Thursday, February 28, 2013

Practicing Long and Short Stitching

I really enjoy Trish Burr's books including this one that my darling husband bought me for Christmas.
Crewel & Surface Embroidery: Inspirational Floral Designs (Milner Craft Series)
Trish Burr can do some amazing things with a needle and thread!! But I don't think I'm quite ready for the beautiful projects inside this book yet, so I'm using a small pansy design that I found online for practice.
Here is the link to the pretty little Pansy Instructions (the PDF file is at the bottom of the link). The design and step-by-step directions are by...you guessed it...Trish Burr! She's so cool to share this project with us online, for free!
 
This little pansy seemed like the perfect project to try as my first, serious, attempt at long and short stitch.  I chose a linen hanky from a local craft store, probably not the best quality of linen, but good enough for me to practice on and within my budget.  Linen can be very expensive!  As I get better at these smaller projects I will look into purchasing some high quality linen, but for now the linen I find at my local craft store will have to do.
 
 
 
 
 
Hmmm, as you can see, I definitely need more practice.  My leaf doesn't look as smooth as the one in the printout.  But it is a fun project to do, the directions are easy to follow and the whole project is travel-friendly.  I just pack up a scissors, floss (kept in a Gerber food container) my hoop with hanky and needle, and the instructions, into a plastic baggie and I can take it anywhere I know I'm going to have to do some waiting.  I'll keep you all posted on my progress.
 
Until next time, have a happy, stitching day!!

2 comments:

  1. I love Trish Burr's work and books! I too have this particular book plus 3 others from her. Perhaps you may want to check on one of her recent ones: "Needle Painting Embroidery: Fresh Ideas for Beginners",
    or Mary C. at Needle N Thread has very nice free pdf lessons, sampler and even a video of the Long & Short -needlepainting stitch technique. Have fun!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the book recommendation! I'll have to check on that one next. And I just love Needle n Thread! Mary does some amazing things! I've often thought of doing that Long & Short lesson with the different shapes and the two leaves that she has on there. Maybe that will be on my list of things to accomplish this year. Thanks for the comment, Bits of Stitching! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete