Lisa at Mommy's Apron Strings recently posted about some absolutely beautiful cut work place mats she had acquired, so I thought I would share my own feeble attempts at this technique.This is a bib and booties set from a Wendy Schoen class at a SAGA convention. I have no idea when it was, but I do know it was within the last seven years. You can still get the kit from her website. It is made of linen, with a Madiera applique cut work piece sewn onto a double thickness of cotton made to (I think) withstand baby drool.
A closeup of the cut work and Madiera applique. I love doing point de Paris, or pinstitching for us Americans, by hand and will incorporate it into as many projects as I can. As you can see, the buttonhole scallops at the very tip are a bit uneven, to say the least, but I have been improving over time.
Aren't these booties precious? They even have buttonhole stitch button loops.
The back seam is sort of a felled stitch seam, with point de Paris on both sided of the seam. Looks great, doesn't it?
And here is the really pathetic part. This is from an old Inspirations magazine, one of those deceptively simple "Pocket Projects" that are supposed to be easy. Right. This doesn't really look that hard, but I had a lot of trouble with it. I used white linen from an old blouse with ecru floche. I probably should have used the regular cotton floss that the magazine recommended, as I had a terrible time with the floche getting pretty ragged. But since then I've learned to use a large No. 7 between when embroidering with floche, to leave a big enough hole for the floss to pass through without getting frayed from passing through the fabric. I'd like to make this again to show that I really can do better!
It's now Sunday evening, and the Disneyland fireworks have just finished up for the night. We get the boom without the sparkle. We will be going on vacation to visit children and grandchild, so I won't get too blog too much.
See you in September!
Cynthia, Your cutwork is beautiful. The bib is so pretty: definitely for drool only (not food). The booties are my favorites, though! I have seen antique ones like that and I'm always amazed that ladies in those days had time to make such elaborate baby things. It's funny how we inspire each other. I posted the placemats after reading about fil tire on Janice Ferguson's blog!! Have a great trip and enjoy the Grands!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work! Those booties are just so special.
ReplyDeleteCynthia,I wouldn't say you cutwork is pathetic. Don't be so hard on yourself. We all think everything turned out wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI think the bib and shoes are beautiful and the embroidery is excellent. I even like the inspirations project but can understand how you feel about it when it was such a chore to complete. I have a few projects like that too LOL. Enjoy your break with the family.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how many times
ReplyDeletei have looked at this and just yearned to touch that bib and those booties. They are just beautiful.