Challenge Ornament: Finished with a Beaded Fringe

Above is the finished Challenge Ornament with a fringe of beads at the tip. I want this to look as Art Deco as possible as it's a Christmas present for an admirer of that style. Beaded frineg like this is very easy to do.

First, you need beads and a beading needle. Regular needles have eyes too big to go through beads unless the beads are really large. John James makes short beading needles if the 3 inch long ones are too long for you. Watch out for the sharp tips! We needlepointers aren't used to anything except tapestry needles which have blunt tips so watch yourself. I chose three colors of beads: the black Magnifica beads from Mill Hill that I used on the front of the ornament, a Magnifica metallic bead that is a mix of silver, gold and copper (I didn't use any copper ones), and a larger regular Mill Hill bead that is a teal green. The larger green bead is used only at the tip, the metal and black ones were just used as I felt like it in a mix of colors. For example, the longest length of the beaded fringe is eleven black beads, three metallic ones, six black beads and the single green bead at the tip.

I used black silk in my needle and came up underneath the twisted cord trim at the tip of the ornament, then threaded some black and metal beads on the needle until I had a nice long line. Once I thought the length was right, I added a slightly larger green bead to the needle. Then I took my beading needle back through all the beads EXCEPT the green one. That makes the green one a stopper bead at the tip of the fringe. What happens essentially is you do a U turn and go back through the bead holes again except for the green bead at the end.

Then I did a shorter length on either side of the original fringe and then two more still shorter lengths on the other side, making five lengths of fringe in all.

There are a lot of ways to add something to the tip of your Challenge ornament if you plan to hang it set in a diamond shape. Tassels look great, beaded tassels will be spectacular, and a large glass or stone bead will look great. So suit your own taste. Hope all this was enlightening for anyone who wants to try finishing their Challenge Ornament themselves and that it helps explain why finishers are expensive.

And to all the finishers out there, I salute you! I hate finishing personally and I don't have the magic fingers that pick out beautiful fabrics, trims, buttons, beads and charms that really make a piece fabulous. But you do, and I admire you greatly.
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Attaching Front to Back

Or have I attached the back to the front? LOL

It doesn't matter. I have stitched two edges together with one ply of my black Splendor silk that matches the black NP canvas. I'm not quite decided about a tassel or whether to use my braided cord for the hanging loop but I'll have to decide so I can attach one to a corner before I can continue stitching the front to the back.

By the way, I used a small sewing needle (if you don't have a sharp sewing or crewel needle, try the smallest tapestry needle you have as the #26-28 ones have a sharper tip than larger sizes) to come through from the back, catching the felt lining, to the front just under the blue edge of the design. Because my canvas and thread are black, one can't see the stitches. In fact, in the photo above you can barely see the needle! I did enhance it as much as possible and switched to a loud thread to help. Hope you can tell what I'm doing.

You can see that I tied a loop in the end of my twisted cord, tucked the loose end inside between the front and back and stitched it down, and will hand sew the trim to the edge all around the perimeter. I am probably going to make a beaded tassel once I have the hand sewing done but I don't think I'll have that all finished tonight. Hand sewing is slow going, especially if you are making the stitches as tiny and inconspicuous as possible.

By the way, you can see the gold lame fabric gleaming underneath the needlepoint stitches on the left side of the Challenge Ornament in the photograph.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Making Twisted Cord and Tassels

The photo above shows a model of the Challenge Ornament from Gay Ann Roger's blog. I grabbed the photo from there to show you how your ornament can look. It has a tassel, ribbon bow, and a twisted cord around the edges. I may or may not finish my ornament this way but the loop and any tassel will have to be sandwiched between the front and back of the ornament when it is assembled, so it is time to talk about how to make these items before I actually assemble my ornament.

You can make your loop from your twisted cord edging as was done above, or use a separate length of Kreink metallic. Just attach it securely to the back of your needlepoint at one tip before you put the back and front together. That's how the tassel is attached to the opposite tip, too. I've found various sites that explain how to make twisted cord and tassels. Here are the links:

Instructions for making twisted cord.
http://www.serve.com/marbeth/twisted_cord.html

Slideshow on making twisted cord.
http://www.slideshare.net/kootoyoo/how-to-make-twisted-cord-presentation

How to make one or two-colored twisted cords (start reading at middle of page) and also how to add tassel to cord.
http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/projects/feast.html


How to make a Simple Tassel
http://www.nezumiworld.com/crochet_057.htm

How to make a variety of tassels, including beaded ones.
http://www.modnet.com.au/~firefrog/twistcord.htm

Here's a simplier beaded tassle on Mary Corbet's goldwork Christmas Ornament (scroll down to see). Her ornament has a bead tassle and twisted cord covering the sides. The loop isn't made from her twisted braid but is a separate piece of metallic thread, probably Kreinik.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_QjhvD47-hd4A0adREk4eacP5fdkH9M7EKG2U9VIKwLx38IqLN_xthEbeXf9BGfbEC6fAb9Nl_9j1ZgGPkOFeP4mE_HaPoNWUDhWjlY6jdP7AtxIwnm6xAtaF48OjB9mKeCgpvV4gZUse/s1600-h/DSC_0007.jpg

Whatever you decide, make your tassel and/or twisted cord now before moving on to the next step.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Lacing

The next step in finishing the Challenge Ornament is to assemble the back of the ornament the same way the front was done. My back side is the felt backing fabric, the quilt batting and then the finishing foam. First I checked to make sure the finishing foam (with quilt batting stuck to the sticky side) was the same size as the front section of the ornament. You eventually are going to have to sew the two together, so you want them as close to the same size as possible. You may need to make the finishing foam a tad smaller if the backing fabric you will wrap it with is very thick, but my felt didn't seem to add substantially to the size of the back.

I clipped the corners of the felt just like I'd clipped the corners of my piece of needlepoint, wrapped it over the finishing foam so that the quilt batting was inside, between the finishing foam and the felt, and pinned it in place. Then I laced the corners. My final step was to lace the top to bottom and sides to each other. This lacing technique (seen in the back half of the ornament above--I've not done it for the front half yet) pulls the sides gently together and makes little "pillows" of the ornament back and front. Many framed pieces are laced over foam core (which is a rigid but light styrafoam-type material) before it is put in a frame. That's one reason why designers leave such huge margins around their painted canvas designs--so finishers can lace a piece.

You would think at this point that the only thing remaining would be to sew the front of the ornament to the back, but actually this is the time when you need to decide whether to trim the edges of your ornament with braid, cover it with beads, make a tassel (or not), whether to use charms or large beads, what color thread to sew the front to the back with, etc. These are the final touches and what really makes the ornament special.

I decided to use black silk to sew the back to the front of the ornament as I used black canvas for my version of the Challenge Ornament, but I haven't decided whether to finish the edges with braid (made from my leftover threads) or with beads (gold and silver ones are laid out above as is a string of Facets, the Kreinik thread that minics beads) and whether to make a tassel or use a large bead to dangle from the bottom of my ornament. This all depends on personal taste and whether you want a flashy or more subdued ornament.

I'll think about it while I lace my ornament front and start putting the two halves together.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Turning the Corners and Sides

The photo above shows the back side of the Challenge Ornament after all the corners are turned under and the sides folded flat. Once you double-check the front to make sure the edges are even, use a thread from the ones used in the design to stitch two corners together with long stitches, not pulling anything too tightly. I used a high contrast lime green thread above to help you see the hemming, but it is probably best if you use something a bit more subtle!

Only do two corners, then stop.

Put your ornament and the finishing foam that goes under it together and make sure the finishing foam is a bit less than a quarter inch smaller than the ornament's face. My finishing foam has gold lame stuck to the sticky side. I trimmed it a bit to make sure it would slide inside the hemmed corners.



In this photo you see the black side of the finishing foam --the gold lame side is facing out. If I turned the ornament over, you'd see a bit of gold through the holes not covered by the stitching.

Once you have your finishing foam slid inside, check the layer of quilt batting that also goes inside. Trim it, and insert it as well, then hem the remaining two corners. If you turn the Challenge Ornament over with the design facing up, you'll have the gold lame fabric underneath, then the finishing foam and the quilt batting on the bottom. If I'd wanted a puffier ornament, I could have items in this order: Challenge Ornament, gold lame, quilt batting, then finishing foam.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Time to Cut and Fold

In the photo above the corners of the Challenge Ornament have been trimmed to within 2-4 threads of the edge of the border. Cutting the corners off allows you to fold the bare canvas under to the back side.



Before you actually fold the corners back permanently, fold the bare canvas all the way around the square edges (top side) and then fold the corners back (bottom left). Pressing them to the back with your fingers makes a crease that helps hold them in place better in the next step. If you study this folded over photo carefully, you'll see why you don't trim the corners any closer to the design than 3-4 threads of the bare margin--it starts to fray.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Time to Glue

Above you see everything laid out in two rows. The top row, left to right, is the Challenge Ornament, trimmed to within 1 " of the design, the black felt for the back of the ornament and one piece of the finishing foam, with the paper backing pulled off and it stuck to one side of the first piece of quilt batting.

The bottom row, also left to right, is the paper xerox copy of the Challenge Ornament trimmed right to the edge of the border, the gold lame fabric that will be underneath the Challenge Ornament with the second piece of the finishing foam stuck to it, and then the second piece of quilt batting, which isn't stuck to anything. I also included my glue stick as you need glue for this step if your finishing foam doesn't have the self-stick side to it.

By the way, I often use this acid-free glue (purchased from the scrapbooking section of my local crafts emporium) for finishing. You do need to be careful with it as too much glue will saturate the fabric, so put some on a paper plate and use a plastic knife to spread it as thinly as possible around the finishing foam. Make sure you have some in the middle and some all around the perimeter so the quilt batting sticks to both areas. Put a book on top of it to weigh it as it dries but if you are worried about the glue bleeding through, put a piece of waxed paper on top of the quilt batting and the finishing foam (or fabric) first and then put the book down.

Probably most folks will want to glue their quilt batting to their finishing foam, not the fabric, but if you want one side of your ornament pretty flat, attach the foam to the fabric. My Challenge Ornament will have a flatter face than back side and will have padding in the middle. If this doesn't make sense, don't worry. It will become clearer as this goes together.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Challenge Ornament: Cutting Out the Materials

Using your ordinary scissors and the Challenge ornament itself with its inch margin of bare canvas as the template, cut out the backing fabric and the fabric to go under the ornament to show through the holes on the front. (If you aren't going to use fabric to show through, just cut the backing fabric.) Above you see my black felt and my gold lame cut and laid out with the Challenge ornament itself.

You also see my paper xerox copy of just the design in the photo. Use that as the template to cut out the finishing foam. In the photo above you see the two pieces of black finishing foam, one turned black side up and one turned white paper side up. The white paper protects the sticky side from gluing itself to my long hair.

You also see something new--I decided to pad my ornament with quilt batting. I cut two pieces of that using the paper pattern as the template. If you don't want your Challenge ornament slightly padded, you can omit this step. If you want to use quilt batting, you can buy a roll of it at any crafts emporium or sewing store. It comes in a sheet that is rolled up like a jelly roll. Unroll it a bit and cut two small bits from the end. Remember to use regular scissors for this part and all the steps above, too.

Next, we'll start to assemble the ornament.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Finishing Gay Ann Rogers' Challenge Ornament

This last year I've been sitting in Gay Ann Rogers' cyber classroom auditing her Mystery in a Corner class through the Shining Needle Society. As part of the class, Gay Ann did a follow up ornament called Challenge, which is much smaller than the original class piece but which allowed folks who learned new things stitching Mystery in a Corner to try them out. I stitched the little ornament, which you see above. I call mine Insanity Improv.

Several folks in the class asking for help in finishing their Challenge ornaments and I'm going to post step by step instructions as I finish my piece here, starting now. But first, here is Gay Ann Rogers' website where you can see completed Mystery in a Corner class pieces in the MIAC slideshows. The Challenge ornaments were a follow-up and "final exam" in this class. None are posted on the website yet, however.

http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Home_Page.html

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Snowman Has Fur

In the photo above you see the finished turkeywork fringe around the snowman's face and at the tip of his stocking cap. I've also started filling in a pattern on his scarf, using another of Marnie Ritter's stitches from her Sept.-October 2008 Needlepoint Now project (on the cover).

His face is a tad lop-sided but I'll wait and see whether I need to adjust that.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Insanity Improv

It is very hard to photograph metallics and beads but I hope you can get a sense of how nicely Insanity Improv turned out.

The challenges were many on this piece as Gay Ann Rogers deliberately omits any hints as to what colors to put where, or even what threads to use beyond starting with Watercolours or an overdye. I deliberately went with threads I could ply, even unraveling the four plies of the strand of Pebbly Perle to do the lace outline with only one ply. The original outlines were the entire strand of Pebbly Perle covered with four plies of silk to raise them a lot but the corner lines were only two strands of silk covered with metallic. I doubled the blending filament to couch those corner lines but only used one strand of blending filament to do the side stars. I ended up doing opposite corners with two colors of silk and metallic, changing one to more blue and one to more green. I wasn't thrilled with either but together they worked so I left those colors to vary. I did add black beads to the center around the edges of the waffle stitch. It needled something there.

It was a fun challenge and a nice break from the wizard. Thank you, Gay Ann!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Jane Goes Insane

So I was walking around the Internet one day, minding my own business, when I discovered the Shining Needle Society. It's a Yahoo Group that organizes cyber classes from various famous teachers in the NP world. You join the group and you get the announcements of upcoming classes which you can take or not, as you please. One of the classes has an "open" classroom, which means you can sign up for the emails from the class whether you actually are stitching it or not. The class is for Mystery in a Corner by Gay Ann Rogers. It's a big piece and I know my limits but I signed up for the emails so I could listen in. I have a lot to learn about counted thread and Ms. Rogers is a dynamite teacher.

I've enjoyed watching the photos of the mystery piece appear and hearing about the choices people have made while stitching this piece. I've been thinking it would be fun to try some of the same things on a small piece, and Gay Ann Rogers has been reading my mind. She's got a new little ornament chart package available. It's called The Challenge Ornament. You can see it here.

http://www.gayannrogers.com/site_2/Small_Designs_.html

Yes, I bought the design. (Gasps of horror from the peanut gallery!) It arrived in the mail Friday and yesterday (Saturday) I made a trip to the little counted thread shop that is closing. Most things are half price so I thought I'd kit out this piece from whatever they had left. The closing sale has been going on for a while and I'd be scraping the bottom of the barrel in some respects but that just added to the Challenge.

The first challenge on the spot at the shop was when I realized that overdyes aren't on sale. No way am I paying full price for them, so I decided I would just wander around the shop and find the three types of thread I need (an overdye, some perle, and a thin metallic) for the project in colors that would coordinate well. I can fake an overdye quite well. Remember the Sundance Indian Woman in a Blanket canvas? All the "overdyes" there were faked.

But before threads, I needed NP canvas. I've been watching the Mystery in a Corner canvas photos from a ton of people doing that piece and I preferred the bright colored ones (particularly the one on black canvas) that have a lot of contrast between colors and the muted ones that are all shades of one colorway.

I gave up on shades of one color right away as I didn't find enough variations on a single color I liked to make this work for me. As I said, the shop thread choices are limited as stock is sold off. So it was high contrast colors for Jane! And you know what that means--black canvas. (More gasps of horror.) You know how much trouble I have counting charted designs and black canvas is hard to see on. BRING ON them challenges!

Ok, black canvas in hand, I wandered around. The threads above are what I came up with. I have --left to right--Petite Treasure Braid metallic in light green (PB57), Pebbly Perle in lavender (P50), three cards of Splendor silk floss in teal blue S865, teal green S880, and light lime S1058, and a spool of Kreinik blending filament in blue 006. I've got two thin metallics, three silk flosses, and a cotton perle. The colors blend well with the purple for a muted background and the lime for a punch. I may not use both metallics or I may mix them.

Here's what I've done with my threads.



My challenges here were figuring out what colors to put where. I studied the finished photos of this piece on GAR's website and blog, deciding what patterns seems to stand out and what didn't, then decided I wanted the muted purple in the center and on the lacy sides. The middle box seems to be prominent on all the stitched samples, so I mixed my teal colors there to fake an overdye. The lime is the middle part of the center block of three squares to add a bit of punch. By the way, this piece has a name. It is now called Insanity Improv.

This really is going to be a challenge and a nice break while I figure out what I want to do with the Joan Thomasson wizard robes. Prayers are gratefully accepted!

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow