Design Transfer and Line of Held Thread

One of the skills I am learning in Phase IX of Japanese Embroidery instruction is something called superimposed work.

Superimposed work is stitching on top of a stitched ground or foundation.  I've completed some superimposed work already when I laid goldwork leaves and cherry blossoms over a black twisted thread foundation.



After finishing the flat silk stitching of the box legs,  I'm ready to superimpose more embroidery details on top of what I've already stitched, building the embroidery detail in layers.

First, I need to transfer the embroidery design again.  Most of the time, I hand draw on tissue paper and transfer the design that way (the tree on my January Reflections piece was done this way).  In order to be a bit more precise, I will sometimes print the pattern onto tissue paper using the copy setting on my printer.

First, I tape a piece of tracing paper (I like Bienfang best) onto a plain sheet of copy paper...


 
Next, I set the copy setting on the lowest possible ink density.



You don't want too much ink because it can flake off and get on your embroidery which wouldn't be great.   In fact, if I were working with light colors I probably wouldn't use this printer method but would instead trace it by hand to avoid this potential problem.

Once the pattern is copied, I actually cut the sheet of tissue paper into pieces along the dotted lines.  I didn't get a picture of this step but it's kind of important.



Because the fabric is stretched on a frame, the pattern doesn't always fit the space exactly.  By cutting the tissue pattern along the dotted lines, I'm able to more accurately fit the design over the top of the box, the left leg and the right leg and baste them in place.  If I tried to fit the transfer without cutting the tissue, it would be nearly impossible to line up the design accurately.  I hope that makes sense.

Next, I transfer the design by using one of my couching threads in the color that either matches the foundation or matches the embroidery to be superimposed.  In this case, I'll be stitching the box ties and tassels using a reddish-orange silk so I used a red couching thread to transfer my design.  For the tiny metal fittings on the box legs, I used gold couching thread.

A design can be transferred using running stitch or a line of held thread.  I chose line of held thread in this instance because I like that it gives me a firm edge over which to lay my flat silk for the tassel.

A line of held thread begins by stitching one long straight stitch along the design line.  In the example below, I chose to stitch one side of the tassel...



Because the tassel side curves, my tension is somewhat loose on that thread so that I can couch the line in place over the design line.  The first couching stitch is in the center of the line (see above).

Next, I begin shaping my long stitch along the design line by couching halfway again between the middle stitch and the ends of my thread...

I continued to couch the thread evenly by continuing to divide each space in half...

Until I've securely couched down the entire design line...

If the shape is very curvy, my couching stitches will be closer together.

After I score the tissue paper and remove it from my work with a tweezer, I'm ready to begin stitching the cord, tassels and metal fitting on the legs of the box.

Now for the disclaimer.  I am by no means an expert Japanese embroiderer.  I am a student.  The information that I share here is my own experience and not necessarily the gospel as it relates to Japanese embroidery.  There may be readers who are far more experienced than I who would like to chime in and I welcome their input.  Also, my teacher may buzz in here every now and then to correct me and when she does, I will share that as well.

Thank you for coming along for the journey.  I hope you will find information here that will help you with your own needlework.

Now, I'm back to work.  Until next time!

Right Diagonals

In Japanese embroidery, one of the basic techniques for filling a shape is called diagonal layer.

Diagonal layer uses right diagonal stitches from upper right to bottom left.

With two strands of flat, filament silk I proceeded to stitch the legs of the sake box from the upper right to bottom left just like the textbook said.

I'm a little rusty at laying flat silk since I've been laying goldwork for months and months.

When I finished, I thought it looked pretty good, not great.  My silk tension was uneven which didn't worry me too much since the area will be covered by more superimposed goldwork.  That should mask some of my problems which is one reason why I stitched the legs as a bit of a warm-up...

Making progress, I thought, until my teacher buzzed in and told me that the orientation of the stitch is not to myself, the stitcher, but to the top of the piece.  In other words, my right diagonals were actually left diagonals and I had stitched them incorrectly.

So...



Out they came and I re-stitched them properly from top right to bottom left...

When I think about it, that makes more sense anyway.  If all right diagonals were stitched relative to the position of the stitcher, then they would be in many different directions all over the piece.  The correct way means that stitches will all be orientated to the top of the embroidery piece and that would be a unifying effect that makes a ton more sense.

I told you I was rusty.

Doing my best to stitch two hours per day now so there should be many more Japanese embroidery updates in the future if I'm doing my work.

Many of you asked about Mrs. Rose...I'm happy to report that she is patiently sitting in her chair with her prayer book saying her rosary while she waits for her rose bower to grow.   I've been making her leaves but Japanese embroidery and Christmas presents have risen in the queue ahead of her I'm afraid.  She'll be back on deck after the holidays.

Back to the frame with me...

Ruby Rose

AWOL.  Absent without leave.

It's been two months since I've been here so I have a lot of catching up to do.  The good news is that my absence has been all for good reasons.  I've been busy engaging my life, loves, family and friends...and the chair in front of my computer has been so empty it had dust on it.

Jim, Jack and I traveled to Kyoto and Tokyo for ten days in July and I've been busy traveling, embroidering, exploring and enjoying life.  I'll do my best to get caught up on posts since there's a lot of experiences I'd love to share.

Rather than go chronologically, let's just join the movie already in progress.  This week, Jack was center stage as he had requested that I make him a very specific hat and sweatshirt.

I did what any sewing mother would do whose son hadn't asked her to make anything for him in over...umm, let's just say...five years or more.  I dropped everything in order to meet his request.

It turns out, Jack is a big fan of a Rooster Teeth animé-style internet show called RWBY (pronounced "ruby") which has four main characters loosely inspired by the classic fairy tale characters and the colors Red,White, Black and Yellow.  Jack's favorite is the red character Ruby Rose who dresses in black with a red-hooded cape...



And whose logo is this trademark fiery rose...



This weekend Jack is going to the Rooster Teeth (RTX) convention in Austin TX with a friend from school.  Lots of attendees dress up as their favorite characters called cosplay.  Jack didn't want to wear a full costume; just wanted to show his support for his favorite character so he requested a hat and hoodie combination.

Jack has taken to wearing a beanie pretty much every day.  It helps to tame his thick hair so I set about to knit him a beanie in a linen/cotton blend for summer wearing...




I used this free pattern from Jared Flood on Ravelry based on a recommendation from Wae at my local knitting store, Cloverhill Yarns.



Since Jack wears his beanie tilted back from the crown of his head, I didn't want too tight of a ribbed band so I used the same needle for the entire hat instead of dropping down three needle sizes as recommended in the pattern.  This was a mistake so I'm going to re-make him one where I only drop down two sizes.

That being said, the hat turned out great and it was the first time I had ever tried the Tubular Cast On.  It makes a wonderful cast on edge for a ribbed band and I'll be using that idea over again.  Highly recommend.



Next up was trying to figure out the best way of transferring the logo to the hat.  I decided against designing a hat with the rose knitted into the pattern (not my forté) and embroidering directly onto the knitted stitches using duplicate stitch wouldn't give me enough detail.

Eventually I decided to embroider the logo onto 100% wool felt.  Since wool felt is expensive, I basted just the amount I needed for my design onto inexpensive muslin and cut away the muslin from the felt...

This is often used when embroidering onto little bits of very expensive materials such as silk gauze where you don't want to waste the fabric by needing to stretch it into a hoop.

Next up, I used my old favorite of tissue paper design transfer.


 I fall back on this method time and time again.
 

It's not the quickest but it allows me more control over the detail of the design transfer.  It also gives me a nice outline for the outside edge of stitches...



I used one strand of Au Ver a Soie silk floss in random long and short stitch with all the stitches directed to the center of the rose...



After I finished the embroidery, I cut it out and appliqued it onto the top of the knitted beanie...



It worked out better than I expected so I would likely use this technique again.

A Second Pair of Hands

If you had to stitch 118 goldwork leaves on a honeysuckle vine, how many leaves do you think it would take before you felt like they began to flow from your needle?

All of the leaves on this honeysuckle vine have a very predictable shape so it shouldn't take too long, right?

Oh, if it were only that easy.  There are so many variables to account for and I am only now beginning to find a rhythm...on leaf number 86.

Working with Japanese gold thread, couching stitches every 2mm or so, maintaining the twist of the gold, manipulating the koma in a predictable and practiced way, making good corners, etc.

There's a lot to understand.  First, the thread.

Japanese gold thread comes in a hank and it must be split in half and wound onto two wooden spools called koma.  It is very important that the thread be wound onto the spool under tension.  I am using size number 3 and it's imitation gold...



To understand the importance of having the thread under tension, you have to understand how the thread is made.  Gold (real or imitation) is laminated to mulberry paper, cut into strips and then wrapped around a silk core.

While stitching, the wraps can become loose allowing more of the silk core to show through.  This also makes the thread less taut and more wimpy.

Here is a picture of the gold thread that has loosened near the cut end...

It's not the greatest picture but you can see the lines along the thread where a bit of the silk core is visible.

By winding the koma, I can tighten and untighten the twist of the thread.  In the picture below, I have tightened the gold thread; the wraps are closer together and the thread takes on a wire-like quality.



This is how you want the thread to be when you couch it down.  The gold thread shines to optimal effect when the thread is laid this way.

That being said, to turn corners the thread needs to be softened in order to make sharp points and corners.  My honeysuckle leaves don't require as sharp a corners as my cherry blossom petals but I still have many corners to turn.  Softening the twist of the gold at the turn keeps the thread from crimping.  Once I've made the turn, I have to retighten the twist of the thread again and off I go to the next turn.

This means that there is a constant manipulation of the thread wrapped around the koma as I stitch.  Wrapping to tighten the thread, couching the thread, and then loosening the wraps at the corner to allow for an easier turn, and then tightening the thread again to couch down the straightaway section of the leaf.



This dance of the koma, together with the starting and ending the threads for each leaf, means that each leaf can take a good deal of time.  For me, about 22 minutes.  (*wink* That's what that Toggl timer is for).

Next Japanese embroidery post, I'll try to post some pictures of turning corners since a few of you have asked about that.

Needless to say, these koma are very handy tools and I use them anytime I need to couch a non-stitchable thread on a project.  This extra set of hands allows you to keep your thread under good tension so that the couched line is nice and smooth.

Koma are most often sold in pairs and can be made from a variety of woods.  The most important thing when selecting koma is the weight of the wood that is used.  The heavier the better.

The weight plus the squared off ends keeps the spool from rolling and helps to anchor the koma firmly in place.  They really are like a second pair of hands.

You can buy koma from the Japanese embroidery center here .

But don't expect to master their use overnight.

Hundreds of curlicues...118 leaves, and hundreds more turns...

Practice is the teacher.  

That's one thing that the Japanese understand.  Ten phases to teach you.  To test you.  And then you are ready to begin.  

The hardest part for me is staying in the chair.  Resisting the temptation to do something else.  And no, it doesn't get easier. 

Showing up.  Sitting down.  Keeping my butt in the chair.  Stitching for a minimum of two hours every day.  

It's starting to happen.  Competence.  Predictability.  Flow.

The Japanese understand that there are no short cuts to gaining skill.  It's work; it can be hard.

I'm getting better at the struggle.  I'm winning more and more.  My butt is staying in the chair.

Tracking Time

I am long on ideas and short on time.  I only expect to live 100 years.  

Thomas Edison said that but it might as well have been me.  I have been trying to create more time in my creative life... 

Deadlines help.  Alot.  I have three pieces of Japanese embroidery to complete by October which is no small feat.

I've committed to stitching two hours per day to accomplish that goal.  The intention alone has helped to improve the total amount of time I spend stitching.  I wake up early on days when I know I'll be busy or I stay at the frame longer one day if I know I won't be able to find time to embroider the next.

I also got myself a buddy...a fellow student in my class who is also trying to graduate in October.  We text each other to support one another and help keep ourselves on track.

Both of those things have helped my productivity but the tool I started using over the weekend has been a total game changer.  I am loving it and I just have to share.

It's a time-tracking app on my iPhone called Toggl.

You can download it for free from the App store.  Like many apps, they have a more robust application that you pay for but the simple one is working quite well for me.

Many of my fellow Japanese embroiderers track the time it takes to stitch their pieces, some for insurance purposes.  I am often asked by friends how long a project takes me to stitch and I usually have no good answer.  Well folks, those days are over!

Over the weekend I went looking for an app that could keep track of my time across all my projects.  I found this article which reviewed a number of apps...many of them were for tracking billable time or invoicing...neither of which I needed.  I narrowed my choices down to two, ATracker and Toggl, and found that I liked Toggl best.

When you first open the app, you press the timer "Start" which takes you to a screen to designate your project.  Below I have Sake Box listed but I could add a New Project if I was starting one...

Once I touched Sake Box, I'm asked "What are you working on?"

I've been entering "Goldwork" because I would eventually like to know how long the Goldwork takes me.

Here you can see the cumulative totals I've spent on Sake Box - Goldwork over the course of a few days...

Toggl will track your total time by week, month, year and its reports feature lets you look at total time spent by project.

I am absolutely thrilled with this new tool...I just might have to add my iPhone to my list of essential needlework tools.

I hope this helps you find time for your own projects.

Have a good Time!

P.S. Thanks to onthevergeofsnapping and Andrea D for finding these two articles about Uncle Bill and his tweezer invention: here and here.    I found it fascinating in this story that Uncle Bill's tweezers almost didn't get made.

Thank You Uncle Bill!

Today I'm sending out a huge thank you to a guy that I don't even know exists...

Is there really an Uncle Bill who invented these tweezers??

These little tweezers live up to their slogan...



And they are one of the simplest and most useful tools you can own.  Not just for embroidery either...for any tedious task.

I bought multiple pairs to keep with my Japanese embroidery, at my work station and an extra for carrying around with various projects.

This past weekend I used them to remove the tiny bits that remain after removing my paper transfer pattern.



First I used the tekobari to score the paper on either side of each stitched line.  This helps the paper to tear away more easily.

Inevitably, little bits of paper are stuck under stitches and need to be removed...

The precision-point sliver grippers are THE tool for that job.

Right after the needlebook, scissors and tekobari...these are my fourth most valuable tool.  I use them to sink goldwork, for picking out stitches, for removing errant hairs and debris from needlework, etc...

Many of you out there are already Uncle Bill enthusiasts but if you didn't know about them until today, you can get them here.

I went searching for some background history on Uncle Bill but couldn't find any.  I only know that they are manufactured in the USA by this company in Connecticut.

Happy precision picking everyone!

Embroidering 3-D Rose Leaves

For the past few months I've been working on creating a palette of leaves for a climbing rose bower on my Mrs. Rose block.

First, I figured out a method for making velvet leaves.  I like those very much but I wanted to try my hand at embroidering a few as well.

This week I worked on a couple of approaches for embroidering three-dimensional leaves.  My first attempt was...just that...a first attempt.

In the second attempt, I sandwiched organza with the fabri-solvy...couching the wires to the underneath of the fabric sandwich and embroidering the leaves on the top side.

Once I finished the embroidery, I cut them each out and placed them in water to dissolve the stabilizer.



Over all, they turned out pretty well.  The more I did, the better I became.  A few minor adjustments and I think I have a good approach for going into production.

I had to order more Gloriana Tudor Silk since I only had it in one color, Olivine, and I'd like to have a palette of leaves to choose from when I'm making the final bower.  Luckily, Needle in a Haystack had a range of greens so those should be arriving in the next day or so.

Check out the difference between one strand of 12-strand Tudor Silk on the left and one strand of Gloriana 12-strand silk floss on the right...

The 120/2 twist of the Tudor Silk has a tighter twist than the silk floss, more of a sheen (IMHO), and doesn't "fuzz out" as much as the softer twist.  That's important because I am distressing the thread a bit by putting it into water.

I am loving how they are turning out.  The only down side is that they take about one hour per leaf stem to make, a bit longer than the plain velvet leaves.

I still need to figure out the calyx and the thorns but I am definitely getting closer...

Below you can see the scale of the leaves compared to a penny...

That's it for now.  I'll be working on Japanese embroidery for the next few days where I have tons and tons of goldwork to do.

Happy day!