Works In Progress Wednesdays-181

It was hectic two weeks. We went to Sur [4 hrs drive] previous weekend and it was Ramadhan holidays last weekend.it was break from stitch challenges. Thinking about the challenges cannot be counted as active working.
But catching up the kantha work on ikat tunic started. I was working on one sleeve, before setting it aside.

Fillings have been completed on both sleeves as of now.

The sleeves of cream tussar have also started blooming this week.

Now on the mission to complete the kantha work. Then the time for Beyond TAST and SSS starts.

 

Work In Progress Wednesdays-114

Stitch challenges
RPW 2016 chart of the week was completed on Saturday.
This week’s stitch on Sunday Stitch School challenge is Danish knot stitch. I want work the samples as a band sampler. Still in the process of thinking on this sampler.
TAST 2016 week’s stitch is Twisted lattice band. The samples were worked in 2014. The link to the details was posted on Pintangle and TAST FB group.
Marash embroidery
Yellow silk tunic
After completing the pattern in yellow thread, I started with light green thread.

WIPW114-yelprinkutch-3

Copper mangalagiri tunic has bead work along the border and is now ready to wear.
A design was drawn for embroidery on a string bag. The idea for this embroidery was from Mary’s Needle and thread blog.

WIPW114-sbag’16-1-1

I also picked up the kantha work on black fabric for maroon black ikat tunic.

WIPW114-marblaikatkantha-4

This tunic with printed chanderi fabric on the neck, hem and sleeves came from the tailor. This project needs a small motif to be worked below the neck.

WIPW114-orayelchanderikutch-1

Now to start the Danish knot sampler.

 

SSS 2016.2.Back stitch

This is a stitch which I have been wanting to explore on a sampler. The working of the stitch, the tips to work are provided by Queenie, who is doing this Sunday stitch school, on her blog.
This is a versatile stitch. This stitch is used in so many ways over the years on my various embroidery projects. This was first stitch to be taught on our needle class in school to sew two pieces of cloth.
Now the details of the sampler-
The samples are worked in even weave cloth. It is easier to work this stitch on this cloth. The first is the basic back stitch, the second sample is back stitches worked with space between them. Looks like running stitch, but because of the way thread moves below the surface, it is more secure. The third sample are long and short back stitches worked alternatively.

SSS2016.2.backst-1

This sample is zigzag back stitch. This version was used many times on my embroidery projects.

SSS2016.2.backst-2a

The zigzag back stitch looks like this on the back, this makes another linear stitch, may not be as secure as two rows of back stitch, but will save some thread!

SSS2016.2.backst-2b

The first sample is variation of zigzag back stitch. The second is the sample to show how the back stitch works on curves. This is the reason this stitch is used in  red work, black work, kantha work, cross stitch embroideries. There are countless possibilities to work this stitch.

SSS2016.2.backst-3a

The back side looked interesting for these two samples too.

SSS2016.2.backst-3b

Now starting with two rows of back stitch worked together.
After working two rows of back stitch in the first sample, the starting point of the second row in the second sample is the midpoint of the back stitch worked in the previous row. The second sample is called cable stitch, when there is no space between the rows and both rows are worked together as single linear stitch. In the third sample the back stitch rows are whipped together from left to right. The two rows of back stitch is laced in the fourth sample. Detached cretan stitch  is worked over the back stitch in the fifth sample. The sixth sample is the beaded back stitch.

SSS2016.2.backst-4

The sampler is completed with these experiments, I have been itching to work back stitch samples from the time of TAST challenge.

SSS2016.2.Back stitch sampler

 

Work In Progress Wednesdays-104

The Randje per week chart was completed on Saturday. Lock stitch and double lock stitch are this week’s stitches on TAST challenge. I had worked the samples on two designs earlier. These were posted on FB TAST group page.
Marash Embroidery
Kutchwork Cream tunic with kalamkari patch
This tunic is with the tailor now. The embroidery on both sleeves are completed. A few diamond motifs were also worked. The rest of the embroidery will be completed after it is sewn.
Orange violet combo tunic
This tunic will be worked in two phases. A small border for the sleeves was started. Just a glimpse of the WIP.

WIPW104-oraviocombokutch-3

Mirror work
I‘ll work on this tunic during this week. It might take long to complete all the mirrors. Some beads may be incorporated into this design.

WIPW104-beigemirt-6

Kantha work
Seeing that the mirror work and bead work will be  a long project, I started on the kantha work. This is plain black cloth for the embroidery on sleeves.

WIPW104-mablaikatkantha-2

While working realized this could also be another long project, decided to keep it in the shelf for the time being.

WIPW104-marnlaikatkantha-3

Working on these projects, mind keeps thinking  of designs for new projects. Once or twice it started as drawing on paper also. Some webpages are inspiring and addictive and I get carried away by the vast variety of designs. if the time spent on these browsing can be limited, there might be more designs forthcoming. let’s see what this week brings in.

 

Work In Progress Wednesdays-102

I am a day late in posting the progress on my projects. The two weeks in Chennai, India was filled with visits, shopping and dental appointments. Actually, there was no time for embroidery at all. I picked up some ideas for tunic designs though.
The randje per week sampler was left in Muscat. It was started on this Sunday. With three charts to catch up, the first chart was completed yesterday. I am presently working on this challenge.

WIPW102-RPW2016-W34

The TAST challenge of this year is more of posting the old samplers on the Facebook page. This was totally neglected. This needs to be looked into.
Marash embroidery/ kutchwork embroidery
Kutchwork Cream tunic with kalamkari patch
I just worked a small part of the sleeve on this project before leaving for India.

WIPW102-crkalamkaripatkut-8

The violet fabric of the orange violet combo tunic was taken to India, with the hope of working the small border and finding a proper leggings in violet. The leggings was bought but the fabric came back as it was! I think with this colour combination, the project will have more of Indian ethnic look.

WIPW102-oraviocombokutch-2

Mirror work
After working the brown thread, the design is outlined with chain stitch in green thread. it is still in progress.

WIPW102-beigemirt-4

Kantha embroidery
The kantha embroidery design for the sleeves was traced and the fabrics were taken to Chennai, to be brought back in their packed condition.
The embroidery projects will be taken up after catching up on the randje per week challenge. These days the alphabets are getting bolder and bigger, involving a few days of work. Another chart will come on this Saturday. We are having holidays from tomorrow for Eid-Al-Adha- A time for pilgrimage to the holy shrine. I have to wait and see how much time can be allotted for embroidery.

Picked up a page filled with neck designs. My tailor loves these charts. A sample-

WIPW102-neck pat

 

Work In Progress Wednesdays-101

This week’s progress has been mediocre.

The RPW2016 challenge took more time than was expected. The completed chart.

WIPW101-RPW-W33

I am going to Chennai, India tomorrow for two weeks. For the past few times these trips have been stitch free. Hoping for some embroidery productive days.
Marash embroidery/ kutchwork embroidery
Kutchwork Cream tunic with kalamkari patch
The tunic fabric was marked for neck and sleeves by the tailor. The pattern was drawn on the sleeves first. In this transfer also, the fabric to be marked is placed over the design and the pattern is drawn with a pencil. The kutchwork/ interlacing stitch/ marash embroidery commenced with the brown thread. Same colour as the brown fabric.

WIPW101-cralamkaripatkutch-7

Orange violet combo tunic
The impact of working this kutchwork, the multi colour mirror work on white and blue combo tunic and seeing a kasuti embroidery design – all gave rise to another idea of working kutchwork embroidery in four colours on an orange and violet tunic. I am still in the process of drawing the pattern. The embroidery will be three places- the sleeves, below the neck and a big design on the right hand side of the tunic. I may have more details after the designs are completed.

WIPW101-oraviocombokutch-1

Mirror work

white and blue combo tunic

The mirror work around the neck and sleeves on this blue white combo tunic was completed.

beige mirror work tunic
After working the sleeves with brown thread, I proceeded with the work on tunic front. The spaces inside the squares will have the mirrors.

WIPW101-beigemirt-3

Kantha embroidery
The kantha embroidery is drawn and ready to be transferred. With the packing in progress for the trip, If time permits, the tracing can be made on the plain black fabric to be worked in Chennai. Will have to wait and see.

WIPW101-marblaikatkantha-2

 

Work In Progress Wednesdays-100

It is hard to believe this is the 100th post in this topic. It started with linking the posts of works in progress to Pintangle, where SharonB was posting every Wednesday, her works in progress. When Sharon wanted to make some changes on her blog, this category disappeared. There was no reason not to continue sharing my works in progress, these weekly reports are motivating. It has also become an habit.
The randje per week 2016 challenge had a the mirror image of the last week’s border, which was completed on Saturday.
Kutchwork Cream tunic with kalamkari patch
The first phase of working kutchwork embroidery on brown fabric was completed with the fifth motif. The cream tunic fabric along with this embroidered piece and the kalamkari fabric is with the tailor now for marking the front and sleeves. He has to mark keeping in mind the placement of these two- embroidered brown piece and kalamkari fabric.
Mirror work
The blue and white combo is getting full attention now. The mirrors are being stitched in different colours of thread.

WIPW100-blwhcombo-2

After tracing the design on the beige tunic, the embroidery started with brown colour thread.

WIPW100-beigemirt-2

Marash embroidery
The kutchwork border work grew a little bit this week. this project may take a  back seat for a while.

WIPW100-whigremajekutch-3

Kantha embroidery
A design to work kantha embroidery on sleeves was chosen this week.

Linking this post to this blog

 

 

Work In Progress Wednesdays-99

The Randje per week 2016 sampler chart has a border with letter ’Z’. It was completed on Saturday.
Kutchwork Cream tunic with kalamkari patch
After working another motif on this project, some simple kutchwork squares were worked in cream thread.

wipw99-crkalamkaripatkucth-6

Pink border tunic
The kutchwork borders were worked during the week. And decision was made not to add any embellishments on this project.

WIPW99-pinboderkutch-3

Mirror work
Today I have started stitching the mirrors around the neck of the blue/ white block printed tunic. Yet to take the picture. It is quite hard to push and pull the needle through the 1 inch border.
The beige tunic was picked up with markings. The working on the embroidery will start after tracing the design.
Kantha work
This project is in the designing stage. The fabrics are maroon striped mangalagiri cotton and ikat cotton. The tunic is the combination of these two fabrics. Simple kantha designs are being screened now.

WIPW99-marblaikatkantha-1

 

Hand embroidery on wearable- 6-Embrodiery on tunics-2

This is the last past of the series in hand embroidery on wearable. In this post we’ll consider some ideas of designing embroidery on tunics which are marked for necklines and sleeves. By this method it is possible to work any type of embroidery of our choice on wearable. Ready to wear tunics are made this way on large scale.
The fabrics are marked for necklines, sleeves, slits, shoulders, borders. The chosen embroidery designs are transferred on to the fabrics. These fabrics are secured on big rectangular embroidery frames. The embroidery is done by embroiderers trained for this. After the embroidery is completed, the fabrics are taken away from the frames and sewn by tailors.
But we can do it on a small scale. After choosing the embroidery design, we can ask the tailor [or if a person is good tailor, then help themselves] to mark the places on the fabric to work the embroidery. Using these markings as guidelines, we can transfer the pattern on the fabrics. After completing the embroidery, the fabrics can be sewn into tunics, blouses, shirts… as the case may be.
Here are few samples of embroidered tunics, which were marked, embroidered and sewn into tunics.
This mangalagiri cotton tunic with stripes was marked with neckline. This was in early days when I was trying this idea. Though it was marked, the pattern chosen for this kutchwork embroidery was set apart from the actual neck line. After embroidering on the pattern, I added some small kutchwork motifs below the neck.

eowet-09

The shirt fabric is linen and the idea was to work white work on this. The markings were made according to the pattern, which was to be worked on both sides in the front. Crochet edging was worked later on the sleeve. This embroidery was a tough project, linen fabric did not help.

eowet-10

This yellow tunic is cotton. The pattern was transferred on to the front, where a marking was made for the neck. White and yellow carbons were ruled out on this colour. Green carbon paper was used to transfer the pattern. The marking is still on the neck to show the difference between the neck line on pattern and the actual neckline!

eowet-11

This mangalagiri cotton tunic has kantha embroidery on it. The tailor had marked a simple round neck. The pattern transfer and embroidery were worked on front and sleeves based on that. Seeing the work, he changed the neckline to this beautiful one. Sometimes it is better to leave some small space around the neck, to facilitate these kind of surprises. There is also a possibility of the tailor cutting off a small part of embroidery during his course of work.

eowet-12

The pattern for this kutchwork embroidery was drawn with this neck design. It was transferred on to the marked fabric. This tunic sample is a proof of a good coordination of pattern neckline and the tunic neckline.

eowet-13

The embroidery design for this cotton mangalagiri tunic was picked from a salwar design magazine. The tailor had this magazine with him. When I wanted to do this project, he not only marked but also explained where each and every element should be placed. Based on the inspiration and the guidance, this pattern was drawn and embroidered. Around the neck I had to draw the elements by hand to get the same effect. Still it was worth it. This embroidery has surface satin stitch on it.

eowet-14

Each and every design on these samples was chosen for that particular tunic in mind and they were all worked with the help of the markings made by the tailor.
We can work any embroidery on the tunic fabric in this manner. Important thing to note is to check whether the fabric is suitable for that embroidery. It is not just designing the embroidery, the tunic style is also kept in mind. It is a very interesting work. Practice, perseverance, eye for colours, basic calculations and understanding of fabrics and embroidery are the tools.
Enjoy designing and embroidering on wearable.

 

Copper tunic with black kantha border[bagh]

I saw a plain tunic with broad woven border. The border was in cream or half white and woven in black. The shop said it was a Bagh border which was attached to the tunic. They had also done some kantha embroidery in black on the border. This inspired me to design a border with geometric patterns which can be worked with kantha embroidery.
Thought a plain tussar fabric would be ideal for this.

bagh border on coptunic-fabric

The yoke pattern

bagh border on coptunic-yoke pattern

The sleeve pattern, it is really broad!

bagh border on coptunic-sleeve pattern

These patterns were traced on to cream cotton fabric with yellow carbon. The embroidered yoke-

bagh border on coptunic-y1

I wanted a black border around the yoke. The embroidered yoke along with black fabric placed on tunic fabric.

bagh border on coptunic-y2

The embroidered sleeves.

bagh border on coptunic-emb on sleeves

The embroidery was done in black cotton skeins. I used the running stitch on the kantha embroidery to obtain the woven effect. For the fly stitches on both ends of the borders I used four strands and rest of the embroidery was done with two strands.
The tailor added some pin tucks on both sides of the yoke. The detail of the yoke-

bagh border on coptunic-yoke detail

The tunic-

bagh border on copper tunic