|
Howdy! Inspired by fonts from wild west saloon signs, this mighty fine design will ensure you have the rootin'-tootinest sofa in town Today, we're all getting back to basics and rediscovering the joys of simpler and less expensive pastimes that can be done at home. Picking up a needle and thread gives you the opportunity to be creative without great financial investment. It's one of the many reasons more and more people are discovering how, with patience and play, needlework can be frivolous, edgy, decorative or political, bringing texture and colour to words and images. It is without doubt one of the most exciting and fast-moving crafts today and the influence of this needlework revolution are evident in conceptual and contemporary design as well as on the high street. Lean on meThis design is inspired by the nostalgic yet edgy woodblock fonts seen on saloon doors or posters in the old west. The earthy colours and stars-and-arrows motif add to the cushion's homely, romantic feel. This pillow would make a great gift – if you can bear to part with it. The needlework is not at all difficult, and the design is worked in counted cross stitch from the colour chart provided. The finished size of design is approximately 19 x 17in (48 x 43cm). You will need• mono interlock canvas, 10 holes per inch, 25 x 23in (64 x 59cm) minimum
• Appleton Bros crewel wool (available in skeins of 27yd (25m) or hanks of 197yd (180m):
- white 991, 263yd (240m)
- autumn yellow 472, 241yd (220m)
- honeysuckle yellow 692, 175yd (160m)
- brown groundings 582, 121yd (110m)
- dull marine blue 323, 88yd (80m)
- turquoise 521, 71yd (65m)
- flame red 208, 33yd (30m)
- autumn yellow 474, 22yd (20m)
- golden brown 901, 14yd (12m)
• a size 20 tapestry needle
• masking tape
• permanent marker Before you start: colour photocopy this chart at 180% How to1. Bind the edges of the canvas with masking tape. To do this, fold long strips of the tape around the outside of the cut canvas to prevent the wool, or your clothes, catching on the raw edges. Now fold the canvas in half and then in half again – this determines the centre of the design as indicated on the chart. 2. You can either begin at or near this centre point, or measure 3in (7.5cm) in from the sides and begin at the edge of the chart. Fold the crewel wool in half and thread it through the needle, leaving the looped end longer than the cut end. Secure the first stitch by pulling the wool through the canvas from the back to the front, leaving the looped end hanging, then stitching the first diagonal of the cross stitch. Secure the wool by passing it through the loop at the back of the work. 3. Begin by cross stitching those parts of the design nearest to your starting place – in this case at the centre point – with the word "on". Trick! Use a permanent marker of a similar colour to your wool as a guide. Indicate the position of the stitches by marking a small dot in the cross point of each stitch. This can speed up the process of having to refer to the chart for each row. 4. To finish a thread, run your needle through the back of the completed stitches and do a loop the loop, returning a couple of stitches back but keeping the needle in the same direction. Trim the thread. 5. Continue to cross stitch the word "on" in flame red (F) before outlining the letters in white as indicated on the chart. Trick! These steps work in a logical progression, filling in the background after the lettering and design elements have been worked. You may prefer to work some of the background as you go, so it doesn't feel too monotonous at the end. 6. Work the shadowed outline of "Lean" and "me" in the brown groundlings colour, beginning with those letters nearest to your starting point (G). Continue stitching until all the letters are outlined (H). 7. Now you can begin to stitch a white keyline on the inside border of the shadowed letters before filling in the central portion with the two shades of blue. You can either do the keyline and filling one letter at a time or do the keyline for all the letters before blocking in the blues throughout (I). 8. Once you've finished stitching one letter, or perhaps all of them, you can start to work the golden brown and flame red colours of the horizontals in the letters (J) until all the letters are complete (K). 9. With the letters finished, fill the separate design elements – the arrows and the stars – and stitch the cushion's inner border (L). 10. First stitch the dividing lines of the rays before filling them in with the two different tones of yellow (M). Now you can finish the design by working the outer border in white (N). Turning it into a cushionA needlepoint cushion can be made in a variety of ways using different types of fastenings and trimming. Ideally, the cushion should be backed in a medium-weight furnishing fabric with a tight weave to prevent fraying. Pure cotton is ideal and easy to work with. You will need• your finished blocked needlepoint
• medium-weight cotton fabric for backing
• sewing thread to match your cushion
• sewing machine or sewing needle
• pins
• sharp general purpose scissors
• close-ended zipper (measure the depth of your needlework and opt for a zip of the same measurement)
• tape measure How to1. Trim your needlepoint design, leaving a seam allowance all around the finished piece of 5/8in (1.5cm). Your backing fabric will need to be cut in two halves. The depth of each half is the depth of your needlepoint plus the 1¼in (3cm) seam allowances. The width of each half is half the width of your needlepoint plus 1¼in (3cm) to allow for two seam allowances. 2. With the right sides together, pin what will be the centre point of your cushion backing. Stitch a 5/8in (1.5cm) seam 1¼in (3cm) long at the top and bottom edge of the fabric. Using long stitches, join the gap between the seams, stitching along the seam line. Open out the fabric and the seam allowances and press. (A) Trick! Many fabric cushions incorporate a zipper in one of the side seams. It can be better, however, to place the zipper at the back of your cushion in the centre. This is because your needlepoint will inevitably be a different weight, texture and thickness to your backing fabric and aligning both sides of the zip is tricky on different weights of fabric. Another reason for placing a zipper at the back is that, if you choose to machine stitch the zipper tapes in place, the process can ruin the look of your needlepoint. 3. Place the open zipper face down over the seam allowances at the back of your backing fabric. The top of the zipper teeth should lie just over the stitching and the zipper teeth should run along the length of your long stitches. Stitch the zipper tape through all layers using long stitches, keeping clear of the zipper teeth. Close the zipper and stitch the remaining tape in the same way (B). 4. Turn your backing fabric over and stitch using a zipper attachment on your sewing machine, or by hand, using prick stitch. Prick stitch is a form of back stitch, but rather than creating equal-sized stitches both above and below your work, when you bring your needle up, you catch only a very few strands of material with your needle and return below, leaving only a tiny stitch. Unpick the long stitches around the zipper tape and at the centre seam to expose your zipper (C). 5. With the right sides together, place your backing fabric over your needlepoint, matching the edges. If you're using a trimming, sandwich it between the layers, ensuring that the trimming tape will be hidden in the seam allowance and the decorative part will lie on the needlepoint. Machine or back stitch round the entire edge. If you're using a bulky trimming such as a pom-pom edging and are machine stitching, yo'll need to use a zipper foot – a regular machine foot won't be able to travel over the bulk of the trimming. 6. Trim the corners diagonally, staying away from the stitching, and turn your cushion inside out through the zipper opening. Press through a clean white cotton cloth using a steam iron on a wool setting (D). 7. If you want to pipe your cushion and are using a piping without attached binding, slip stitch the piping around the edge using invisible or matching coloured thread. And there you go, pardner. Now sit down, kick back and pour yourself a Jack Daniels. So long! • Adventures in Needlework by Jessica Aldred and Emily Peacock is published by GMC. Find Jessica at jessicaaldred.co.uk/ and Emily at emilypeacock.com/.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
{loadposition user38} source:
source: |
