Jasper & Janina..............

I have finally finished the July needlecase.  It was always going to cause me concern, these J months have been rather difficult for me to decide on a theme.  I purchased a fat quarter of fabric earlier in the year with the needlecases in mind, and when it came to finally using this particular lining, I decided grey might be the go.  To brighten up my journey, I kept making up little stories as I planned/stitched.  Perhaps this one could quite easily be the start of a childrens' book in years to come, as I've given it the title 'Jasper and Janina meet Jasmine in July'............  I know, it's weird!!!  Why??  Well, I love the semi-precious stone Jasper, and one of it's forms is Mexican Zebra Jasper which conveniently shows black/white/greying.  I've been trying to use a stitch or technique that starts with the same letter as the month in which I'm working, so the story was born.  I've used Janina Stitch, which is just another name for Roumanian Stitch [it is.........it says so in Mary Thomas' Stitch Dictionary!!!].  Janina is more of a 'band' stitch and doesn't really lend itself to shapes well.  Okay, enough already................. 

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The Jasmine flower [it's my flower so I can call it a Jasmine......LOL] has been done by fusing two layers of grey crystal organza together prior to satin stitching around the petals.  I then padded the centre with felt circles, over which the Janina stitch was worked, and finally the Jasper bead was attached.   The 'stamens' have also been worked in Janina stitch, and what piece would be complete without some beadwork.....

I very much wanted to use grey felt for the 'pages', but alas my grey felt parcel just hasn't arrived, and I really needed to have this finished.  The black piping on the outside has possibly given me permission to use black felt for the needle pages.  Using these bland colours and one stitch in particular was a trial, but I think it has added something to the mix of needlecases I've been working on.  I must now move on to the August one, and possibly a little more colour.  

A few days to spare

I'm back again with the needlebook saga I'm afraid to tell you.  I'm feeling a bit disappointed with this one as I have not given it the time it deserved.  However, I am really pleased that it is done and I have some of June to spare.  Originally I intended for this to be Jacobean embroidery, but due to several circumstances, I've had to re-phrase and re-think my approach.  I feel I can really only call this 'Just Embroidery', sorry ladies.  I very much wanted to use the William Morris print for the lining, and as you will see, it has very few colours in it.   I found lots of lovely designs, but I really couldn't use them, as in my mind, they just didn't do anything for the overall look of the needlebook.  I was also handicapped by not having a great assortment of shades in my desired colours.  To settle on something, I drew this simple flower/stem/leaf design, and embroidered it using basic stitches, ie stem stitch, padded satin stitch, portuguese stem stitch, fly stitch, seeding.  

I have become used to making these needlebooks by simply placing the outer and lining together, and then binding.  I did use several layers of Shapewell, but the whole feel was still a tad soft for my liking, so I inserted two pieces of template plastic between the pieces, prior to attaching the binding.  Template plastic or overhead projector film always leaves the book feeling much more stable.

One more photo to show how pretty this needlebook is inside and we're done.  I love this print, actually purchasing this piece of fabric to use as a lining for pink wool blanketing...............one day!!!!  I'm quite happy with the navy wool felt, it is a bit darker 'in real life'.  And so ends June's needlebook adventure..........

The May Needlecase

Continuing on with my intention to work a needlecase each month, I feel quite chuffed that it's not yet the middle of May and I've got something to offer.

This was always going to be machine embroidery, but I hadn't decided whether I'd do digitized embroidery by way of my Bernina embroidery unit, or go again with some freehand machine work and mixed media/textiles. In the interests of time, and a small challenge by a very nice lady on a forum I visit, I decided to dust off the embroidery unit and swallow hard.

I just don't like this type of embroidery, or should I say I don't like DOING this type of embroidery, but I did want to try this card, as it was purchased on a throw out sale about two years ago, and not once had it been out of the packet.

The colours chosen for the embroidery were my own, differing from those given in the enclosed chart, as I wanted to use the lining fabric [and needed to have the colours matching obviously]. I just love the fabric, probably because there is a tiny hint of gold in it.

I'm happy with this effort. There is a monogrammed initial on the back, but it's just that, an initial, so no need to bother taking up space with yet another photograph. I seem to be going for red a bit, having two, and we haven't hit the half way point yet............... I am equally chuffed because I used what I had in my stash, which I hope to continue to do as I go along. Onward to June!!!

April

Well, April is over for us here in Australia, but I might just sneak this in with Blogger, so here is April in all it's glory, done.

This is what I have come to know as Altered Photo Artistry. I took this photo in my garden, then altered it slightly with PhotoShop. It was then printed onto Inkjet Printable Silk fabric. After stabilizing with fusible vilene, pellon and shapewell, I machine stippled in what I hope are the right places.

The dark avocado green dupion seemed to be a nice frame for the photo, and again, this is a technique that I have learnt a lot from doing.

Onwards now to May and possibly machine embroidery of the digitized kind........

March

By the time March had started I was becoming a little more aware of the enormity of this challenge. I really felt I would like to do some canvas stitching, as it had been quite a long time since I'd done any type of this at all.

I chose what is known as Milanese Stitch, again from my Mary Thomas' Dictionary of Stitches book. It's a simple offset arrowhead stitch that looks a little like tweed if it's done in two colours. I chose these colours simply because I had quite a bit of the DMC #5 Perlé required, and as this was turning out to be a long term project, I hoped to use some of what I already had.

I am endeavouring to keep making the needlebooks/cases in slightly different designs, so as not to get bogged down with just the book format. This one is a three-fold design, with a silky cream cord stitched to the outer edge, and again used for the closing ties.

Again, I'm really thrilled with this, but it took much more time than I first thought, and I will think long and hard before embarking on canvaswork again this year.........

February

As February loomed, and I was still full of enthusiasm, but not so for counted work, I decided to take the easy option and go for a freestyle stitch, this time choosing Fly Stitch. Some years ago I was required to stitch something using only this stitch, and decided to replicate it for this purpose.

I've used only fly stitch and several different types of threads. Again, I felt a Japanese styled print was suitable as a lining, and again, I'm really happy with my results. I love the rich red colour and the use of just a bit of metallic thread in the stitching helps lift the design.

January

Now, how difficult could it be to find a stitch or technique beginning with the letter J?? I can tell you, it's not that easy. I searched the Mary Thomas' Dictionary of Stitches and came up with some possiblities, but had to keep in mind that I have June and July yet............

I decided to go with a counted thread stitch called Japanese Darning. It's a relatively simple stitch, but I preferred not to have it going straight up/down/across, so tacked my template out onto the beige evenweave on a 45° angle, and now I'm so pleased I did. After the stitching was complete, I searched my stash for something suitable as a lining fabric, and found this simple Japanese inspired print. I am extremely happy with this small needlebook.