Yesterday I spent some time working on the vintage style Irish Crochet Capelet that I started last winter. All the motifs are made, and have been sewn onto fabric, and the netting started. I decided to go with a clones knot netting, using Fincrochet size 80, in color Ecru, with hook size .4mm. . . needless to say, this is not an easy task, but I think it is coming along quite nicely. I haven't taken any photos of it recently to share, but I plan on it very soon.
I also completed a needle painting/long and short stitch project I had been working on. A couple of months ago, I purchased a fantastic book called Needle Painting Embroidery - Fresh Ideas for Beginners by author Trish Burr. I absolutely love it. Trish takes you step by step (including fabric, thread and needle choices) in needle painting. In order to perfect my technique, I completed a Long and Short stitch project generously taught in great detail by Mary Corbet of Needle n Thread. Anyone looking to learn and perfect their long and short stitch shading would greatly benefit from this project. Now that I feel more comfortable with the long and short stitch, I've decided to make my first project using one of the designs from Trish Burr's book. It won't be anything huge, just a small pincushion, since one can never have too many places to put their pins! Here a couple of photos of the violet that I completed from the book:
The sampler was stitched on Southern Belle cotton muslin, and DMC embroidery floss. I think it came out pretty good. For my next project, I've chosen to use Shadow Work Linen by Legacy Linen, with Southern Belle cotton muslin as a backing fabric. I'll keep you posted as I work on it.
And as promised, here are some photos of the crochet jewelry pieces I made over the summer. The first is a pink and lime green collar, that I designed. I just chose a lacy crochet pattern that was easy to modify to increase and decrease, and added a simple picot border with beads. The thread I used was Lizbeth size 20, and I used Toho size 11 seed beads. I prefer DMC or Fincrochet thread to crochet with, but Lizbeth's selection of colors can't be beat. They have every color you could want in different sizes.
The second piece is a simple Cream Necklace. The flower motif is a pattern from a Japanese Irish Crochet book, and I just used a simple chain stitch embellished with beads for the necklace part. I also made a couple of beaded crochet buttons and added an antique rose gold plated clasp. I used DMC cordonnet special, size 10 in Ecru, Toho seed beads in size 8 and 11, and a Swarvoski Crystal Pearl.
This
last piece is one of my own design. I just started crocheting and
adding beads, and before I knew it I had a simple crochet cuff. I added
a couple of scalloped edgings, and a few flowers and beaded crocheted
buttons to embellish it. I used DMC Cordonnet special in size 20, color
Ecru, Toho size 11 seed beads in different cream finishes and Swarvoski
Crystal Pearls. I also used some vintage buttons for closures. I
really like the way this one turned out.
I hope you enjoyed the photos, and can find some inspiration from them. I love making fiber jewelry. . . it's a quick and fun way to come up with your own designs and techniques. I plan on working more pieces in the near future.
Well, it's time for me to go and sift through my fiber jewelry stash and see which piece I will be gifting for my next blog giveaway. 'Til tomorrow,
Happy Stitches!
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