Sam and Max

Sam and Max, freelance police, outlasted the tshirt onto which I had embroidered them. Now they will be bringing their particular brand of aggression to a Christmas tree near you.

Pillow case, finished

It's done! Timson thinks it's very comfortable. I'm not letting anyone get too close, because then you'll see all the mistakes that were made on my first cutwork embroidery project.

I learned a lot; next time I'm going to try cutting out the eyelets before embroidering (and using a running stitch around the cut-out circle before embroidering the buttonhole stitch). Likewise, I'd like to cut out the areas that will take bars first, then embroider in the bars--maybe that way I won't cut so many bars!

Cutting the cutwork

The cutting was going so well--too well. It took a long time to feel comfortable; I had cut out about a quarter of the design before I was able to feel the scissors against the purl edge of the embroidery, and I thought I was able to feel the difference between cutting the thickness of the threads of the material versus the threads of the embroidery. I was so wrong--so overconfident! Timson is showing you just one place where this wasn't so, where I cut a bar.

So now I get to learn how to mend cutwork. For this project, I've been using Margaret Pierce's Cutwork (Heirloom Sewing v. 4) which luckily includes a paragraph called, "Repairing Bars." This gives me some comfort. Otherwise, except for the few areas where I've cut my bars (there are more!), the cutting out is going pretty well. It's going slowly but it's going--I don't find it as enjoyable as stitching. Next time I may follow some other directions I've read, to cut out certain sections ahead of time, like the small circles and the smaller areas that will be crossed by bars, and embroider them after the cutting.

Broder Special and Aunt Martha

After years of packing and moving chaos (with a rather involved hand injury thrown in), I've picked this project up again and am making great progress. It's a more portable project than my current knitting wip, so I even work on it during the occasional lunch break.

It will be a cutwork edging on a pillow case, for me! The pattern is a classic, one of Colonial Patterns "Aunt Martha's Hot Iron Transfers," #3818, "3 Pillow Cases (1 Cut Work)." I bought it ages ago from a company that's since gone out of business, so I can't tell you my delight in discovering that these can now be ordered direct from the company! (I used to buy them at the five-and-dime that was biking distance away, next to the deli which always had piroshkis.) For this project I decided to try DMC Broder Spécial size 12, a.k.a. "Brilliant Cutwork & Embroidery Thread," a 4 ply non-divisible cotton thread, and I have to say that I prefer using three strands from six strand floss for cutwork. I'm going to finish this pillow case with this thread, though, and in the future use it for designs with smaller areas.