Finishing long forgotten projects.

[KitSileya]

Now that I have finished my magnum opus, I need to finish the half-done stuff in my work basket. As I was searching through said work basket, I found these two - I only had the hemming of the table runner left. I don't know when I started it - I know my mom helped me iron and pin the hem on the table cloth maybe 6 years ago. It was a quick task to do the same to the runner and stitch it. I'm giving it as a birthday gift to a friend whose birthday is this month.

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[KarenS]

1. Absolutely beautiful.

Great job!!

[likesmountains 52]

2. So pretty, congratulations!

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Nice work!

[SheilaT]

4. Lovely.

My personal record for finally finishing a project is thirty years.

I'd started embroidering something for my friend Don, put it aside and didn't do any embroidery for a very long time. Luckily I didn't throw such things away. Some thirty years later I pulled the project out, finished it, and sent it to him. He was highly appreciative.

[pipi_k]

5. Beautiful handwork!

I admire people with the ability and patience to do embroidery.

[hedgehog]

6. I'm going to ask you for something strange - can you

post a photo of the back of this project? The stitching on the front is perfect. I'd like to see the back to get a better idea of how you achieved these results. I'd really like to see how you made the satin stitching on the flowers and leaves.

Also - is there a name for the stitch you used for the stems? It's much more attractive than any outline stitch I've seen. The sharp corners are very tidy.

[KitSileya]

7. Oh dear, I wish I could, but I've already given it away.

I wasn't very happy with how I'd started each thread - with a knot, but then the table cloth was one of the first project I'd done satin stitch on besides woolen thread on canvas for a Christmas tree mat. As I picked it up again and finished the table runner, I'd learned to fasten the thread in the cloth a ways away, and then pick it out and fasten it in the embroidery once I'd finished the thread.

By the stems, do you mean the light green lines going from flower cluster to flower cluster? Those are just a double row of stem stitches. To quote wikipedia, "stem stitch, in which each stitch overlaps the previous stitch to one side, forming a twisted line of stitching, with the thread passing below the needle. It is generally used for outlining shapes and for stitching flower stems and tendrils."

The sharp corners are thanks to my Mom on the table cloth, and thanks to me on the table runner. I hemmed them with lightweight linen thread leftover from my head linen. It was just a matter of anchoring the stitches underneath the line of dark green stem stitches I'd already sewn.

And thank you for the compliments on my embroidery. I am still learning, but practice makes perfect, right?

[hedgehog]

8. I thought the sharp corners where you turned the stems were marvelous -

I have a lot of patterns for Celtic motifs, but never saw a good way to make all the intertwining curves. The double stem stitch looks like something I should play with.

[KitSileya]

9. You can see the stitches on the bottom picture.

That should give you an idea of how I did it. In all honesty, I was just covering the two lines in the pattern underneath! There wasn't any sort of expertise to it, beyond wanting it to look nice, I assure you. My sewing isn't top standard - only my patience is!

[YarnAddict]

10. Wow! Your friend is a lucky person. n/t