Over the weekend, we had good lighting so I was able to complete the needle painting on the three petals in Midnight Meander. I like to mark my stitching area in sections as it gives me a guide on when to switch colors.
(click on the post to see the animation below)
The next step is to cover the area with lattices. You can eyeball it. However, if you're anal like me, you might want perfect equally distant lines perpendicularly cross by more equally distant lines. Below is how I do it in this piece. These are all techniques I learned in Japanese embroidery.
I use the 45 degree angle set square and center it in my shape (see dotted green lines). Using the 45 degree angle side I will bring my needle up at the edge of the shape (see red arrow) and put it back in making sure to maintain my angle.
Once the first line is in, the rest of my stitches are put in 3 mm apart. Why 3 mm? I tried 4 mm and it was too far apart, 3 mm was just perfect. I have a set of lined rulers I use for this but you can also use a regular ruler. It just takes more time. In Japanese embroidery, we are taught to do this with the square set and most lattices are conveniently set 5 mm apart, allowing us to take advantage of the grids on the ruler.
To determine the angle of the second layer, I align one of the vertical lines with the grid and the edge of the ruler where I would like to start (see dotted green lines). Again, I come up at the edge and back in on the other side making sure my angle is maintained.
I can't remember if I did this on the center petal, but I definitely did on the two surrounding it. It gives it a nice symmetrical look.
I have one more leaf to do on this flower and then I can move to the last one. I'm surprised by how fast this piece is going considering I started it one month ago today.
(click on the post to see the animation below)
The next step is to cover the area with lattices. You can eyeball it. However, if you're anal like me, you might want perfect equally distant lines perpendicularly cross by more equally distant lines. Below is how I do it in this piece. These are all techniques I learned in Japanese embroidery.
I use the 45 degree angle set square and center it in my shape (see dotted green lines). Using the 45 degree angle side I will bring my needle up at the edge of the shape (see red arrow) and put it back in making sure to maintain my angle.
Once the first line is in, the rest of my stitches are put in 3 mm apart. Why 3 mm? I tried 4 mm and it was too far apart, 3 mm was just perfect. I have a set of lined rulers I use for this but you can also use a regular ruler. It just takes more time. In Japanese embroidery, we are taught to do this with the square set and most lattices are conveniently set 5 mm apart, allowing us to take advantage of the grids on the ruler.
To determine the angle of the second layer, I align one of the vertical lines with the grid and the edge of the ruler where I would like to start (see dotted green lines). Again, I come up at the edge and back in on the other side making sure my angle is maintained.
I can't remember if I did this on the center petal, but I definitely did on the two surrounding it. It gives it a nice symmetrical look.
I have one more leaf to do on this flower and then I can move to the last one. I'm surprised by how fast this piece is going considering I started it one month ago today.
