Last time we visited the Mission Rose project, the satin stitched leaves were nearing completion. They’re finished now, and the rose is underway.
(Barely underway, I should say.)
As I was stitching the other day, I had a little accident that brought me to a momentary halt on the rose. I thought it was a good lesson to learn, so I’m going to share it with you. Though it may make me look slightly idiotic, I’m willing to risk that if it will save you from doing the same thing!
The point of concern is this leaf, where the arrow is pointing. It’s not the most attractive leaf in the world, anyway, so perhaps the incident was fortuitous. I should have taken it out and re-done it earlier, but now I’m glad I didn’t.
See how the threads are all pulled out of whack? The stitches are not smooth, and that center thread is practically jumping out of the leaf.
It happened like this: I was cutting a waste knot. I was holding the scissors so that the handles were directly over that leaf, and when I snipped the waste knot, the scissors were so close to the fabric that I rubbed across the leaf with my thumb. And it so happens that my thumb nail snagged the silk.
My finger nails are going through a traumatic stage right now.
So, they were a little rough when I sat down to stitch, and I really, really, really should have thought to file them.
But I didn’t.
The moral of the story: Especially when working with silk, but really, whenever you’re going to stitch, give your nails a thought and perhaps a little attention. A quick smooth-up with a file may save the life of a stitch! It’s a good idea to keep a fingernail file in your workbox, too, because you never know when you’ll need one.
So this was my stopping point. I’ll give that leaf a little loving attention, and then move forward again.
I’m outlining the rose in split stitch right now, in the dark red (4624) Soie de Paris (the colors for the Mission Rose are listed here). Next, we’ll contemplate shading, mark out some sections for shading, and start filling up the rose!
If you’d like to read the backstory on the Mission Rose project and follow it along step-by-step as it develops, please visit the Mission Rose Project Index, where you’ll find all the articles relating to this project listed in chronological order.
