Sneak peek at my next embroidery project – a 14th century inspired pattern worked in surface couching .8

Finally it seems like working at this 14th century inspired Surface Couching embroidery project became a nice treat for me. 😀

Whenever I am too tired and just want to work at something “simple” or when I want to consider the next step for the 14th century XL hood project for my friends Pelican elevation, I pick up my embroidery frame and do some more stitches…

Well, I did a lot of thinking about the embroidery for my friends hood recently. And while I was considering all the options I have – I still haven’t made up my mind concerning some important details – I added many new stitches to my Surface Couching embroidery…. *lol*

And, yes, I made enough progress to show you another sneak peek at my 14th century inspired  pattern in Surface Couching. Just some minutes ago I finished the last border detail of the main framework which leaves me with only one unfinished detail embroidery in the center of the main framework…

Well, you know what that means – ENDSPURT! 😀

…ok, just for the embroidery of the main framework pattern but this counts too.

I always consider it very helpful to set achievable goals and to complete them in a timely fashion. And every little goal and especially the completion of it, leads to a better attitude and more energy for the main goal – the finished project! Yeah, it’s as easy as that – set achievable goals, complete them, keep a positive attitude and enjoy your embroidery project.

Btw. this was my secret how I managed to spent 4 years of my life working at my big Klosterstich wallhanging without getting bored or frustrated – just sayin’. 😀

But as I seem to get sidetracked again, let’s get back to the new progress of my 14th century inspired pattern worked in Surface Couching – enjoy! 😀

As you can see on the picture above, the main framework is nearly finished – I just need to complete the last detail in the middle. 🙂

The outlines of the pattern in the middle suffered a little bit while I was working at the rest of the pattern. Though I tried my best not to touch this section, the tailor chalk still wore off a little.

But this problem can be easily fixed with my “PRYM 610840 Cartridge pencil extra fine“/”Minenstift Ø 0,9mm weiß”. With this cartridge pencil I can easily retrace the outlines and also alter them if needed.

As it seems, I tend to lose all pencil sharpeners – at least I think I lost any I ever possessed as I can never find them when I need them. That’s one of the reasons why I love this cartridge pencil – it makes every pencil sharper completely unnecessary and saves me a lot of time as I don’t need to search for one… 😉

Btw., I used the “magic” blue markers from Prym in the past (actually for my big Klosterstich wallhanging) but I was never a big fan of this pens – they are quite expensive and just last for a very short time. And I also tried many other markers for pre-drawing patterns on fabric and finally settled with two tools which proved their value over the last years. This cartridge pencil with tailor chalk and – please don’t laugh – a simple cartridge pencil or pencil like everyone of us knows them from school or every day life with the normal lead filling.

Well, I only use the “normal” pencil when I know that I will cover the whole surface of the fabric with embroidery and I also use it with a good sense of proportion as I don’t want the embroidery threads to pick up the lead particles. But well, sometimes a normal pencil is all you need. And whenever I need the outlines to fade after some time I use my beloved “PRYM 610840 Cartridge pencil extra fine“/”Minenstift Ø 0,9mm weiß”.

Btw. the refills for this cartridge pencil are available in white as well as in other colors:

• White: PRYM 610841 refills for cartridge pencil extra fine white-coloured, 6 pieces
  (weiss – 6 Ersatzminen für Minenstift weiß, extra fein 0,9 mm)
• Yellow/black/pink: PRYM 610842 refills for cartridge pencil extra fine yellow/black/pink-coloured, 3×6 pieces
  (gelb/schwarz/pink: PRYM 610842 Ersatzminen für Kreideminenstift extra fein 3×6 Minen)

…and now you might ask what the problem is which I try to solve concerning the 14th century hood for my friends elevation.

Well, I already have a good picture of how I want to work the pattern and the nice purple wool for the applique is pre-washed and waiting for the next step. I just can’t get myself to make the final decision if I want to work the applique with seam allowance or without.

If I add some seam allowance I will have to do some extra work – for example: ironing the border into shape or pre-pinning the border of the fabric – to get a good straight fold… And if I do the applique without seam allowance I will need a good cover up of the border to prevent the wool fabric from fraying…

Yes, it’s not a major problem but both techniques have their pros and cons and I just can’t make up my mind which I prefer or which works better with the fabric I got. But I have to admit that I have a slight tendency to adding the seam allowance as it is the safer option with a quite good guarantee that the embroidery will also look great in many years to come. And when it comes to embroidery that is actually worn, I prefer to create embroidery that lasts a long time.

And well, I anyway have to iron the hood first and press the seams before I can add any embroidery to it… Yes, well, we will see… soon… 😉 

As you could see today, the 14th century inspired pattern is still growing – one stitch after another… I hope you enjoyed todays update! 🙂