First Stitches

As I excitedly announced in an earlier post, Trish Burr had recently requested permission to turn one of my doodles into her magical Shades of Whitework pieces. That particular one (she calls Katarina) is now available in kit form in her Etsy shop.

 I am thrilled to tell you that she has come back to me for a few more designs (you can read what Trish has planned for them here)

I want to give her technique a try, so I have begun with a small "learning" piece. Armed with one of her digital download patterns, I decided to start with just a few of the flowers to practice getting my stitches just right.

 Wanting a lovely mottled grey fabric for the background (and not finding it) I decided to simply create my own using a piece of muslin and fabric paint.....when I want a fast way to get just a small piece of fabric in a particular colour, paint is quicker and easier than dye. ( I showed how I do this a number of years ago.....you can find that post here)

Creating a small composition, I traced some select flowers and with a "transfer" pencil I drew the design in reverse onto plain copy paper. With a hot, dry iron, the image is now in place and ready to stitch.

I decided to start small, I am certain my stitches will improve as I continue. Hopefully by the time I finish this small bouquet, I will have the confidence to tackle one of her gorgeous designs and do it justice.