Silk Ribbon Embroidery

This is what has become of the denim in the previous post. The flowers on the left are worked entirely in lazy daisy and straight stitch. The bunch on the right is composed of spider web roses, lazy daisy rose buds and very clumsy stem stitches and a scattering of beads.

There is this wonderful tutorial for all silk ribbon embroidery (SRE) stitches here. I discovered this really good blog through Sharon's PIN TANGLE

Click on pictures to enlarge

While working on this, I discovered some interesting facts about myself.

• When I find something new and interesting, I am like a bull in a china shop.
• Apparently, my patience quotient is  next to zero - and it shows in my work.
• Its ok to do something slowly and not okay to do something imperfectly just because I want to finish it fast.
• You can't not have the time to do something properly the first time round but have the time to do it again. Huh! Come again? Think about it.

I am determined that this is not going to be another one of my incomplete projects.

Here are the things I should have thought about before I started the SRE

1. The needles - though my pony no.7 needles have a big enough eye, I could not thread the ribbons. I ended up using a tapestry needle which of course is very blunt  and thick and  not suitable. I got away with it since the fabric I used was denim. I am now hunting for a suitable needle.
2. I should have checked for the suitability of the ribbons for specific stitches - I didn't and hence the shabby stem stitches in  the 2nd pic - bull in china shop.

I am now considering tatting patterns to embellish top edges.

Beadwork - Daisy Chain

Ploughing through the scores of sites on beadwork and bead embroidery, I stumbled upon this beautiful and relatively easy technique called the 'Daisy Chain' You'll find the instructions in  Unique Beaded Jewelery.com

I found all the materials required in my stash so I am working on it. Here is the picture. Don't miss a tour of their  homeage. It's absolutely delightful.

So, here's my daisy chain rope.  Once I got started, I could not stop until I had exhausted almost all my beads. Now I have quite a long daisy chain.

I found this bit of denim in my stash.- apparently left over from a carry all I made when my kids were toddlers. All I can make out of it is a little bag that would hold my cell-phone, glasses and maybe my keys and some cash.  My librarian is always behind me to leave my handbag on the shelf provided - of course there is no one to guard the shelf, and the shelf is right next to the door.  The librarian sits with his back to the shelf!!!

I think I will use the daisy chain as a handle attached to the sides and the bottom of the bag. It should go across my shoulders and also get this guy off my back.

Macrame Sampler bag

This macrame bag is one of the treasures I found among my hoardings.  I remember my mom making it about 30 years back. Done with black nylon cord, she used the bars in our kitchen window as anchor. I used to be a facinated 12 year old thinking that my mom was some sort of goddess.  It amazed me how she could turn a bundle of nylon cord into a work of art!

She has used rows of the basic reef knot between rows of various other knots.

For those of you interested in learning this facinating art of knotting, hop in here and get knotty.