Crescents

The Crescent

Gosh it is good to be working again!

Here is the design I want you to experiment on.  It has a lot of different design elements for all the lace fillings we will be discussing.

Sorry about the watermarks, unfortunately they are necessary. 

 I put this in the drawings tab at the top of this page it should be a better source to copy.

Please use this 's' shaped crescent for this exercise.

*Make a copy of it and place it on a piece of muslin and mount it all in a frame or small hoop.

*Then work around the 's' design with outline stitches.  Remember stitch one, skip one.

*Tear or cut a strip of the interfacing off the width of the purchased interfacing.  The strip needs to be about an inch and one half wide.

It is a really thin interfacing but of good quality.  It is not woven.  Instead it is felted with shorter fibers that run in one direction so it can be torn evenly.

I bought it a long time ago and have no idea what brand it is.  Or for that matter what it's name is.  But if you ask an older associate in a sewing fabric department or store, they will help you find it.  Ask someone who sews clothing.

Twist it along the length.  Then bundle and stitch several of these twists down onto the design using the four-sided stitches or a ladder stitch going back and forth through the outline stitches.  You can stagger the twist in the bundle for narrow ends of the design.  Cut away any excess length.

You will have to use your judgement for how high you want this crescent to be.  Later I will discuss the flat Venetian Point, that will add to your understanding.   It takes awhile for all this to start making sense, be patient. 

Be prudent while stitching it down,  it does not need to be laid down with permanence as the buttonhole stitches will secure everything.  So few stitches are better.

If you look at the crescent below you can see the ridges and valleys that have formed with the threads only. 

You can use the interfacing only or with the threads.  

You need to try several ways to see what works best for you.  

* To find the best laying technique.

*To develop a tension in the covering stitches like the buttonhole or satin that is attractive.

*Find out which fibers, interfacing or threads, are the best for you, what is cheapest, most available.

*Be sure to stitch over it, use both the buttonhole stitches and the satin stitches.

DO NOT STITCH THROUGH ANYTHING!

All of this lays on top of the pattern and muslin and nothing but the outline stitches going through the foundation.  You could use dissolving paper even for that.   And you can run most dissolving paper through the printer, of course, use caution.  

My interfacing is completely washable, make sure yours and the threads are too.  This lace was done in a neutral color that would go with clothing, any clothing.  You can use colors later.  Right now just stick with the tried and true.  Like DMC perles and flosses.   They are easy to find, inexpensive and very good. 

Don't expect to go right into a project and be successful.  Try a couple of the things I am offering now and later, then plan a project.  I want to make a fan, been at this for years and still haven't fixed on a design I want.

I am getting my soap box out here, I have stitched a couple million inches if not miles.  And every time I start stitching I have to warm up.  The first fifteen minutes look like a train wreck!

Then lo and behold, everything gets warmed up and my stitching smooths out, my eyes are adjusted to the size of the stitching and everything looks pretty good.

You have got to stitch it, all the really great musicians, dancer, artist, authors PRACTICE.

REST!

Join me, you will love this, it is so much simpler than you would ever have imagined.  It supported whole villages, whole regions.  There were no printed instructions.   Everybody stitched, so how hard could it be?

Okay?

I am putting up my soap box for now. 

   I found this picture in the Dictionary of Needlework, second edition, page 95.

   I got the second edition volumes for a birthday present several years ago. What a boon! There are the most amazing pictures in them.  I am sure in 1882 London this book was the rage.  

   To continue I was discussing the decorative top stitches previously. That they should be smooth and without defects like bulges or indentions.  What follows is my method. 

   Punch holes around the design to couch the outline of the design. Then you will need to add the strips of interfacing. I cut out a piece of cardboard and placed the design on it, and then punched out the holes for the outline stitches with a blunt needle that has a very large bead glued on at the eye. (There are also paper punches used in 'paper quilling.' Also cork pads to hold the design while you punch, a folded towel will work too.)

    In the punched holes for the design go in and out of them around the design like redwork, sew a stitch, skip a stitch around the design. These outline stitches will eventually be cut away, and all the rest of the stitches that follow will be worked on top of the design only.

   Tack the interfacing inside the crescent with the same thread you will stitch the design with so that it will not show up if any strays are missed when you cut and remove the stitches on the back of the foundation later.  Use the stitches just made for the outline, be frugal!

   Now make four sided stitches over the design again using the stitches just made for the outline.

  These stitches need to be the same thread you will use to make the stitches of the lace crescent.  

   The cross over stitch of the four sided stitch must be made perpendicular to the design outline, and the stitches that follow the outline must be fairly parallel to the outline. There will be smaller stitches on the inside curve than the outside curve.

    Do the four sided stitches loosely, because later you will need to weave the extra threads needed in and out of the cross over stitches. You want the interfacing and these threads packed in to the four sided stitches as shown in the photo.

   Then whatever decorative stitch you decide to use, satin or buttonhole, make sure they fan out or in so that its crossing stitch is perpendicular to the design outline as done with the buttonhole stitches in the picture above. 

    I like to draw the outline in ink and pencil in the fans on to the design, erasing and redoing them as needed until I am satisfied with their arrangement. Then use the drawing as a guide for the stitching.

    I like to do the buttonhole stitch with the perles inside the design too if I have a really openwork filler. I also top both sides of the outline with the buttonhole stitch if the little extras call for it. Or I use satin stitches if those will work in the design.

  

©2013, Linda Fontenot, All Rights Reserved, please refer anyone here for this article.