Monday, December 10, 2018

Disappointing Weekend

Ever have a weekend when you're just not happy with your stitching? Not because your skills are not up to par but the circumstances are stacked against you. This weekend I worked on the same projects, the Bearded Iris and the bouquet.

On Saturday I added the rest of the veins on the petals. The more I work on this woven metallic mesh the less I like it. It looks nothing like the piece Alison Cole stitched, and it's really hard stitching through it. I have what feels like huge holes where my couching stitches are. I'm also working blind since it's not opaque, putting in punctures where I don't want them. I know, I know, it looks fine when you look at it from afar, and no one will be pressing their faces to the piece. I just can't help being disappointed in how it looks. Maybe I will like it more when I put in the outline on the petals.


Sundays have become my day for Japanese embroidery. As planned, I worked on the cords wrapped around the paper. I had to unpick it twice before I got the angle right. Not only do I have to get the right angle for the cords but I also need to stitch through multiple layers of stitching. Not to mention try to avoid the gold thread at the front and back. It seemed like every time I tried to bring my needle up I hit a metal thread. Small blessing, I managed to avoid having to stitch through the center of any of the motifs. Not all of us are so lucky.


While stitching the blue cord, my angle was better but I can't help but feel like something went wrong. Does it seem like my blue cord is smaller than my red? Think I can get away with saying the red cord is going over the blue?


I'm really disgusted with my stitching, it looks so sloppy. At the same time, I'm not sure I can do any better if I redo it. I'm going to wait and see what feedback I get from my group at our next Japanese embroidery meeting, which is this weekend. So all in all, it's progress even if it's progress I'm not happy with.

4 comments:

  1. Certainly, if you aren't sure you can do better, leave well alone, because otherwise you will damage what you've already done without feeling better when you've finished!

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  2. It’s always a little frustrating when that happens. I’m sorry to hear you aren’t happy with the Alison Cole piece. Have you asked her about it?
    And your blue cord does look smaller than the red. The angle looks like it isn’t quite the same on the right side of the cord too.
    I’m sure with a fresh set of eyes and a new day you can be happy with your stitching again!

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  3. I think you are your own harshest critic! No-one else will know that the cording isn't exactly how you planned it. The gold looks lovely too.

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  4. I agree with Jo - they both look great, but we are always hardest on ourselves.

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