Embroidery Sampler: Block #9

Welcome back to our weekly Embroidery block to accompany our Stitchery Sampler Sew Along. If you would like info on previous blocks, our supplies or general start and embroidery info, scroll back to the previous embroidery posts. The easiest way to do that is to search the word “embroidery” in our search box.

CLICK HERE to download our free embroidery sheet that you can transfer to the fabric of your choice.

THE DASH BLOCK

Sophie and I experimented with a few stitches for this week.  We looked at doing a simple running stitch, making our stitches bigger with a fill stitch, and finally settled on the chain stitch.  Using a full six strands of floss we stitched in groups of three or four stitches to get the varying lengths of the dashes.  

A close second choice for us was a satin stitch.  On our practice sampler, Sophie and I stitched out a few “dashes” but Sophie had problems keeping her stitches even and quickly became frustrated.  We tried outlining our stitches, and they looked more uniform, but I could tell it was not going to be a fun Saturday morning sewing session if we continued on that path. 

A few things I have learned with sewing with a young teen would be

• Provide them with good materials.  We are sharing Weeks floss, but she gets to pick which hoop she uses, we always use fresh needles, and she always uses fresh cuts of thread (where I might use leftovers from previous weeks).  When you use good tools, your results are often better, and you are more motivated to finish your project.
• Sew in short doses.  We sew for about an hour once a week.  That is the perfect amount of time for us to watch a few You-Tube videos on a stitch, spend some time chatting, finish our stitches and not let her get bored.
• If it is frustrating, stop, reassess and pick a new stitch. No one will ever know you had planned to do one stitch and did a second.  The Lattice Stitch is a prime example.  We had planned to do another stitch, but Sophie gave up after about 10 minutes.  We regrouped, picked something new, and the Lattice Stitch from week 7 is one of my favorite stitches!

We are having so much fun doing this each week!

Here is a good video for this stitch:

Chain Stitch Video Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP3q3H5bnf8

Guide of Stitches So Far:

Week 1: Back Stitch with 3 strands and French Knots

Sashing: Stem Stitch with 3 strands

Week 2: Granitos with 3 strands

Week 3: Herringbone Stitch with either 6 or 4 strands [see above]

Week 4: Lazy Daisy Stitch and French Knots with 3 strands

Week 5: Colonial Knot [or French Knot] with 4 strands

Week 6: Chain Stitch with Lazy Daisy with 4 strands

Week 7: Lattice Fill Stitch with 4 or 6 strands

Week 8: Fly Stitch with 4 strands

Week 9: Chain Stitch with all 6 strands

HERE ARE SOME GREAT VIDEO RESOURCES FOR PREVIOUS STITCHES:

Granitos Stitch: Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=128&v=Cysb2KK29dA&feature=youtu.be

Back Stitch… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ_wVC84UmM&feature=emb_title

Stem Stitch… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TebgWq9AqyY&feature=emb_logo

French Knots… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1Cq24d5-8s&feature=emb_logo

Herringbone Stitch… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JyFBXtsO34&t=4s

Lazy Daisy (petal formation)... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmYvBZhUkrI

Lazy Daisy (for connecting the petals)… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pYtAKpRlTM&t=8s

Chain Stitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP3q3H5bnf8

Each week we will share what stitches we have chosen and show you our progress and Sophie’s too!

Stitching samples and photos by Susan Vaughan.