Stem stitch

The next in our series of free motion embroidery stiches, is stem stitch.  I talked about this last week when we were looking at weave using the zig zag.  We will also look at a stem stitch derivative, the stem stitch extension leaf.

Stem stitch
When you are doing stem stitch by hand, the stitches look like the picture below.

To accomplish this in free motion, we use zig zag.

Satin stitch is a closed zig zag stitch.  This means that it has a short stitch length.  In free motion, this is controlled by how fast or slowly you move the fabric under the needle.  If your movement is not even, the satin stitch will be uneven too,  but you can go back over it as I have done in the video to even it up.
Above, you see a normal satin stitch.  In order to create a stem stitch, with overlapping stitches like in the hand stitch we rotate the hoop 45 to 90 degrees or one eighth to one quarter of a turn.  A quarter turn is easier to accomplish.
When we rotate the hoop, we do not change the direction we are moving in.  In the top example, I am moving the hoop to the left and  I am facing the machine at the left.  This is much easier to see in the video.
So, really stem stitch is quite and easy stitch, however, it does require a little practice to master curves using it.
Stem stitch is used for, obviously stems, but also for any definite lines in a piece of work.

Leaves

I use this technique usually for grasses and long leaves.  I use another technique for small leaves.

Basically, we start with a satin stitch and end up with a stem stitch as in the diagram below. 

This looks easy, but you will find that it requires a fair bit of practice.  If you have a digital or sliding stitch length dial, you might find it easier to just do a satin stitch that gets narrower by moving to a narrower stitch as you stitch (or pausing often to shorten), You may also be able to program in a narrowing stitch that you can select when you get to the end of your leaf.
As my machine has neither of these things and to boot I am left handed and the dials are on the right, i have developed this method.

If we look at the leaf from the right, I have started with satin stitch, then as we go left, the stitches angle so that at the tip they become stem stitch.  This is much clearer in the video.
  You might find it easier to stabilise the fabric near the leaf and allow the rotation by using a bamboo skewer (cut short to make it easier to manage.)  I use use my finger, but I DO NOT RECCOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE.
This stitch takes lots of practice as you can see below.

But remember, little irregularities can usually be remedied by more stitching (to a point).  None of us is perfect.

Video

This short video shows both stitches being made on the machine.

Hope you are enjoying this series.
I have designed a sampler (it is actually a little landscape) to go with the stitch course and will have the pattern ready for the next lesson.  I will also go back over the previous lessons so we can do some homework with it and get our stitches in the right places.

It has been an extremely long day and I am finally off to bed.  Happy Stitching

“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”

Anna Quindlen 

Landscape part 3

Finally, let's pretty up that landscape.

Here is our landscape as we left it, above.  I am going to show you a couple of flower embellishments to put in the foreground at the front. First we are going to do some tall, lavender-like or delphinium stems.  I will show you a few ways to do these first.

Here are two ways to add leaves (above), on the left, a simple fern stitch and on the right, leaf shapes, which you can leave unfilled, or fill in.  You actually need to add the leaves after, but I am showing you the shapes here because they apply to all three flower stitches.  Remember that the picture above is a 10x magnification at least.  At a normal magnification, they will not look as rough.

The first flower stitch can use granite stitch, or circles with straight stitch to make flowers on a long stem (left, above), then put the leaves in (right).

The second way to make these flowers is to use a fern stitch, then add the leaves.  On the left, I have gone over the flowers twice to show you that if you want more colour, you can.

Another way to add more colour, is to make the fern/flowers, using a narrow zig zag.  Above is a sequence diagram showing how these are made.

The left sample uses the leaf shapes, on the right fern leaves.  I will make the first layer using the first two alternatives.
Below shows these two steps on the landscape.  First the flowers, then the leaves.

This layer might seem very pale, however, it is simply a background to the final layer and so I do not want and very vivid colours that will draw the eye.  Also, you can see my travelling stitches between the flower stems.  These will be covered up by the next layer.  If all I was going to put were these flowers, I would make them brighter and I would have gone off the edge with the stems.

For the final layer, I am going to put some organza poppies and above you can see some triangular scraps of green stitched down.  Since these pieces were actually only half a centimetre  in width at the wide part, you can work out that they are fiddly.  Use a bamboo skewer to hold them stable whilst you stitch.  At the top right, you can see my mistake - using too light a thread, and the left top is what happens when you don't hold the fabric down.  At the bottom is a "leaf" secured correctly.  The organza will fray but I like the frayed edge.  If you don't, then you can use felt, or burn the edges which I will show you in a technique lesson soon.  The leaves and the poppies themselves are not accurate.  They do not need to be - They are only an impression.

Above, you can see the green scraps secured randomly over the first layer of flowers.

Above you can see how the poppies are constructed. At the top is a small scrap secured with a granite stitch to represent a bud, and below it a circle of fabric is folded in half and secured to represent a side view.  The bottom two poppies are secured with a granite stitch in black in the centre to represent the stamens. The top flower is one layer, below it is two layers.

Here are the main poppies sprinkled over the foreground.

Next, I added a few side views and buds, then finally a few more leaves over the top.

The foreground gives the landscape a vivid focus and as you can see, the two flowers do not fight for attention.

If you are very observant, you will notice on comparing this final framed version with the one at the beginning of the lesson, I have used a larger mat board, and extended the bottom of the picture by adding more grass and poppy leaves.  I decided that the sky was too limited in the smaller frame, but that I needed a bit more on the bottom to fit in the next frame.

In these lessons we have learned a few basic techniques in thread painting to create a simple landscape.  Make one as a post card for your next swap, or as a gift.  This one is to be a postcard and is going to the USA as a gift in Craft it Forward.  Hope you like it Diana!

My next set of Thread Painting lessons will be a pictorial sampler to accompany the stitch lessons I post each Saturday.

Art begins as an experiment and ends as an experience.

Skeleton Leaves

I decided to do something for myself today.  It is Autumn here, and the leaves in the towns are turning.  A week or so ago, I found a skeletonised gum leaf, and the other day another, deciduous leaf.

 This is the gum leaf, unfortunately, I can't find the other leaf.
So I thought, well, let's try and make one with free motion lace  - so I did.

 I used two layers of water soluble stabiliser.  This is a Floriani one.

 I drew the leaf and veins on the stabiliser, but you can trace.  If you type in leaf in google and select images then line art from the side bar, you will probably find lots to suit you, like these.

 However, there is a problem with these.  The veins do not reach the edges.  You will have to extend the lines so that they reach the edges, otherwise, your leaf will fall apart.  Lines of stitching need to cross to hold the lace together.

 Here, I have used straight stitch to go around all the lines, retracing my route when neccesary, especially in the central part, to build up the stitches.

 I also went around the whole leaf margin and the stem with a very thin zig zag when all the inner lines were done to make a stable edge.

 When I was finished, I roughly cut out the leaves,

And pinned them to some foam, then rinsed off the stabiliser under running water.  I blot them with kitchen paper to remove a lot of water.  It is best to allow them to dry before removing the pins, and you can test them for remaining stabiliser as they dry.  They will be sticky.  Run the under the tap again if they are.

 Here are the two finished leaves.  And below, framed.

  I am pleased with the results, but would use a much thinner and lighter thread next time.

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.

Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)

Free Motion Zig Zag - 1

For those people who visited as soon as I uploaded,  I have reloaded the video, sorry for the mistake,
Vicki
This is a short lesson, however I just want to show you my organisational diagram for these lessons.

It is a bit hard to read here but you can download a copy here.
What this basically says is that I have divided free motion into two halves, straight and zig zag. Each of these is divided again into the four different directions, straight lines, circles, weave and multidirectional.  Fuether out are more stitches and the final two rings refer to tension techniques, which can apply to some or all of the stitches in the green and orange areas.  As you can see it is quite complicated but don't let it worry you, I have only included it for those who want it, and I am sure I will add to it, but as we move through the lessons, I will guide you through it.
Below, the first diagram shows where we are now, if you have looked at the first two lessons (here and here )

 and this diagram below shows there area we are going to cover today circled in red.

So let's get on with it

Zig Zag Stitching with Free Motion

These three types of  stitching with zig zag don't have specific names like the straight stitches; Granite, Multidirectional and Weave.  And there are really only slight differences between them, but there are some.  I will discuss them as we go along, and I have also made a short video of all three for you.

Circular Zig Zag Stitching 
Below, is a picture of this stitching. and next to it I have drawn the motion with red.

 As you will see in the video, it is best to use a fast speed on the machine and an even, moderate to slow motion for this stitch.  It is very useful for filling up large areas fast.  I like to use it with variegated thread as in this example.

 This sort of background in a piece of work gives depth, but does not draw the eye.  I often use many hues in a background, even in my paintings.
This stitch is als very good for melding different colours and shading with different colours, especially when you do not want a directional shading like with garnet and weave stitch. 
Weave Zig Zag Stitching  
 There are two ways to do this motion in zig zag, as you will see from the video and the pictures below.

 In the top area, I did not rotate between the vertical and horizontal stitching (for description of this see lesson 2) You can see that the horizontal zig zags are zig zags, but the vertical stitches are not. They are stem stitch, which we will cover in the next lesson.  In the top sample all stitches lie in the same direction.
In the bottom sample, both horizontal and vertical stitches are true zig zag stitches.  This is because I rotated 90 degrees (a right angle) between. You will see me do this in the video.  So in the bottom sample the stitches are not lying in the same direction.
This difference is important when considering the style of your thread painting.  Some artists have every stitch in the same direction, giving a very tapestry like look to their work.
Other artists like to vary the direction of their stitches either all over, or in certain parts.
When stitches all lie in the same direction, they tend to shine and reflect light more, whilst when the stitches are in different directions, the light tends to be absorbed and the effect is duller (I do not mean boring, some parts of you work need this)
Obviously, the top sample of zig zag weave is more useful in areas where you want to define direction, like the lines in a tree trunk, whilst the second stitch is more useful in areas like backgrounds in a similar way to the circular stitch above.
Multidirectional Zig Zag Stitching
Multi directional zig zag is shown below.

In many ways this stitch resembles it's straight stitch cousin closely.  The main difference is that it fills more quickly and so is useful for large areas.
It can be combined with true multidirectional straight stitch quite easily, the straight stitch being used near the edges of an area where more prescision is needed.
As with the rotated zig zag weave (above), it is useful in backgrounds and far away areas in a piece of work, where the non reflection means it does not draw the eye and compete with the focus of the work .
 Zig Zag Stitching Video

Even though this was a short lesson,  It was covering a fair amount of ground.  Remember, the most important thing is to practice and to play.

Almost everyone learns to play, but a creative person plays to learn. 

Belated Blog

As I said, Saturday is Stitchin' time, however, I spent a lot of time trying to video my stitches.... and failed.  So here is my blog for yesterday in picture form, instead.
I really love free motion embroidery (FME) in all it's forms and have been studying all the ways to stitch using it.  There are a lot of books and a lot of artists and they all use similar stitches and techniques and some have names and some have several names, but what I observed when I looked at it all is that there is an heirarchy (like a tree diagram) to the stitches, so I will show you that - but later, let's get down to the stitches!
Obviously, most people starting FME start with either straight stitch or Zig zag.  I am going to start with straight stitch, even though in some ways zigzag is easier to start with.
I am not going to look at the technical set-up stuff, because there are plenty of excellent sites with this information: sewing machines for beginners, beginners tute, technical stuff, excellent article from new mexico uni, beginners guide from isew.

Straight stitch techniques in FME
One look at a quilting catalogue, or leah day's project will show you that straight stitch is extremely versatile and can form a zillion different patterns.  This is because it is basically a line and lines make drawings, so anything you can draw, you can FME.  And let's not forget drawing.  Before you start at the machine it is a good idea to draw out what you intend to sew.  Not only will this help you remember where to move, it will make the result better.
The first thing you will probably do and this is a good idea, is just scribble.  Below are a few examples of just that.

 Try a variety of shapes and even some stick figures or leaves and trees,  Keep it interesting, because practice is the key.
Some patterns you could try:

wiggly lines

zigzag lines

pointy scribble

curvy scribble or stippling

curvy lines that touch

practice the alphabet

write your name

These are not special, perfect examples I made up to show you.  They are just my everyday practice.  If I don't practice nearly everyday, I get a bit rusty.
Don't look for perfection in your lines,

• firstly because most applications of these lines in FME will not require perfection 
• secondly, because if it is not fun to do, you are not likely to persist and striving for perfection can be a little boring.
• lastly because my philosphy is that creativity and perfection are opposing forces.  Think about your purpose.  Is your purpose to create a perfect carbon copy that is cold and lifeless, or is it to create something alive and beautiful that expresses your inner self?  

Now let's look at the three main ways to use straight stitch in FME
Granite stitch

Granite stitch is just scribble, the first thing we do as children learning to draw, which is why I chose it to start. Leah day calls it cat hairball, it is also known when done like in the picture above, as encroaching circles in The encyclopedia of Machine Embroidery, or granite stitch by carol shinn, or spiralling straight stitch by Alison holt and probably as many other names as there are FME artists.
Basically, this stitch is used to fill in large areas and shade by overlapping  or to make trees in the distance as in my itty bitty landscape, here is a close up of  that stitching.

The main thing with granite stitch, is that the circles need to overlap, and if it doesn't look right to you (remember to stand back, no-one looks at art with their nose to it to enjoy it,  only critics do that!), then go over it again, or ask someone else, because you will always be over critical of your own work. 

This has been an overlong blog... and I still had two more stitches!  But we will go on to those next week, and I will work out how to post my stitch chart or tree diagram as a PDF for you.

On Monday, I will be posting a tutorial for a zipped cover for a sketchbook, that uses circular straight stitch on a large scale, so tune in for that, and later today I will post my sketchbook for this week.