[HNW] Extant Examples of German Embroidery

[Carolyn Kayta Barrows]

><< The fabric is too
> >thin, the thread is too thick, and it looks pretty awful a >>
>
>What kind of fabric, and thread, are you using?

Which time?  The first time there was some nameless thin cotton, some #12 
(?) perle cotton, and 7-count waste canvas.  The second time there was some 
shirt-weight linen I got out of a bin someplace as several second-hand 
scraps (maybe 35 threads per inch), the same perle cotton, and no waste 
canvas.  But whether I counted the threads or not, I couldn't get the ends 
of the individual stitches to line up.  This made what ought to have been 
be straight lines be all zig-zaggy and irregular instead.

I have to admit I no longer feel confident that I know what I'm doing.  My 
first piece of counted thread blackwork, done 20+ years ago, was counted 
thread, and it still looks pretty good to me.  My counted thread work on 
Aida cloth looks good to me.  But these two pieces (my second and third 
attempts at blackwork), look embarrassingly bad.  I have to start this 
project all over again, I no longer know what materials to use or how to do 
neat work, and Faire opens the second weekend in July.

My costume approval person says I can't wear embroidered Aida cloth for 
what we're doing, so that's out.  I really need to be wearing linen so I 
don't faint in the heat, and attempt 3 was on some linen where at least I 
could see the threads (something like 35-count, with stitches 4 threads 
long).  I can't afford silk thread, and can barely afford perle cotton, but 
I see that I'll have to buy more thread of some kind.  Once I figure out 
how to get my stitches lined up, I don't want them so long that they look 
sloppy and I don't want to hide the details by using thread that's too thick.

I'm like "Now what?".  As recently as a week ago I was under the impression 
that I could embroider.  Now I'm not so sure.

        CarolynKayta Barrows
dollmaker, fibre artist, textillian
          www.FunStuft.com

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