Long and Short Project: All done!!!

Hello everyone:

I am back to share my completed project :) ta-da .....

The project was very fulfilling and relaxing. It took a little longer than I anticipated, but mostly because I could not devote much time to it in the last few months.

For this particular stem, I began the short and long stitch at the bottom and went all the way up. This makes for a very interesting finish because there is no split stitch at the bottom.

After I completed the long and short stitch on all the stems, I went back and added a few veins in a single strand of dark green thread using stem stitch.

That's all on this project. Thanks to everyone for all your wonderful comments during this project. In my next post, I will be getting back to Indian Embroidery, talking about Applique Work.

Till then,

Happy Embroidering.

Sukanya

Hello fellow bloggers and friends:

I am back to share my progress on the long and short project. Thank you all very much for those thoughtful comments and the patience!!

I am almost done with the project. And here it is.

As you can see I have about 10% of the work left before I can frame it.

Picking up from where we left off..., the first thing I did was complete the flower center in shades of yellow. It was quite simple and easy, being a small area. The stamen in French Knots was also surprisingly easy and super fast. I haven't used French knots before but it is quite easy to do.

The next part I worked on was the base of the stem in different shades of green. I divided this into three sections and outlined each section with split stitch. Next I drew guidelines, very lightly using a pencil to mark the direction of the long and short stitch. This is a very important step. It is also a good idea to draw them every time there is a change in the direction. I may have mentioned this before - I had to undo a petal completely because the direction of the stitches were wrong.
Lastly, I outlined the long stem and the turnover leaf to the right using split stitch. As you can see, I have just started working the long and short stitch on the long stem.

I am actually quite excited that I am almost at the end of the project. I hope to be done within a week. See you then!

Happy Embroidering!

Sukanya

It is been ages....

A Big Hello to All the Readers,

Hope everyone is doing well! Thanks for all the comments these last few months. It has indeed been a powerful motivator!!

I initially wanted to take some time off, put away my embroidery and spend the summer with my kids. But I really did not anticipate to be gone for so long!! :) I almost had to relearn the whole process of photo editing, uploading and so on...

Well, I made some progress on my long and short project. I finished all the pink petals of the Iris and moved on to the green Sepal. I also managed to outline the yellow Stamen. Here it is...

The yellow outline is done using split stitch and this stitch is always the one recommended for long and short stitch work.

Covering large areas is definitely easier than the smaller ones. I admit, the first petal was challenging but by the time I got to the last one, my confidence and speed were up!! :) For smaller areas like the greens (after some trials) I found that reducing the length of the long and short stitch produced a better finish. Yes, it seems very logical and obvious now, but it didn't occur to me then! :)

Here is another close up of the whole area. I am about 3/4 of the way into the project. Next, I am going to be working on the yellow Stamen. Part of it involves closely bunched up 'French knots'. I am looking forward to that!! :)

If you are thinking of a long and short stitch project, please take the time to choose the threads carefully. It does matter a lot. Alright then, I will post my progress again soon. It WONT be 6 months from now!! :)

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sukanya