Good Monday everyone.
I spent today working on my little magic heart.
Today, I took the woodsy palette from Thursday and lettered over the fabric I printed last week.
I stitched the first row using the medium value of tan/gray.
Using stem stitch, I made sure that I formed the letters by always going in the same direction, keeping my thread below my stitching because I was using an S-twist thread (DMC cotton floss), stitching left to right.
Mary Corbet of Needle N' Thread has a great post on tips for stitching outline and stem stitches using S-twist and Z-twist threads. It's worth its weight in gold. Reading that post helps a lot in creating nice, even stitches as you stitch your letters. And, if you're not sure how to tell an S-twist from a Z-twist, she also has a post explaining that. I just love Mary.
Now, onto my second row. Next I added the darkest brown/gray value being careful to stitch in the exact same direction as the row before. It's amazing how the letters start to fill out and the second row complements the first.
Usually when I'm lettering, I'm paying attention to where the light source might be so I get the highlights and shadows correct. This time, I was just trying to make woodsy-shaded letters and I was less-concerned with highlights and lowlights.
The third row filled out the letters nicely with an orange-brown. The pictures are a little off since they were taken under lights due to our gray, rainy November skies...
Lastly, I just added some highlights with the lightest coffee colored thread...
Tonight, I'm re-creating a special plant from my friend's garden. I don't think she reads my blog very much so it shouldn't spoil the surprise.
I'll tell you about how she inspired me tomorrow.
See you then.
I'm sure you'd love to know that there's a just slightly more green colour to your grey/tan colour that was known as "Goose Turd Green" in Elizabethan times *grin*.
ReplyDeleteLooking great!
Wow, what a difference it makes to have the 3 colors in the lettering.
ReplyDeleteYour lettering is so perfect...I can only hope some day to be able to do it well.
ReplyDeleteWhat great timing this post is. I will be working on some lettering tomorrow. I appreciate the tips on keeping the thread below the needle.
ReplyDeleteDeb
Love the lettering.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to dot your "i"s?
And here I thought you were going to knit something with your woodsy colors. What is the viney stuff? It's very pretty! As always, I'm looking forward to the next installment!
ReplyDeleteSusan, your lettering is just beautiful. So perfectly done. The plant you show at the end of your post is known as Lady's Mantle, or Alchemilla. I have several clumps of it in my garden. I love the rounded leaves and the way raindrops "bead" on it after a rain. It's chartreuse flowers are great for drying...
ReplyDeleteGorgeous lettering. What a stroke of genius to 'shade' your letters. I never thought to do that... hmmm, must tuck that bit of info away in my stitchery folder. Your work is so lovely.
ReplyDeleteYour lettering is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI can hardly wait to try printing the lettering on the cloth...what a cool idea... Ger
ReplyDeleteYour stitches are so tiny and perfect. The shaded thread and multiple lines of stitching really do fill out the lettering and make it very rich. Your posts really add so much information that I love to learn. Blissful stitching...
ReplyDeleteThe leters become magic by the way you make them. Thanks for the explanation!
ReplyDeleteWonderfully delicate and "woodsy" at the same time. Beautifully done!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stitching. And you answered my questions, just after I thought them! How cool is that!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving.
like that. the color of the fibers really blend well with the fabric.
ReplyDeleteGosh I wish I could do lettering so beautifully.... Believe in magic I do because I see you create it here.
ReplyDeletewhat Talent, Those Tremendous letters are, you Terrific sTiTicher you!
ReplyDeleteT-hehe
So beautifully done. I have taken a cloth to several family reunions and had people sign it. Then I embroidered the signatures. It's already an interesting keepsake. Some of the signatures are so small that I used two threads instead of three.
ReplyDeleteYour letter is lovely!
Aw, shucks! Thanks, Susan! :-) It's mutual!
ReplyDeleteLove the lettering and as usual, I'm really enjoying watching your projects develop. Tiffany's was gorgeous, and I'm sure this one will be, too!