Goldwork WIP - pearl purl stems

Since the whole idea of my self-imposed 'Goldwork Week Challenge' was to stitch every day, posting every day proved a bit too much but if you follow me on facebook you will have seen what I have been up to.

 

Day 2 was spent filling the flower centres with pairs of fine imitation Jap (T70). Instead of using matching thread, I used a fine dark red silk for a bit of colour.
One of the challenges when embroidering symmetrical designs is to get the elements to be as identical as possible. I have found that if you do one bit one day and the other the next or a few days later - it is almost impossible to get them the same. I am much more likely to get a good result if I do both (or all) at the same time. 


End of day 2 and it is slowly starting to take shape.

Day 3 turned out to be all about pearls. Not beautiful ones that grow in oysters, but metal pearl purls. These threads, or wires, are fabulous. Super rigid, they are perfect for outlines and creating firm definitions of shapes.




I used a fine pearl purl to outline the petals finishing each off with a tiny gold bead at the tip.

One of the really fun that I love to do with pearl purl is to pull the coils open by pulling it fairly hard (to about double the cut length) and then wrap coloured silk into the wire.

 

When you stitch it down with the same colour silk, the result is this fabulous, candy striped wire.


At the end of day 3, it looked and felt like I was getting somewhere...

Day 4 - today...
... it just did not happen at all. I had a few little things to do this morning... one thing led to another, then I had to go 'down the street' (which from where we live is the minimum of an hour round trip) and now it is late. I don't like working with metal threads at night. The glare of the artificial light is too hard on my eyes. The good thing is....

... there is always tomorrow.

Happy stitching
Anna x


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