A Goldwork Book and Needle Painting Tips

Goldwork and needle painting are wonderful techniques when used entirely on their own but needlepointers also use them as accents on pieces.  So I was interested to learn that Mary Corbet loves the Alison Cole book entitled Goldwork Masterclass so much that's she's stocking it to sell.
https://www.needlenthread.com/2020/07/goldwork-masterclass-book-review-stock-for-you.html

I haven't seen this book but I adore Alison Cole's first book on goldwork.  She's a wildly talented Australian teacher and embroiderer.  Browse her website and see if you agree.
https://alisoncoleembroidery.com.au

Today I've also found a great blog entry from Margaret at The Sharp Needler.  Margaret has plenty of tips for doing needle painting, which is shaded needlepoint.  Her examples are flower petals and she shows how to handle setting up a petal, how to blend colors, and how to do shading correctly—and incorrectly.  It's invaluable information that I've not seen elsewhere.  If you have a needle painted area on your canvas to work, you'll want to read this.  Thanks, Margaret!  (As always, you might want to use a sharp needle like a crewel needle or one for beading if you are needle painting or shading on needlepoint canvas so you aren't limited to just stitching in the holes, but can put the stitch anywhere you need it, even though the needlepoint canvas threads.)
http://www.sharpneedler.com/2020/07/thread-painting-basics-flower-petals.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.

Pastel Pencil Shading

Susan Johnson of SJ Designs just posted an antique needlepoint piece for sale on her website, making special note of the pastel shading on the faces.
https://sj-designs.net/product/c1900-tea-time-needlepoint-tapestry-with-hand-painted-faces/?fbclid=IwAR0xYvPBYA5RIM_y8_wEhtJcReNNYgL_9jLLdZIPSKASyunbGVeZqaH3VsU

Both Melissa Shirley and Lisa at BeStitched Needlepoint do this on their stitching.
https://vimeo.com/148802688

Lisa also uses fabric markers to shade silk ribbons.
https://vimeo.com/164029492

It can be done.  I would not do it on pieces that need to be wet blocked but it's perfect for some situations.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 24, 2019 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Au Ver a Soie Goes Metallic UPDATED

Au Ver A Soie's Metallic Braid

You may have seen Mary Corbet's review of the metallic braid that Au Ver a Soie makes and been intrigued.  I know I was!
https://www.needlenthread.com/2017/06/thread-talk-the-metallics-you-want-to-use.html

Luckily I got my hands on a spool of the Au Ver A Soie metallic courtesy of a friend who bought some from Ruth Schmuff's store. I don't know what other colors or sizes Ruth has as this isn't on her website yet, but you can check with the shop.
https://bedeckedandbeadazzled.com/threads/access-commodities/soie-dalger/

I stitched with my Au Ver a Soie gold metallic in size 12 braid this week.  It is a nice flexible thread, not stiff like Kreinik metallics.   It is called Metallise Tresse'.  The end frays a bit as you work with it in the needle's eye. In the photo above you can see the fraying that happened as I handled it. If you cut it off the spool the cut ends don't fray until you handle it a bit or stitch with it.  My spool is color 002 which is similar to Kreinik's Aztec Gold 202 or Citrine 3280; it is more brassy-gold than Kreinik's 002 gold.

It's not a plyable thread--filaments can be pulled from Kreinik metallics if necessary but I don't think you can do so with the AVAS metallic braid--but it compresses.  I compared it to Kreinik size 12 and it's a bit bigger in diameter—although a tad smaller than Kreinik's size 16. But it squeezes down as you stitch with it if you pull tightly.  I tent stitched with the AVAS metallic on size 18 canvas next to tent stitches done with several colors of size 8 perle cotton.  My gold tent stitches are only a tiny bit larger than my size 8 perle cotton ones.

If you want to try this thread, besides Bedecked and Beadazzled, Needle in a Haystack in California carries this thread in a variety of colors and sizes.  The shop also plans a club with a lot of colors later this year once Au Ver A Soie has plenty of colors stocked and available (second link below).
http://www.needlestack.com/WebStore/Thread/AVAS_Metallic.html

http://needlestack.typepad.com/whats_new/2017/11/au-ver-a-soie-metallics-coming-in-2018.html

The French Needle also carries several colors in size 4, 8 and 16.  I can highly recommend Bedecked and Beadazzled and Needle in a Haystack, but I have heard The French Needle ships quickly and does good customer service as well.  I just don't have personal experience with this shop.
https://www.frenchneedle.com/collections/au-ver-a-soie-1

Is this going to replace Kreinik?  No.  It doesn't have the color range that Kreinik has and right now it is limited in availability.  But if you are doing surface stitches or working on cloth instead of needlepoint canvas,  it is a very good choice because it is much less stiff than Kreinik.   For those who don't like the way Kreinik curls off the spool but who are hesitant to use a flat iron on their metallic, this is a good substitute.  All in all, I think this is a great thread to add to our stash.  Now I just need to finish up my current project and figure out how to use this on my next!

UPDATE:  Inspirations Magazine is selling a set of the AVAS metallics, if you are in Australia or New Zealand.
https://www.inspirationsstudios.com/product/shades-of-metallic-metallise-tresse/

UPDATE #2:  Mary Corbet adds more information about this lovely thread.

https://www.needlenthread.com/2020/10/thread-love-au-ver-a-soie-metallics.html

UPDATE #3:  Mary points out that the colors available make metallic shading (something we don't do that we should) easy.

https://www.needlenthread.com/2024/10/shaded-metallic-thread-sets-theyre-fabulous.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 12, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Shading with Stem Stitch

I use packed stem stitch a lot for things like tree trunks in my needlepoint, but I never thought about how to best shade a section that has stem stitches very close together. Fortunately Anna Scott has more imagination than me and has come up with an interesting way to blend colors when you are working packed stem stitch.
http://annascottembroidery.blogspot.com/2017/09/shaded-stem-stitch-filling.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright  September 21, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

A Brief Light Coverage Tutorial, Part One UPDATED

One of today's needlepoint style trends is to not completely cover very detailed and shaded parts of a canvas with thread, but to choose open stitches that allow the shading to show through.   I've noticed people are curious about the technique so I thought I'd give some general  information on light coverage if you want to try it.

First of all, any stitch can be used for light coverage, even tent stitches.  Just use a lighter weight thread than normal.  Think about basketweave on a face—on 18 count one would normally use 3-4 plies of a cotton floss to cover.  Try using 1-2 plies instead.  Often the features (nose lines especially) will show through the thread and you can easily skip stitching those.  In the example pictured above, this discontinued Melissa Shirley 13 count design had the face stitched with one strand of Impressions, which allowed the expressive facial feature lines to shine through.  The nose, ear and neck lines were not stitched in gray.  You simply see the gray paint showing past the white Impressions.

When you use lighter coverage stitches, you are going to have to use different techniques to start or end threads since often there is no good place to tie off your stitches unless a heavier stitched area is next door.  (Red Geisha's face threads could be buried behind the robe area or her wig since those areas were full coverage.  Here is an older Blog article about starting and ending threads for light coverage stitches.
https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2010/06/anchoring-ends-when-stitching-light.html

Here's another, more technical explanation from Joni Stevenson.
http://creative-stitch.blogspot.com/2012/10/those-pesky-ending-threads.html

There are a whole series of books that talk about light coverage stitches. (See above.)  All three of Brenda Hart's books Favorite Stitches, Favorite Stitches II and Stitches for the Millennium (in the back row) feature stitches that work well in light coverage.  dede Odgen calls light coverage stitches Shadow Stitching and she has two books on the topic.  I own More Shadow Stitching but not Shadow Stitching.  The final book I recommend SuZy Murphy's Lite Stitches.  However, you can use any stitch as a light coverage stitch.  If you like darning stitches, the Finger Step Designs books has one you might be interested in.
http://store.apneedlearts.com/045485.html

UPDATE:  SharonG's "It's About Darn Time" is also a great reference for darning stitches.
http://nimbleneedlenj.com/product/its-about-darn-time/

Plus Amy Bunger's "Barely There" DVD is very useful as it is all about light coverage.
https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2009/02/review-amy-bungers-barely-there-dvd.html

If you just want a few stitch ideas, read what Mary Legallet has to say about light coverage stitches, which she calls Open Work.
http://www.whimsicalstitch.com/whimsicalwednesdays/2015/8/19/open-sesame

Tomorrow I'll talk about the problems of mixing light and regular coverage stitches on a canvas.  See you then!

Here's the link to Part Two for those who arrived late to the party--https://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-brief-light-coverage-tutorial-part-two.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright September 20, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tips for Shading Painted Canvases

Needlepoint for Fun's newest online tip article lays out two ways to shade areas on your canvas, particularly skies and animal fur.
http://www.needlepoint-for-fun.com/how-to-shade-needlepoint.htm

The article links to ANG's website where there is another shading article to help you understand color blending. I expect with this help you can do some pretty neat shading on your own on that canvas that has you puzzled. Have fun learning to master shading!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright January 27, 2017 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Shading the Easy Way

Kam just won the Smart Cookie Award for the week for her very clever shading idea. She used a blue Coptic marker to add shading around her leaves, cherries and under the tree branches. Doesn't get any easier than this!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1060799193969842&set=gm.1154966877913802&type=3&theater

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright  October 2, 2016 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Shading the Japanese Embroidery Way UPDATED

Hannah is working on a Japanese embroidery piece, and showing us Japanese embroidery techniques along the way that are unfamiliar to me.  Today's posting shows how Japanese embroidery practitioners blend two colors by adding an overlapping third color (or more) on top of the first two.  Interesting!
http://embroideryforducks.com/2014/10/21/lantern-plants-working-away/

If you want to read more about the lantern plant project, click on the Embroidery for Ducks header at the top of the page, then read the previous articles.  I think you'll find the Japanese way of layering different types of stitches to achieve various effects as interesting as I do.

I found the finished design on the Atlanta Japanese Embroidery Center's website.
http://jecstore.com/index.php/fabric-orders/publications/wkb08-061br-lantern-plants.html#.VEZj6b5H1jc

UPDATE:  Speaking of Japanese Embroidery, Coral Seas explains fuzzy stitch here.  Very interesting!  The second link below talks about the various stitches taught in the different phases of Japanese Embroidery, which I also found interesting as this is quite different than the way we teach ourselves needlepoint.
http://threadsacrosstheweb.blogspot.com/2014/11/phase-viii-queen-of-flowers.html

http://threadsacrosstheweb.blogspot.com/2014/11/phase-ix-sake-boxes.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright October 21, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

I Gotta Try This

Tracey is embroidering a floral piece for Williamsburg. You have to see the shading she's doing on her leaves with Burden stitch! So simple, so pretty!
http://tracyafranklin.blogspot.com/2014/05/burden-stitch.html

By the way, the DMC Diament Tracey is using is not commonly available in the U.S. but Mary Corbet can tell you all about it, including where to score some.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2013/06/thread-talk-dmc-diamant.html

(By the way, 123Stitch.com also carries it.)
http://www.123stitch.com/item/DMC-Diamant-Metallic-T

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright May 5, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Stem Stitch: Shading and Tips

I use stem stitch a lot so I was very pleased to see Mary Corbet's tips on how to shade with it. There is a link to her video on creating stem stitch, too. Very useful stuff! 
http://www.needlenthread.com/2014/02/secret-garden-more-vines-stitching-tips.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright Feb. 17, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.