I've been busy this week and over the last, long weekend. I stitched this beaded stocking together and added the lining this week. I'm glad I wrote up this design plan when I began it, at least five years ago. I never would have remembered that beading pattern I came up with. The stocking has been beaded and sitting in a little box with all the beads, thread, needles, the lining fabric and the design card. I must have been at a very organized point in my life! Once I bead the fringe and a hanging loop it will be done.The local American Needlepoint Guild chapter (Ridge Needlepointers) had issued a challenge to use a men's tie in a holiday design. By the time of the challenge I wasn't doing much counted work but I liked the concept. Most people were either adapting a design pattern from a tie to needlepoint or using the tie fabric as bands or trim on a needlepoint piece. My husband found this tie while taking a walk one Sunday afternoon. It was near a couple of churches, so we're guessing someone removed his tie after church and thought he stuffed it into his pocket. The fabric of the tie was gorgeous, but it was a narrow one.
I had loads of fun selecting beads (SJ Designs) and designing the beading on the stocking and the fringe.
This is the second of two crewel projects I inherited from my friend Rita. The first, here, had some stitching done on it by Rita. This one just had the design on (very nice) twill and the stitch and thread key. I'm sure this was a practice piece for the larger piece and I'm sure Rita just jumped in on the "real" piece, bypassing the practice. It's what I would have done. The colors are the same for both pieces. It only took me a few evenings and one morning to complete (I got up early today--I just couldn't leave it unfinished.) I plan to finish it as a flat ornament and use it as a doorhanger for my door at work.
The bag that contained these two projects also has the design for a third. The third design is larger and uses more colors (these two use only two color families, a pink and a green). I'm not sure if it appeals to me enough to do it. I think I'd like to try my hand at developing my own design for the next crewel project.
This project has been lurking in the bottom of the tote I bring to guild meetings for a few years now. It's a sewing tools "chatelaine" to go around your neck and keep things handy. Once in a while I'd pull it out at a meeting and stitch a flower.
I have one much like this, bought at an antique shop already made up. This one came from another antique shop as an original kit. 1975, designed by Erica Wilson for Columbia Minerva. The threads were bright Crayola green, olive (very 1970s!), yellow, pale orange and bright orange Persian threads and medium and hot pink perle cotton. The whole design is screened in blue on a nice white cotton fabric. I finally pulled it out after guild meeting this week and completed the embroidery. It's all cut out, ready to be put together. I need to decide whether I'd like to interface the ruler band (I think yes) and find a lining for the pocket (one of the squares is stuffed for a pincushion and the other lined for a small pocket. I'm also thinking about finding a way to sew or bond that strip with the pattern information (the date is printed at one end) onto the back of the long neck piece, to document it's history.
Hopefully there will be some DONE! posts coming up soon.
