Gold work points are finished:
Below is a picture with the black holding lines removed:
Onto the outline. I spent much of last week (and perhaps some time before) contemplating what the heck I was going to do for an outline. In the end, I decided just nothing would be better than a heavy gold thread. In doing some reading, I found that one could take a thick gold thread and twist it much like I've done with #1 and #3 so I decided to give it a try.
Only, I wasn't brave enough to do this with my expensive, good gold threads so I pulled out some thread I purchased on eBay a while back (simply search under Chinese Gold thread). I'd say that the thickness is about the equivalent to a #8 gold from Midori-san. Following instruction, I used my hook to double up about 10 feet of thread. Over-twist four times, then combined and under-twisted about 14-15 times. The directions instructed to put it on a board but I used one of my needlepoint frames and held the ends in place with a brass thumb tack. Doused it with a good bit of water and let dry.
Cocoa really like the results :). Me thinks that I really need to work on my camera work. Gold thread is just so hard to capture even a smiggon of the loveliness but I tried:
Because this thread is so thick, only one is needed. I've chosen to do a blind couching where one only couches down the backside of one of the threads every twist. Couching around center of the design:
Finished Center:
Three out of four are complete today, hope to finish project by Friday... we'll see.
Christa, Lilystitch
www.lilystitch.blogspot.com and www.lilystitch.com
Below is a picture with the black holding lines removed:
Onto the outline. I spent much of last week (and perhaps some time before) contemplating what the heck I was going to do for an outline. In the end, I decided just nothing would be better than a heavy gold thread. In doing some reading, I found that one could take a thick gold thread and twist it much like I've done with #1 and #3 so I decided to give it a try.
Only, I wasn't brave enough to do this with my expensive, good gold threads so I pulled out some thread I purchased on eBay a while back (simply search under Chinese Gold thread). I'd say that the thickness is about the equivalent to a #8 gold from Midori-san. Following instruction, I used my hook to double up about 10 feet of thread. Over-twist four times, then combined and under-twisted about 14-15 times. The directions instructed to put it on a board but I used one of my needlepoint frames and held the ends in place with a brass thumb tack. Doused it with a good bit of water and let dry.
Cocoa really like the results :). Me thinks that I really need to work on my camera work. Gold thread is just so hard to capture even a smiggon of the loveliness but I tried:
Before couching down, I used one of my Graham Koma to put the now single twisted thread upon. Excellent way to keep tension during couching process:
Because this thread is so thick, only one is needed. I've chosen to do a blind couching where one only couches down the backside of one of the threads every twist. Couching around center of the design:
Finished Center:
Then onto the points. I'm outlining the front or larger points first, then moving on to the ones behind:
Christa, Lilystitch
Wow, I've learnt two new things from you today. 1. that you can twist your own gold and silver (I don't know why it didn't occur to me that you could) and 2. blind couching. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteAnd, wow, that thick gold twist looks ummy on the outlines.
Do you undertwist the gold with it's natural twist (i.e making the twist tighter) or against it to loosen it?
Hi again,
ReplyDeleteJust having a poke through your blog :-) and enjoying it! Japanese Embroidery, The Tudor Glove, Hardanger- oh my!
If you ever feel like it, feel free to do a tute on how to twist that gold thread - I'd love to know in more detail - or pointing towards sources....
Hi Elmsley Rose! Thank you. I'll have to give some thought on doing some twisting tutorials. This is something that I encourage personal instruction but there are a couple of books (caution, they are hard to find and expensive due to scarcity) that I'll point to:
ReplyDeletea) Traditional Japanese Embroidery: Instructions for the Basic Techniques. The enclosed pamphlet called "Traditional Japanese Embroidery Instruction" is where you will find some good information on how to twist threads.
and
b) Japanese embroidery through the Millennium by the Japanese Embroidery Center