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    Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide: A Source Book of inspiration - The Best of Elegant Stitches & Floral Stitches
    Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide: A Source Book of inspiration - The Best of Elegant Stitches & Floral Stitches
    Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide: A Source Book of inspiration - The Best of Elegant Stitches & Floral Stitches
    Ebook384 pages1 hour

    Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide: A Source Book of inspiration - The Best of Elegant Stitches & Floral Stitches

    By Judith Baker Montano

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    About this ebook

    Globally recognized needlework expert and best-selling author Judith Baker Montano shares 180 stitches and 70 combinations. Full-color illustrations of embroidery, silk ribbon stitches, and crazy quilting combinations are featured.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherC&T Publishing, Inc.
    Release dateJan 1, 2016
    ISBN9781617450785
    Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide: A Source Book of inspiration - The Best of Elegant Stitches & Floral Stitches

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      Judith Baker Montano's Essential Stitch Guide - Judith Baker Montano

      friendship.

      Embroidery. The word conjures up so many memories for me: my grandmother finishing up yet another set of tea towels, one for each day of the week; the gift of a chain-stitch horse head, made by my daughter in her seventh grade home economics class; the silk ribbon flowers on my wedding dress still hanging in the closet; the silver crane worked in silk by a Japanese student, shyly handed to me in Tokyo, Japan; happily embroidering flowers on denim overalls for my granddaughter Kelse seventeen years ago and now for my youngest granddaughter, Paloma. All those wonderful memories are woven around embroidery.

      Thanks to the embroidery and quilting world, I have a wonderful career as a teacher, designer, and fiber artist. It has taken me around the world and opened so many doors. I’ve found that women and men from all walks of life enjoy needlework. I’ve seen students around the world come together to enjoy the common denominator of cloth, needle, and thread. I’ve taught classes where more than ten different languages were spoken and yet everyone understood the language of needlework. Whether you use embroidery to enhance the beauty of a fabric, to create an original work of art, or to simply relax from a busy work schedule, it is a technique that is here to stay—one that brings great satisfaction and pleasure.

      I could have used a good stitch book in the beginning because I really struggled with the stitches. I used the Coats & Clark pamphlet 100 Embroidery Stitches to learn the basic stitches, but because I am dyslexic it was very difficult to follow the instructions. That’s why years later I wrote the embroidery stitch books Elegant Stitches and Floral Stitches. Now I am combining them into one concise stitch dictionary. It is a basic reference book of categorized stitches that you can easily work in thread, yarn, or ribbon. I have included photographs, clear instructions, and precise diagrams.

      You will also find:

      •  Embroidery basics including needles, fabrics, and supplies

      •  Advice for left-handed stitchers

      •  Crazy-quilt stitch combinations

      •  Free-form embroidery stitches

      Embroidery is a very rewarding art. It will give you years of enjoyment, but like any hobby or craft, it takes practice and patience. Start with the proper tools and materials and get to know their uses.

      FABRICS

      Many fabric types will provide interesting and varied backgrounds that can enhance the needlework and not overshadow it. Add an extra 2˝ to the fabric measurement to aid in the handling and stretching of the fabric prior to stitching. Always test to make sure the base is sturdy enough to act as a background for your design.

      ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS WHEN CHOOSING A FABRIC:

      •  Is the fabric appropriate for the subject matter?

      •  How much wear and tear will it receive?

      •  Will the threads, yarn, or ribbon work up properly on the fabric selected?

      OVERLAYS

      Use sheer fabrics as overlays to create interesting and unusual effects for the background. By cutting or burning the pieces into unusual shapes, you can create a feeling of depth and shadow. By layering several sheer fabrics and letting the cut or burned shapes overlap in places, you can create light and dark areas for visual interest. A painted background may be muted with sheer overlays to create a hazy effect. I use this method to create underwater scenes.

      Always have a good variety of sheer fabrics on hand. Look for organza, netting, tulle, and batiste. Many of these fabrics now come in a wrinkled state and some have glitter.

      NEEDLES

      THREADS

      The choice of thread is always governed by your choice of fabric and the project in mind. Experiment with different threads and yarns to find what works best with various types of fabrics.

      TECHNIQUES

      Embroidery

      Think of the stitches you’ve learned over the years and choose those that will best support your floral design. Remember that your fabric is like a painter’s canvas, and you are the artist. Your threads and yarn are your paints. Use a selection of threads and yarns with a variety of widths and textures.

      Silk-Ribbon Embroidery

      Silk-ribbon embroidery uses traditional embroidery stitches that add dimension and texture. It is a marvelous medium for floral designs. The traditional width is 4mm, and you must use either a chenille or a tapestry needle to execute the stitches. Silk ribbon is wonderful to mix with other embroidery techniques.

      The secret to good ribbon embroidery is to keep the stitches loose but controlled. With some stitches it is very important to keep the ribbon flat. Silk-ribbon embroidery is dimensional and fast. Here are a few tips to make your stitching easy and successful.

      Threading the Ribbon: Remember, silk ribbon is delicate and will fray on the edges. Use a short length (12˝–16˝) and a needle with a larger eye.

      Needle Eye Lock: Thread the ribbon through the eye of the needle. Pierce one end of the ribbon (directly in the center and ¼˝ from the end) with the point of the needle. Pull the long end of the ribbon and lock it into the eye of the needle.

      Soft Knot: To make the needle eye lock, grasp the end of the ribbon and then form a circle with the end of the ribbon and the point of the needle (A). Pierce the bottom end of the ribbon with a short running stitch (B). Pull the needle and ribbon through the running stitch to form a soft knot.

      Ribbon Manipulation: Learn to use the ribbon properly. If it is pulled too tight or twisted too much, it will just look like a heavy thread. Keep the ribbon length short, as it is easier to manipulate. Use your free thumb to hold the ribbon flat against the fabric because most stitches depend on the ribbon being flat. Keep your thumb in place while you stitch and tighten the ribbon over the thumb. This will remove any twists. A large needle, toothpick, or knitting stitch holder can be used instead of your thumb.

      Adjusting the Ribbon: Sometimes the ribbon will fold up on itself as it passes through the fabric; then it has to be adjusted so the full width of the ribbon shows. Hold the ribbon flat under the free thumb and slide the needle under the ribbon. Then gently slide the needle back and forth, from the thumb to the needle hole in the fabric.

      Correct Needles: Use a chenille needle when piercing through fabric and a tapestry needle for wrapping or whipping. Tightly woven and heavier fabrics call for a larger needle eye. This helps to create a larger hole that enables the ribbon to pass through without distress.

      Punchneedle Embroidery

      Always use a tight, even-weave fabric for punchneedle embroidery, making sure the fabric is drum-tight in the hoop. The beauty of this technique is that the loops can be very long or short and can be sheared for a velour look. Punchneedle embroidery can be mixed with other techniques to create visual interest.

      Start out with a simple design and a medium needle that takes up to three strands of floss. Keep the fabric drum-tight in an embroidery hoop or else the stitches will not hold.

      Remember that the design is punched from the back, so the pattern must show on the back. The front design will be opposite of the back. Make sure the design is facing the proper direction!

      1. Closely examine the needle. On the pointed end, one side is open and cut at an angle. On the other end is a small eye. The open, slanted side must always face the same direction as you are stitching. The thread must come up at the top and through the eye. Hold the needle like a pencil. Relax your hand and do not hold it too tight. Make sure the thread coming out of the end of the handle is not obstructed.

      Threading up the punchneedle

      tips

      •  If you need to remove stitches, simply pull them out.

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