Friday 11 March 2016

Hand Sewing

I decided to try to do a little hand sewing in the evenings when I'm watching tv. I'm really enjoying it - much more than I thought I would.


This fellow is on a 12x12 square - he'll be cut down eventually. The grey line around him is basting to hold two layers of fabric together. The top layer is kona white, and the back a muslin. It gives the fabric a lot more body and you can't see anything through from the back.

I've had this pattern for ages - it's called Winter Wonderland. I'm going to embroider all the snowmen then piece them into a quilt. I don't like the layout on the pattern, so I'm not sure how I will put it together yet, and I'm sure I'll think of something.


The embroidery floss is DMC colour 321 - I like the red (which isn't photographing well) and the stitches are a simple back stitch with some french knots. The pattern called for lazy daisy for the snowman eyes, but I made french knots instead. I pre-wash everything, including this floss. And I'm glad I did because it ran a little when pre-soaking. I treated it with a chemical dye retainer so that it wouldn't bleed all over my quilt once finished.