How Ruth Brought Tulle Into My Life

Cat Topiary Garden with Aqua Tulle Fabric

Yesterday we bought tulle for the cat topiary garden.  Today I'm going to explain why Ruth Made Me Do It.

I keep a careful eye on what Ruth Schmuff does with her mystery classes.  They are always inventive and fun, and give me lots of ideas.  Last year Ruth stitched a geometric painted canvas that she ended up finishing as the front of a tote bag.  Ruth put a protective layer of black tulle on top of the canvas to minimize snags.  You can read about it here and compare a photo of the finished canvas to one of the canvas covered in black tulle and attached to the bag.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2010/11/harvest-colors-puzzle-mystery-solved.html

I thought that was a great idea!  So when I stitched Red Geisha to go on the front of a Stirling leather purse, I covered her in tulle, too. It's Tulle with a Twist but you'll have to wait until Red Geisha debuts at Columbus or buy the Red Geisha stitch guide to see what the twist is.  I have to have some secrets, you know!

I learned later from Melissa Shirley that Cynthia Thomas used tulle on one of Melissa's bracelet canvases but I haven't seen a photo.  It's probably one of these canvases but the photo isn't clear enough to tell which one.
http://melissashirleydesigns.com/galcol/index.cgi?index=1145919392_9576&col=123

If you want to keep up with the Mad Scientist that is Ruth, here is her blog.  She is always doing something different and fun and she shares the chapters of her mystery classes freely so that all stitchers can benefit from her inventive ways.  Thanks, Ruth!
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/

Tulle Pinned and Basted in Place

With the experience I gained adding tulle to Red Geisha, I knew that I could minimize the problem of my background stitch trying to take over the world by adding a layer of tulle on top of those stitches.  (The problem is still there but less prominent, which I can live with.  Anything's better that ripping out all that background!)

Once I picked the color, I cut out a piece of tulle roughly 13 1/2 and 11 1/4 inches, then laid the aqua tulle on top of my cat topiary garden.  I pinned it in place, starting at the top, stretching it taut and pinning at the bottom, then pinning the sides.  Above is a photo of the tulle on top of the needlepoint canvas with both the pins and the basting stitches.  In person the background stitches have become less prominent.  I will not add short horizontal metallic stitches to the middle of the Woven Diamonds as I once planned, however.  I can't risk making the background come forward again and metallics definitely will made the background prominent again.

Another View of Pins and Basting Stitches

If you squint you can see the straight pins that held the tulle in place, and then two rows of basting that secure the tulle on top of the needlepoint canvas.  I used some left over yellow floss to baste until I ran out and then used up some left over dark green floss.  It doesn't matter what thread you use.  I just picked something loud so you could see it in the photographs.

 Blue Illusion Added

Here's a closeup.  On the left you can clearly see the illusion of blue that the aqua tulle adds to the canvas.   It is like adding watercolor on top of the canvas.

I'm going to pull out the straight pins so I don't stab myself and then put the stitches back on the left spruce tree, stitching right through the layer of tulle.  I'll talk about the stitch I used next Monday so that everyone has time to finish stitching their background, shop for tulle, and then attach the tulle on top of their canvas.

Here are the threads I'm going to use next so you can pick out something similar for the right and left big spruce trees:  For the left tree, the one behind the fish topiary bush, I choose Au Ver A Soie #1826, which is a deep spruce green similar to DMC 3847.  I may use Soie Crystale #8092 for the right spruce, the one behind the mouse topiary, which is similar to DMC #3851.  I haven't stitched that spruce yet so I am not sure that's the right shade but we'll see.  I hope to have both trees stitched by Monday and the stitch diagrammed so you can replicate what I've done.

By the way, I'll use the same tapestry needle to stitch the spruces that I used to stitch the background.  The tulle is so fine that I don't need a sharp needle to pierce it.  Just pretend it's not there and stitch!

Any questions?  Ask away in the comments section or email me at chilly hollow at hotmail dot com, whether you are stitching the cat topiary garden or not.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com