Brickwork pouch

The last few bits always take the longest, but here is the brickwork pouch almost complete. I have one more tassel to go!

Brick stitch pouch

Sometimes I post pictures to my Flickr feed with all intents to write about them - and then forget. Such is the fate of the brick stitch pouch that I am currently working on, so we will take a quick trip back in time. This project started out as a quick doodle to test out some new fibers that I picked up at the local embroidery store. Having recently played around with some filament silk, I was looking for something that was a cheaper approximation of that pretty high shine and that soft hand. DMC has recently changed their rayon line again, so I pick up some DMC red and green. The Reaissance Designs "Silky" threads were another synthetic option that was just so shiny and soft that I had to get a couple of skeins in blue and yellow.

I started stitching this little doodle using an impromptu brick stitch pattern and was really having fun with it. It just kept getting bigger!

The DMC rayon is in a very familiar skein, that are individually wrapped in a plastic tube. The rayon is very slippery and easily separates into six strands. Each strand barely has any twist at all and reminds me in feel and look of flat silks. I used two strands for the stitching on the 28 count linen, but I think that next time I would use three. The fibers are finicky like silk, so got find your hand lotion and check your cuticles. I love the feel of stitching with this rayon and really, really love it bright shine. I do not like the feeling of starting, finishing, or tying off knots with this thread because it fights back and seems to leave you with the feeling that the second you turn your back it's going to spring out of place. After finishing the stitching however, the piece feels very solid and I don't have anything wiggling out the back. The threads do snag, so you have to be careful with your hands and environment. They can also tire easily, so shorter lengths are better or you get fuzzy parts. Overall, the red and green are beautiful and shiny and soft, and I think they are a good option for that silky look.

The Renaissance Designs "Silky" comes in a lovely twisted skein and also separates out into smaller threads. These threads seem more solid than the DMC threads and were much less likely to fuzz or snag. They had the same springiness that made starting, finishing, and tying threads a bit unnerving. Two strands of the blue and yellow provided really good coverage on the linen, but they seem to have more texture and less shine. Some of the texture comes from the threads having a bit of a twist, so if you are looking for that twist this thread is a good option.

At this point, it was clearly a "Project that Must be Finished" and so I had to figure out what it was going to be. (to be continued)

Lucet all the things!

I've been playing around with various new threads and my lucet. I've been looking for good options for the silk look without spending quite so much money. First up is a bamboo and silk blend from Patons. It handles and feels like a quality spun silk. I really liked it.

Paton's metallic is definitely a modern looking yarn that looks kind of like the fabric that jerseys are made of. It lucets up fairly easily and looks very nice. It definitely has a higher screen than the spun silk, so it's a little closer than the look of filament silk. It's a bit slubby, but doesn't look bad.

Next up is plain old DMC perl cotton, but I was testing out a two strand technique. The technique runs the slip nots for each color on either prong of the lucet. The method creates a twist between the colors. The resulting cord has four side: a purple side, a yellow side, and two sides that have the mixed colors. It's rather fetching.