Miniature Ornate Carpet

A week ago I pulled out the pulled thread kit Miniature Ornate Carpet to work on. This pattern is by Karen Dudzinski of Textured Treasures.

The first thing I had to do was remove the DMC light effects threads and replace it with the Kreinik #4 braid I bought. If you've ever stitched with DMC light effects you understand why I did that. If you've never used DMC light effects...DON'T.

Once that was done, I stitched out the border that would contain the pulled thread. Technically, you're supposed to do that first, but Karen (the teacher) wanted us to try out the pulled thread first to make sure we understood how to stitch it.

I did one major mistake while stitching this: I stitched the pulled thread with the fabric in hand. It was the most comfortable way for me to stitch it and it helped me really pull on the fabric. However, this warped my rectangle. So note to self, use a frame next time.

The rectangle was then surrounded by satin stitches, with a side of Herringbone stitches. That part was fun to stitch :)

This next part was not lol. The final border is made of alternating Scotch stitches. The stitch was easy, but because the threads provided in the kit were too short. It meant a lot of stop and go stitching, which I hate.

I had the same issue with the next part. The thread was cut too short. Luckily, I had some #5 in the same color and was able to stitch this part much faster. These look like klosters, that you then bind to make butterflies. You can see below the before and after look.

The butterflies were fun, but really awkward to stitch. I kept piercing the thread on my way up.

On the side you had these flowers(?) which are a mix of metallic thread and DMC.

And at the bottom these triangles, with the DMC anchored with gold thread. The entire thing is surround with a border of stem stitch in gold.

Here are extra pictures I took once it was finished.

A picture of the back, because I like to take them :)

Back of the piece

Front of the piece

I really enjoyed stitching this design. The colors are gorgeous and go very well together. I'm especially glad I switched out the metallic threads. The gold Kreinik I picked is much more vibrant, I love how it looks with the ivory butterflies. As for the warping, I'm going to have to frame it. Hopefully it will go away once it's been stretched.

What's next? I need to go back to my other WIPs, especially Tree of Hope which I have been neglecting. I have to get as much cross stitching done now, because I won't have time later. More on that in another post.