Remember last week when we chatted about needle weaving as a filling?
Well, I’m still playing around with the possibilities. See, that’s the problem whenever I engage in any type of sampler. I get Well and Truly Stuck in it.
I’m playing particularly with woven fillings because I’m working on an article for Commonthread by DMC on the same topic. I’ve got a little practice piece that will accompany that article, so I’ll let you know when it’s out. It’s particularly fall-ish, so it’s perfect for this time of year!
Here’s a fun point about the woven stitch, or needle weaving, or basket weave stitch (however you want to call it – I’ve seen it referred to by many names, but it’s all essentially the same stitching technique): you can shade with it.
By working gradually changing shades of color in the warp threads (those are the vertical threads) or in the weft threads (those are the horizontal threads) or in both the warp and the weft threads, you can bring about some interesting shaded effects with this stitching technique.
The image above is a 1″ square of woven stitch worked in #5 pearl cotton. The warp threads progress from dark green on the outside of the square to light green in the middle, working with three shades of green. Then the weft threads do essentially the same thing, from dark on the outside to light on the inside.
What does this mean, when it comes to using this woven filling in practical applications?
Well, when you’re embroidering an object, you can make it look somewhat dimensional by playing with the shades used on either the warp or weft threads (or both).
For example, if you’re embroidering a rounded basket, the vertical warp threads could be dark on the edges and light in the center, to give just a touch of shading on the edges to enhance the dimensional shape of a rounded basket.
My little nine square sampler of woven fillings pictured above was fun to work up, just to play with different possibilities. But, like any sampler project like this, it only fueled my desire to keep playing – and that could be dangerous!
If you want to play about with this type of filling, here are the instructions for the basic woven filling. From there, it’s just a matter of experimenting with different threads, colors, spacing, and weaving direction. You can mix together different types of threads, too, if you want to play with texture.
Now, go forth and play with some stitches!
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below!
You can find plenty of stitches to play with in the Stitch Fun! series here on Needle ‘n Thread. You’ll also find over 75 embroidery stitch videos to help you learn new stitches that you can experiment with. Interested in working a random stitch sampler? You’ll find all kinds of articles related to samplers here on Needle ‘n Thread – feel free browse a bit and explore!
