Cutwork

It's funny how things turn out sometimes.  During the stitching process I really didn't like my embroidery on this cutwork sample.  I thought it was untidy and too lumpy and I got a bit fed up of it.

But once I cut out the negative spaces and washed and pressed it, I was pleasantly surprised and actually like it a lot now.  I have a feeling it'll be something I do again in the future.  The longest part was getting a design that would suit.  I searched for ages on the net and finally found two designs I liked and then fiddled around to make them work together, then added some scallops so that I could finish off the sample neatly and hey presto!   

The only thing I'd change in future is where I placed the cross bars ... some are too close to tight corners and don't work very well, making it difficult to cut away the fabric, and I'd adjust the pattern so that the two designs don't overlap in places .... this is where the stitching got a bit lumpy.

I used a white linen and DMC Perle 12 thread for this sample.  I started with cotton a'broder but it soon wore the thread and made it fluffy, so I unpicked and started again with the perle.  This worked well except I kept catching the thread underneath and it twisted a lot.  Trial and error, I suppose.

I'm glad its finished and now I can start on my experimental samples - haven't a clue what I'm going to do yet - need a couple of hours to sit quietly and have a think.  Better put the kettle on then and find those chocolate biscuits ......