On My Needlework Stand

STITCHING UPDATE #1



Hi, I'm glad that you've decided to follow the progress of this design and hope you find it interesting.



Please note: Contrary to this Stitching Update, the completed and final version of the "Fortune-Teller" advises that stitching begin with the Violet. A design revision in Stitching Update #3 involved the repositioning of several flowers. PLEASE FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS IN YOUR CHARTPACK

The Daisy

Well, things went quite well in this area. One decision was put on hold, I learned (again!) to pay attention to basic stitching cautions and there were a few inevitable colour changes.

Like mischievous children, floss colours often play tricks when they get together. For example, it's not unusual, for a beautifully rich aqua that you've chosen to highlight an area of deep midnight blue to appear garish and cheap once the stitches are actually set side by side.

Here are the changes that occured while stitching the Daisy...

NOTE TO SELF #1 reads "Substitute WDW 1276 (Blue Spruce) for Scuppermong". One colour of over-dyed thread is used throughout the 'Fortune-Teller' but Scuppermong tended to 'dissolve' into the Clay-coloured background. Those stitches needed to be ripped out and re-stitched with a more dominant colour. The chart key and thread list then needed to be adjusted (and saved) to show the substitution. I know, my fabric and threads are the worst mess you've ever seen! What can I say? This isn't an attempt to create a studio-quality portrait.... it's a spontaneous picture for the purpose of illustrating a point! As you can see though, the Blue Spruce is significantly darker than the Scuppermong and will stand out better against this fabric. (YOU CAN VIEW WEEKS DYE WORKS COMPLETE COLOUR COLLECTION ON their web-site).

NOTE TO SELF #2 "A, B, C & D are 2-strand full-x DMC White". A, B, C & D are four of the Daisy's eight white petals that I just wasn't happy with. I've fixed them by using the White floss in two ways... as a single strand full cross-stitch and as a 2-strand full cross-stitch. This adds a little more texture and detail to this section. Another colour description and new floss symbol need to be added to the chart and key (to indicate this second method of stitching with the White floss). Since the number of still-available and easily differentiated symbols is getting low, I'll have to be very careful about choosing a symbol that stands out well from its neighbours. The symbol also needs to suggest, at a glance, the intensity of the colour it represents (this is very important to the readability of a needlework chart).

NOTE #3 "These 3 colours need to SLIDE UP a bit". The palest of the 3 yellows I've chosen for the centre of the Daisy fades into the background too much. As with the petals, these stitches all need to be ripped out, re-stitched (using shades that are a little stronger) and the chart needs amending.

NOTE #4 "#@~*%, when will you ever learn?!" I KNEW that playing with beads at this stage was courting disaster! I love my Q-Snaps but they just broke two of the beads that I'd sewn on while deciding where to add sparkle to this piece. Oh well, they'll just have to come off and I'll choose at the end.

The decision that needs mulling over? Some straight-stitches that I'd planned on using to highlight a few of the Daisy petals may be too heavy and distracting... I'll wait for now and think about it later on.

For the next Stitching Update, please click here