May 12, 2012

Debra: TAST-Half Chevron Stitch

This week's embroidery ideas didn't go as planned but in the end, they worked. I had envisioned the half chevron as a stitch that could anchor the points of my rickrack. Instead it obscured the rickrack so I took it out. I decided to continue the idea from last week's crossed buttonhole stitch and move around the dotted ribbon with the half chevron.

Isn't this middle embroidery fun?  The original poster is from the British government around 1939 as a way to boost morale amongst the citizenry should Britian be invaded.  There are all kinds of spinoffs of it and of course, when I saw this spinoff, I had to include it!
Don't you love the crown as a big pincushion?



Once I finished the weekly band, I started on my Shisha embroidery.  My plan is to use that humongous button in the right corner as my shisha mirror and fill that corner with a varied button cluster.  I started right in with the button and that was not working so I picked it out a few times and went for a practice cloth. 

I had a killer neckache (from non-stop sewing this week) so my work was not going well.  I decided to stop and I'll give it a try later this weekend.  I'm not sure I am getting the right twist to the stitch. 


Lastly, do stop by my blog and see the buttonhole work I did last weekend on my TX Mockingbird Panel.  I'll be working more handwork on it this weekend-adding some half chevron and shisha, if I can get the hang of it.

20 comments:

Connie Eyberg Originals said...

I like how you used your half chevron along the edge of the ribbon. I do love the crown pincushion icon. Thanks for sharing the bit of history.

Debra Dixon said...

Since the embroidery is so large on this block, I don't have a lot of seams. I decided I needed to work the trims as additional seams, especially since we have 5 weeks this month.

Carol-Ann said...

The half chevron sits so neatly on your block and compliments the crossed buttonhole stitch. If I may, I am going to take the slogan as a mantra in relation to my attempts at "shishering"!

Wonderful work on your bird panels.

Cyra said...

Hahaha love the slogan. Suits you especially. No wonder you have neck-ache with the big 100 that you achieved this week. Wow, what an achievement.
The half-chevron stitch looks pretty good on the black/white spotted trim. Nice to get some different ways to attach the trims like that.
You've had a good prolific week I think Debra.

Debra Dixon said...

The Shisha didn't just jump on the fabric like I had hoped it would do. It's going to take a bit of effort. I was also using very fine thread. I may need yarn!

Do you have the original posters around the UK? They seem to be everywhere here.

Debra Dixon said...

Thank you,Cy! and yes, my neck is so tired. I think I need a massage.

I like this half chevron quite a bit (more than the full chevron). It is good to have a cache of stitches for couching trims and threads since we seem to do that frequently.

Connie Eyberg Originals said...

Sounds like the perfect solution.

Recycled Cottage & Garden said...

Wonderful! As usual! I think you earn the overachiever's badge this week with your 100 blocks.

Cyra said...

I wholeheartedly agree.

Debra Dixon said...

A fool and her sewing machine!

Carol-Ann said...

Massive massive achievement, just don't expect us all to join in any 100 Club, please!

Judy S. said...

Is there such a thing as thumb massages? Mine were killing me after "shishering"! You're right about the thread, thicker works better...

Love your stitching on this one! Am still laughing over the slogan. Only for me, it should read "keep calm when you mess up!" DH wanted me to embroider "Temper, temper!" onto my practice cloth. Maybe I'll do that sometime with your slogan on the other side. lol

Debra Dixon said...

You could use your nifty embroidery machine and embroider this slogan! *wink*

I need to try shisha when I am not tired & have a few Diet Cokes in my system. Friday night is not a good time for experimenting.

Suztats said...

That's sew clever to use the crown as a pin cushion! Love the use of the half-chevron for couching down trims ....they look like the letter Y, and with the yellow french knots,....why knot polka dot comes to mind......yep, think I need more sleep......lol
100 blocks? OMG! WOW!

Debra Dixon said...

If all else fails, hit it with some french knots!

The sad part of the 100 Block Marathon is that I still have some scraps.

Connie Eyberg Originals said...

Suz, let me be the first to say it... "groan" - Hey, why knot?

Suztats said...

;-)))

Anonymous said...

I really DO love that center piece, and the crown as a pincushion is so clever. Sewing stuff really does help me keep my calm, too. I haven't tried the shisha yet, so I have no advice to offer, but the dotted ribbon looks good with the half chevron.

Debra Dixon said...

Sewing is very zen!

Peacock said...

I love the "keep calm" slogan! Also love the red and yellow stitches on the black-and-white ribbon! Great color combo. Lively!

For shishas, I find they work best for me when the initial row of stitches are worked not-quite-snug, so that they have a little room to move as I work the buttonhole catch-stitches over them. If the first set of stitches are too tight, I find that my ground fabric puckers (which I don't like!). If they're too loose, the shisha might fall out, but I can always work a second round of buttonhole stitches, so I'd rather go too loose than too tight.