chalks in needlework

Tint Your Stitch! is the title of Barbara Elmore's post on her blog Stitchpography.  She talks about stitching and then using pastel chalks in pencil form to color her stitches.  She also has a sample of her work and of Melissa Shirley's Indian Maiden using the technique. 

I don't know if I am brave enough to ever try it, but it is an interesting technique.

Working on the Gingerbread Boy

I have been working some on my gingerbread boy.  His head is done in one strand of DMC 436 using a pulled back stitch.  It has a herringbone like pattern on the back, so it is puffy in  places.

The sleeves are done in running stitch (or pattern darning) using white Perle 8 which is then woven with a metallic mix sewing thread of unknown origin. (Read this as: left over from another project with no labels)

The sun is coming from the side so it is not a great picture.


Close up of boy

Boy and Girl

I have been working on my Gingerbread boy and girl. They are both outlined in perle 8 white using outline stitch. I have picked threads, beads, and stitches for the boy. Now I just need to find time to stitch.

Options for the gingerbread boy

Outline stitch