Silk Embroidered Heart Sachet Progress

This past weekend I have managed to make a bit of progress on the Silk Embroidered Hear Sachet. First of all, I stitched the bias rose colored silk heart to the background using Point de Paris, or pin stitch. I love using this stitch as it adds a lovely old fashioned pulled thread look to the piece. I used as #7 between for the pin stitch, but you can also use a #28 tapestry needle. Then I added a chain stitched heart outline around the bias heart, then interlaced the outside of the chain stitch with gold thread. The silk floss for the chain stitched heart is the same as the darker floss in the Smocked Hanger Cover, Soie d'alger 4622.

The gold thread is DMC Metallic Thread, Light Gold. I have found it is best to use fairly short threads to keep it from getting kinked, separated, and otherwise pretty miserable. The needle I used is a #28 gold tapestry needle. This is the first time I have used a gold needle, and it's pretty darn nice! I'll have to get more if I ever do any more cross stitch, which I know I will as I have a few projects lined up. In the picture above you can see how the gold thread is a bit lumpy and skewed in a couple of sections on the right, so I ended up taking it out and redoing it. I've found that if something like that bothers me, I had better rework it, as it will most definitely not get any better looking over time.

After the chain stitched heart was completely interlaced with gold, I figured I had better get rid of the blue washout pen, so after outlining the seam line with machine sewing thread, I rinsed the piece in water, patted it with a towel to get the moisture out, and let it dry for a few hours. Luckily, the weather has been so dry here with relative humidity in the 20-30% range, that the fabric dried fairly quickly. 

If you look very closely on the right hand side of the bias heart you will notice that is where I joined the beginning and end of the rose silk. To disguise this I added a stem stitch stem to artfully drape over the seam. There will be a big bullion rose in the center of the heart, with buds at the ends of the stems and leaves interspersed here and there.

I am still thinking about what to put between the chain stitched heart and the seam line. Definitely some beads, but not sure what else. This is a project that I am designing from scratch, and it is very painful for me. I am a follower of patterns and a buyer of kits. Designing does not come easy, but I am forcing myself to try.

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day with their special Valentine. We certainly did.

Now for a Severe Weather Warning in Southern California:
PATCHY LIGHT RAIN IS EXPECTED TODAY AND THE LIGHT RAIN WILL EXPAND TONIGHT.

Isn't that great?