The Couching Class

Kathy at The Unbroken Thread decided to take a couching class to combat the stitching blahs.  

http://www.theunbrokenthread.com/blog/2021/03/21/couching/

Look at all she achieved!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright March 21, 2021 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Cat Needs a Name Tag and Ears Tutorial

Moon Name Tag in Or Nue'

The next part of my Debbie Mumm Halloween ornament is the cat, which has a lot of interesting techniques.  I decided that I wanted the cat's name tag to be in Or Nue' which is a technique of couching a metallic thread using silk  Jane Zimmerman has a good tutorial for doing Or Nue' on needlepoint canvas but before you read it, you should know this technique is essentially couching metallic thread (often in pairs) in a spiral from the center of a focal point out using a colored silk to add a pattern.  

https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques/Or%20Nue-canvas.pdf

If you want to see more, Rachel Wright has a great series of videos on Vimeo that shows her stitching a whole piece on linen using Or Nue.

https://vimeo.com/virtuosewadventures

The way I worked the name tag was to basketweave the area around the name tag first.  Then using a strand of Kreinik gold in size 4 braid in my needle, I came up in the center of the name tag.  Then I started to spiral the thread around the center.  I used clear beading thread to couch the thread in the moon area because the clear thread didn't show.  I used two plies of purple Splendor silk to couch the Kreinik in the purple areas.  It's easy to do but fiddly as you have to park the couching thread you aren't using out of the way and keep the gold metallic spiraling tightly as you couch it.  I used magnets a lot to keep tension on the gold thread and to keep the needles I wasn't using out of the way.  It's not easy to get a smooth curve where the purple area covers the gold to make the background of the name tag but if you do multiple stitches in areas, it works.  

Needle Weaving Wire

Once I had a name tag, I could work the cat's ears. I wanted dimension in the ears, more dimension than the name tag, because I plan to use felt padding on the cat's face and hind leg to raise them quite a bit.  So the ears have to be prominent. I decided to use needle weaving to create ears with wire and thread.  In the photo above you see my 28 gauge black wire.  I cut off a three inch length (DON'T use your good embroidery scissors to cut wire!) and bent it in a sort of hairpin shape.  That's the basis for one ear.

Poke the ends of the wire into a canvas hole at the base of the painted ear on your canvas.  Secure on the back.  It doesn't have to be really secure, just enough that it won't wiggle as you weave your ears.  I used a little brightly colored thread to tack the tip of the ear to the canvas.  You cut this later so the ear can stand up.  It just makes it easier to weave the thread around the wire if it's not moving so much.  

I used black Pepperpot silk to create my ear.  Come up at the base of the ear with your needle, then you start to weave the thread around the wire in a figure 8 shape.   Go under the wire with the needle pointing left, then point the needle right.  You will go over the wire on the left side and under the wire on the right.  Point the needle left.  Go over the wire on the right and under the wire on the left.  Repeat endlessly, working left to right, right to left, and the weaving will start to create your ear.  You'll have to push the thread down toward the ear's base with the needle periodically.  When your weaving is close to the tip of the ear, cut the thread that secures the tip of the ear to the canvas to finish it.  To end the thread you are weaving with, run it down behind the ear to the base where you can take the thread to the back side and secure it.  Then bend the loose ends of the wire into a curve and secure to the back side well.

This is hard to visualize but Ruth of Bedecked and Beadazzled has a great video on needle weaving.  Note that Ruth is doing a long feather shape that's flat to the canvas so she used thread instead of wire and she needed three supports, not two.  My ears are TINY so I couldn't use three supports.  I just used two.  What she's doing is very similar to what I did.  She started at the tip; I started at the base.  The procedure is very similar but using wire means the my ears are dimensional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2bJSi5nW1w

My cat's ears were painted with orange centers so I used a ply of orange Gloriana silk in a straight stitch to create the inside.  Note that the ears don't quite match.  I could have removed the left ear and made it a little narrower but I decided I liked the cat having ears that weren't exactly the same.  You can bend the ears a bit to position them as you like.  I stitched over the painted ears with my background stitch so that any bit of the paint that shows looks like a shadow, by the way.

No laughing at the red clown nose on Mr. Cat—that's next week's lesson.  

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow

Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com

and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

© Copyright 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Jane Zimmerman Talks Or Nue on Needlepoint Canvas

Recently I realized Jane Zimmerman has made some of her writings about or nue available for free online.  I was particularly interested in her article about doing or nue on needlepoint canvas or Congress cloth.  She tells you exactly how to do this, from the types of metallic thread to couch to the number of plies of the various silk brands available when this article was written.  
https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques/Or%20Nue-canvas.pdf

If you want to read what she says about traditional or nue, here's the article.  Note that the articles are nearly the same but there are some tips that apply only to those working on needlepoint canvas or on linen fabric.
https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques/Or%20Nue.pdf

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright August 3, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Mary Talks Or Nue' UPDATED

Mary Legallet's latest blog posting talks about or nue' on needlepoint canvas.
http://www.whimsicalstitch.com/about-me

Or nue' as we do it on needlepoint is more similar to a couched, patterned stitch than classic or nue'.  If you want to see what that's like, you should explore Rachel's Slow Stitching TV on Vimeo.  It's done on linen and the gold is completely covered in places and bare in others.  
https://vimeo.com/virtuosewadventures

UPDATE:  I just discovered Jane Zimmerman has posted free information about Or Nue on her website.  Click on the links to read the two articles.
https://janezimmerman.com/Site/Techniques.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 22, 2020 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Beaded Turkeywork

Ok, here's something I've not seen before—turkeywork with beads! This is Julia Snyder's idea and Suzanne did a great job with it.  The canvas is from And More, which is Julia's canvas line, and it uses her line of beads, too.  Suzanne's doing a nice job with this, trying lots of techniques to make it something special.  Hope we get to see this finished before too long.
http://suzannehicks.blogspot.com/2018/01/hello-2018-getting-back-to-it.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 10, 2018 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tony Minieri on Pattern Couching and Or Nue'

Tony Minieri has posted a tutorial on pattern couching and Or Nue' on his blog. He points out this is a great way to add texture and dimension to small areas of your canvas.
http://www.tonyminieri.com/tonyblog/2015/4/29/the-highs-and-lows-of-embellishment

It's a Must Read!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 1, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Blue Russian: Antique Metal Mesh Purse Inspiration

The Snowflake Robe Is Done

Morning all!  Welcome back to the Blue Russian blog-stitch!  I should mention I've added new threads to the Materials List. They are in bold blue so they will jump out at you.  Remember, I reorganized the supplies list by manufacturer (roughly) to make it easier for you to go shopping, so do check the list carefully to make sure you didn't overlook something.

Keep working the background if you haven't finished it.  I need to order a second card of the SP17 Petite Silk Lame Braid.  Once I have that I will finish step one of Staggered Crosses and then finish the beading in step two.  It all takes a while but is nice uncomplicated stitching once you get in the rhythm of it all.   (Hello, Olympics!)

I had originally intended to work on the ermine trim on Santa's outer robe this week, but I decided that the front of his inner robe needed to be stitched first, otherwise the fur trim was going to constantly get in the way.  So today's lesson is all about the blue snowflake robe Northern Light Santa wears.

I thought a blackwork pattern, particularly one of Ann Strite-Kurz's lovely designs, would be perfect but I decided in the end that I would stick to the design as painted and try to recreate the look of an antique mesh purse.  Are you familiar with these?  The metal interlocking mesh looks like chain mail painted with a design.  Both of my mother's older sisters had purses like these.  They were all the rage in the 1920s.  They are beautiful to handle.  The mesh flows like liquid metal fabric but has a silver glint to the painted design.  Here is a selection of metal mesh purses to give you an idea of my inspiration.
http://www.pinterest.com/larynh/mesh-purses/

To recreate this look for Santa's robe, you need to use a modified Or Nue' technique.  Classic Or Nue' uses colored silks to couch gold metal threads, with the silks creating the pattern on top of the gold.  Check out what Anna Scott (former editor of Inspirations magazine) is creating in Or Nue' on her blog--this is what Medieval embroiderers did on ecclesiastical garments.  Note that the silks are added in irregular areas to make the pattern.
http://annascottembroidery.blogspot.com/2014/02/queen-bee-takes-flight.html

What I am doing is a bit more like Burden stitch as the couching pattern is regular.  I will use a brick stitch-like couching stitch over a silver Kreinik base.  Here is the basic stitch--

The brick stitches that couch down the underlying long stitches are indicated in the blue and black straight lines.  You can create a pattern by changing the color of the tie down threads and that's what we will do.

As you can see, each channel of the needlepoint canvas has a line of metallic thread (the silver holographic Kreinik #001L in size 8 fine braid) across it (the red arrows in the chart).  The stitch is worked one row at a time.  Lay down the silver in a row between two canvas threads, then couch it in place using a "brick stitch over two" pattern with either two plies of the Splendor lighter blue S860 or the Splendor darker blue S914 or one strand of the glow-in-the-dark white Petite Treasure Braid PB300* or one strand of the Kreinik 001L.  Note that you will need to slide the needle creating the brick stitches under the silver thread of the previous row.  (If you don't have a good color copy of your Santa to use as a reference already, make a copy before you start on the snowflake robe.)

*You can substitute regular white Petite Treasure Braid PB10 for the glow-in-the-dark version.  Note that I did NOT use the white Petite Silk Lame Braid because it is a little too fat to couch the silver Kreinik with. All my couching threads need to be roughly the same diameter.

The secret for a nice smooth look is to work one row completely before starting the next.  Lay down the base line of silver, making sure it isn't twisted or too loose, then work from one side of the robe to the other, changing colors as you go to match the underlying paint job.  Use your color copy of the canvas to help tell where the colors change if necessary.  Manage all those needles and threads, keeping them well out of the way of each other so you don't tangle things on the back. (I used lots of magnets to park my needles to keep them out of the way.)   I worked from the bottom up but you can work from the top down if you prefer.  When you finish, go back to the first row and do small compensating straight vertical stitches to create a smooth edge.  Here is a photo of the robe underway, so you can see the sparkle this technique creates.  It is even more prominent in person but cameras are blind to bling.

The Or Nue' Snowflake Robe Under Construction

With the Olympics in Russia on television this week, this is a good area to stitch since it is not complicated.  Just keep the various threads you aren't currently using out of each other's way until you need them again so you don't tangle them on the back side.  I will post in two weeks on the next area since the Or Nue' technique takes a while and most of us still have background to work on as well.

Before I forget, Vicky DeAngelis is promising to blog-stitch another Russian Santa.  She has chosen the Holly Hills Santa.  Isn't it fun to see all the different versions of Leigh's little Santas?
http://mostlyneedlepoint.com/snow-snow-go-away/

Questions? Email me at chillyhollow @ hotmail.com and I'll get back to you by the next day.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Or Nue' on Needlepoint Canvas

Sunday I posted a link to a video about Margaret Nicholson and her fabulous Or Nue' embroidery.   Today I want to talk about all the variations of Or Nue' (which I believe translates as "shaded gold") used on needlepoint canvas.   Traditional Medieval Or Nue' was used on church vestments and altar cloths.  You can see some stunning examples here.
http://www.pinterest.com/gbertholet/embroidery-opus-anglicanum/

The Nimble Needle has a fabulous article with photos of Or Nue' that includes a link to Jane Zimmerman's explanation of how to do Or Nue' on needlepoint canvas.  When you study Jane's article, note she is couching pairs of gold threads. The reason I emphasized this will become obvious tomorrow....
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-or-shaded-gold-work-ready-to-try.html

If you would like to do a little Or Nue' yourself, how about using Mary Duckworth's flower pattern generously hosted on the Caron website?  Note that Mary couched down Caron threads using other Caron threads instead of using the traditional gold base thread held down with silks, but there's no reason you can't switch threads if you prefer to use what you have in your thread box.
http://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desaugfiles/augchrt.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Or Nue' My Way

Japanese Tea House by Leigh Designs

From keeping an eye on other folks' Or Nue' embroidery and reading everything I could get my hands on, it seems clear that Or Nue' on needlepoint canvas often runs into trouble trying to a) manage all those different colors of couching silks and b) trying to keep the pairs of gold threads you are couching straight and covering the underlying canvas.   There's not much I can do about managing the threads used for couching colors except by recommending you use lots of magnets to park your needles out of the way when you aren't using those colors, but I can help a little when it comes to choosing gold threads for the base.  I just finished a piece of Or Nue'-inspired stitching on a Leigh Designs Fash Insert (which is 8.5 inches long and 4 inches high on 18 count canvas) called Japanese Tea House.  What you see above is the unstitched design.   Look at the gilt painted eaves of the tea house.  I stitched the eaves using Or Nue' as you see below.

Or Nue' Underway

Yes, the photo is upside down.  I turned the canvas to make it easier to reach the eaves areas.  In the photo the left side is done for the larger eaves area and I've laid a line of gold across the right side just so folks could see what I was doing.  That single line has been couched with a brick stitch every other canvas intersection.   I worked half the eaves, then finished the other half.  The single line is for display purposes in the stitch guide.  Normally I would work an area from the top down.  

What you don't see in the photograph are the magnets I used to park my threaded needles out of the way when I switched colors.  

What you do see in the photo is a single row of Kreinik #8 gold braid, laid in a channel between two threads.  I couched it down every other thread using one ply of yellow, orange, or gold Petite Silk Lame Braid or a Kreinik #8 copper. I worked one row at a time, laying my gold thread, then couching it into position, before laying the next gold thread.  The couching stitch was a simple brick stitch pattern over two threads.  Pulling the Petite Silk Lame Braid tight straightened the underlying gold thread into a straight line against the row above.  The main problem I found working the design this way is that the  painted canvas is hidden from view by the gold thread you are couching, so sometimes it was difficult to figure out what color I should use for the brick couching stitch.  I compensated for this by having a color copy of the canvas by my stitching chair and not worrying too much about what color.

If you compare the finished side to the unstitched side, you will see I lost some of the detail in the intricate scrolling pattern.  If I wanted to keep that detail, tent stitches and perhaps a little couching of the scrollwork would have been a better technique but I didn't mind if I ended up with a somewhat pointillist look.  The end result is a lot of muted sparkle, perfect for a painted and gilt building.

If you want a sharper look, choose a canvas without so much shading.

I hope you you play around with Or Nue' and see what fun things you can do with it on your canvases.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Queen of Or Nue'

One of Margaret Nicholson's Embroideries

Thanks to a chance mention on Kathy's Unbroken Thread blog, I have discovered Margarent Nicholson and her daughter Anthea Godfrey's website which has a lovely video biography of Mrs. Nicholson and her work, featuring many of her Or Nue' faces.   Anthea also sells cards featuring her mother's embroidery, which is where I found her Japanese geisha portrait in Or Nue' I have posted here to tempt you to explore further.  (Look under the Anthea Godrey tab to find Margaret Nicholson Cards in the pull down options.)  I understand a book on Margaret Nicholson and her embroidery is in the works.  I'm really looking forward to that!
http://www.grandmaslittletreats.co.uk/Welcome-to-the-World-of-Margaret-Nicholson

For those who are unfamiliar with Or Nue' here is the best description I could find, even though the link to how to do Or Nue' doesn't work any more.  Not to worry, though!  I'll talk about that tomorrow.
http://medieval.webcon.net.au/technique_or_nue.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

A Death Hits Pearsall's

Thanks to Rachel I discovered that Pearsall's Silks is discontinuing their Filosell Silk Floss due to the death of their master dyer. It is very sad to lose not only the skilled, but their products.  If you love the Filosell six ply silk, Tristan Brooks has the remaining stock.
http://www.tristanbrooks.com/index.html

By the way, Rachel was working on an Or Nue' Hittite Amulet when she ran out of thread and found out about the death at Pearsall's.
http://www.blog.virtuosewadventures.co.uk/wordpress/2013/12/03/making-progress-on-the-hittite-amulet/

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Or Nue Online

Quite a few folks have become intrigued by the Or Nue' technique on needlepoint canvas.   If you want to try this, Jane Zimmerman has posted an online guide to the traditional technique on her website.  You will find it great background reading and helpful if you are going to try Or Nue' yourself.
http://www.janezimmerman.com/Temp/Techniques/Or%20Nue.pdf

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Writing a Book about Needlework

Ever wonder what it is like to write a book about needlepoint?  Sue Dulle gives us a glimpse of all the work behind the pages with this brief explanation of why her book on Or Nue projects took so long to come out.   Of course her book has two projects described in it, which is a little different than a book that is all about stitch diagrams, but some of the same challenges are involved in each type of publication.  
http://sudukc.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/3794/

Sometimes I wonder how any books get published at all!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Or Nue Book at Last! UPDATED

Kreinik's blog has a review of the newest Must Have book--Sue Dulle's Celtic Origins, which teaches the pattern couching technique of Or Nue.
http://kreinikthread.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-review-pattern-couching-and-or-nue.html

UPDATE:   Sue commented below with further information about what's in her new book.  Be sure to read before you buy!

Or Nue is basically couching gold metallic thread on the surface of canvas (or fabric) using colored silks to create a pattern against the gold background.  Nimble Needle just took a class from Brenda Kocher on the technique and has posted plenty of photos and a link to Jane Zimmerman's interesting online article about the technique.
http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-or-shaded-gold-work-ready-to-try.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Or Nue' Explained

Several bloggers have talked about the Or Nue' class they took recently. This is an old technique that is particularly lovely on the right design. I thought you'd like to see what folks are saying in case you want to try this yourself.
http://stitchinginsuburbia.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-star-lily-finished.html

http://thenimbleneedle.blogspot.com/2013/05/or-nue-or-shaded-gold-work-ready-to-try.html

Besides the Jane Zimmerman article mentioned above, you may be interested in my favorite online free project from the late Mary Duckworth.
http://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desaugfiles/augchrt.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

The Fascination of Or Nue

Mary Corbet just posted a bit about the new blog that the editor of Inspirations magazine has set up. So I headed over to check it out and stumbled across this fascinating article on Or Nue.
http://annascottembroidery.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/coloured-gold.html

Or Nue can be done in the round, too.
http://annascottembroidery.blogspot.com/2012/10/spring-daisies-2.html

It makes a spectacular background as you can see in Alison Cole's goldwork kits.
http://www.alisoncoleembroidery.com.au/kits-and-supplies/goldwork-kits/or-nue-gecko/

You can follow the link in the blog article to more about Or Nue or you can head to this free project by the late Mary Duckworth to try it out.  Gorgeous stuff!
http://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desaugfiles/augchrt.html

I really do need more hours in the day, don't you?

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

Books, Geishas, Or Nue and Time

Last night I started on my Renaissance Rat's wings using an unusual stitch called Wings from Linda Corirossi's book Canvas Embellishment. I can't show you an image until the computer comes back from the shop, but this stitch is diagonal rows that alternate shapes, each row to be done in two different colors or threads to provide highlights in the narrower row. It is not easy to do the stitch but it looks very good now that I have the first two rows done.


I highly recommend Linda's book, by the way. It has stitches I haven't seen elsewhere nicely diagrammed. Speaking of books, Julia Snyder has a new one out you might be interested in.
http://www.amybunger.com/catalog/item/6268582/6711310.htm

Speaking of new things, if you are interested in thread painting kits, you'll want to see the new projects Trish Burr is getting ready to sell, courtesy of Mary Corbet.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2009/02/oh-glories-of-thread-painting.html

Mary is trying to stitch at least 15 minutes a day, something that isn't always easy! Read about her plans here and think about trying to stitch a set time each day yourself.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2009/02/15-minutes-with-needle-and-thread.html

Mary is stitching an Or Nue iris under the 15 minute/day plan. To watch her work, head to her blog and look for the March 3 and then the March 5 entries.
http://www.needlenthread.com/

If books, stitching flowers and schemes for stitching each day don't interest you, not to worry. I saved Madonna's Gossiping Geishas project for last. What fun!
http://frontrangestitches.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-dont-i-write.html

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