Page 3 Making up a small section of the design

I traced an a4 sized part of the design which incorporated the different samples and cut out areas.


I then selected the top left section of the design to make up as outlined below.

The coloured tracing was traced out again, laid over the background fabric and the lines of the design were machine stitched. The tracing paper was then removed.

For the cut out areas in sample 1, threads were removed and then machine stitched in a royal blue colour. Orange fabric was zig-zagged in place. Using the developed samples shown on page 1, these were applied using small running stitches. On the sky blue fabric a lighter blue thread was used and on the navy blue a sky blue colour was used. Very carefully the orange areas were cut out.

Overall I think for a small piece it works, the colours blend very well - the sky blue and navy blue fabrics look seemless and reflect each other - while the orange colour creates contrast but blends in with the blue stitching. Having reviewed the sample I think the cut out areas need to be stitched in a darker colour. I also think that if this was a larger size piece there may need to be more contrast and interest - I could look at adding orange running stitches around the orange areas or maybe running along in the design in a finer thread.

With this in mind I have decided to develop a further sample with more contrast in colour and something which will look more interesting over a larger area.

Sample 1

With sample 2 below, I don't think the photo looks as good as the one above, however the sample looks more dramatic and contrasting. I started off by removing threads from the cut out areas and used a zig-zag whip stitch with navy and orange. This brings the orange colour in a subtle way in to the main areas. I like this effect.

The orange fabric was twin needle stitched in place and the navy blue fabric was cut out. The navy and sky blue fabrics were hand-stitched in place using a contrasting light coloured thread using a wobbly herringbone stitch (to reflect the stitching and cut out shapes).

Finally a running stitch in orange was used around the cut out orange areas to further highlight these areas.

From a distance this looks more interesting than the first sample and I feel this would work better on a larger sized piece. I like the randomness of the stitches, contrasting colours and the way the orange colour has been brought in to the design in a very subtle way.

Sample 2