TAST 2012 – Week 37

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Kira

I’m just about keeping up! The stitch for week 37 of the TAST 2012 challenge was Pistil stitch. It’s basically a French Knot with a tail – the tail can be long or short which gives it quite a bit of versatility. There have been some very pretty interpretations of this stitch on the TAST 2012 blog so do go and have a look if you’re at all interested. As I’ve been so manic recently I did keep it simple and just did a few odd stitches and a little circle like some of the beautiful dandelions I’ve seen.

I’d love to have had more time to play with this stitch. It could be used for so much but at least I’ve tried it now and it’s something I can come back to. Right..so I’m ready for week 38!

TAST 2012 – last few weeks update

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Kira

Ok, so I didn’t stay on the blogging-regularly-wagon for very long! But things have been amazingly stressful. We’ve finally sold our house after quite a lot of drama and we’re now going through the paperwork and starting to pack lots of boxes. So I haven’t been quite on top of things but I have (just) been keeping up with the stitching.

Here’s my latest set of stitches:

The pink ones in the middle are the latest – Sheaf stitch. This one was easy and just changing the size or angle makes a nice pattern. I could quite happily do more of that stitch. On the right is my attempt at Linked Double Chain stitch. I couldn’t get it to look like something I’d done on purpose!

So, we’re already in the next week and the stitch for week 37 of the TAST 2012 challenge is Pistil stitch. I’ve never heard of it before but apparently it’s just a french knot with a tail – I think I can do that

TAST 2012 – Week 34

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Kira

The stitch for week 34 of the TAST 2012 challenge looks like a pleasant one. It’s called Linked Double Chain stitch and it’s a combination of standard chain stitch and a twisted chain stitch. Things are still being quite stressful right now so I’m pleased to have a stitch that I feel comfortable working on and I’m confident of getting this one done on time.

TAST 2012 – Week 32 and 33

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Kira

Oh dear. I only managed 1 week on the TAST 2012 challenge before I fell off the timing wagon! Hopefully it’s only temporary but the way that things are going right now anything could happen!

Well I finished my samples of week 32‘s Cast On stitch this week and it didn’t go too badly. At first it just didn’t look right but each stitch was getting better and looking more and more like the photos. It turned out to be really easy to do once I’d worked out how to hold the thread and I’m sure it would make a wonderful addition to a piece of creative embroidery.

Then I moved on to week 33‘s stitch which was Pekinese stitch. No problems here! Such an easy stitch comprising of backstitch with loops of thread going through it. It looks pretty and could be amazing when done in more decorative threads.

I will try to get back into a better blogging routine but currently we might be moving house and we have no idea exactly when!

TAST 2012 – Week 32

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Kira

Oh my goodness! I’m a bit scared by week 32‘s stitch for the TAST 2012 challenge. This week it’s Cast On stitch. I’ve never heard of it but I presume it’s like the way that you start knitting and that is what worries me. I have tried to learn knitting a number of times but it never stuck. I did make a scarf for my mother-in-law for Christmas 1 year and was very pleased that she didn’t mind the odd buttonhole in it! (That’s what I called my accidental holes)

So I’m not sure what to make of this week’s stitch. And the fact that it sits above the fabric…I guess we’ll see what happens.

TAST 2012 – Week 31 Algerian Eye Stitch

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Kira

I’m so pleased with myself as this is the first week that I’ve finished on time for a while Ok, I only did a small bit of stitching but what matters is that I did it rather than how much I did. Week 31 of the TAST 2012 challenge brought Algerian Eye stitch. As I thought, it wasn’t as effective on the tightly woven cloth that I’m using for this challenge, but I did enjoy using the stitch and adding alongside my less geometric work.

I hope that I get a chance to use this stitch again sometime and explore it further. I could imagine some beautiful, exotic-looking panels involving Algerian Eye stitch combined with other, geometric stitches.

TAST 2012 – Week 30 Oyster Stitch

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Kira

I’m pretty much caught up with all the stitches for the TAST 2012 challenge now. I did do this stitch last week but I’ve only just had a chance to post it. I must admit to not being particularly fond of this stitch while I was doing it. It seemed just a step too much – too much thread and too many aspects. I can see that a cluster of them looks fairly effective but I think that I would probably use some other stitch if I was looking for a similar effect.

This week’s stitch is Algerian Eye stitch. The samples on the TAST 2012 site are worked on Aida or an openweave fabric and they are very effective and Middle Eastern. I’ll be interested to see how this stitch looks when I sew it on a tighter fabric.

TAST 2012 – Week 30

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Kira

Yayhey! I’m actually posting this on time Let’s see if I can also post the results on time this week. The stitch for week 30 of the TAST 2012 challenge is Oyster stitch. I’ve never heard of it before but apparently it’s a derivative of Rosette chain stitch. I’ll let you know how it goes!

TAST 2012 – Week 28 and 29

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Kira

Ok, I’m vaguely up-to-date on the TAST 2012 challenge now I think. This week I tackled week 28′s stitch which was Up and Down Buttonhole and week 29′s Basque stitch. Both stitches weren’t very complicated so were quite relaxing to do and perfect for a time when I’m trying to catch up.

The uppermost purple stitching on the lefthand side of the embroidery hoop is the Up and Down Buttonhole and the pink stitching at the top is the Basque stitch. I like the simple twist that’s involved with the Basque stitch and I think it looks more complicated than it is.

Phew! Let’s see if I can catch up from now on.

TAST Update

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Kira

Life is still being rather busy with tricky bumps and making it difficult to keep up with the TAST 2012 challenge. I have made some progress, though, and I have a picture of my latest stitching to show you.

The image above shows some of my latest stitching including Bonnet Stitch and Palestrina. I’m only fitting in 1 sessions per stitch at the moment so there’s very little experimentation but at least I’m getting some sewing done. I’m nearly up-to-date but work does take priority (as well as selling our house and potentially moving!).

Here’s the whole TAST 2012 cloth so far:

When I’m feeling a bit uninspired for this challenge I just need to look at how the whole cloth is progressing and it spurs me on – I love it!

Kira Jones Designs

Adventures in sewing and jewellery

Tag Archives: embroidery