Last night, I finally achieved victory — I completed my first goldwork project! Oh, the satisfaction. I was so pleased to have finished it. But before I show you the finished work, I'll describe the final steps.
The first thing was adding the passing thread details to the top of the tulip:
I did a pair of passing threads on the two little curlicues and a single line on the three stitches above them. I couched down the curlicues as though they were Jap threads. The instructions said to just do straight stitches for the three lines, but I ended up couching them down in two or three places each because they didn't want to stay put properly.
This may be because I decided not to end the passing thread between them. I couldn't bear the thought of securing two threads on each of those tiny little lines. So I just didn't. Passing thread is more flexible and forgiving than Jap, so I plunged it down and then plunged it right back up for the next stitch. I'm sure that's wrong, and that's probably what caused it to pull away slightly from where it was supposed to be, but my little couching stitches pulled it back into place so it covered up the pattern line, and I didn't have to secure so many ends. It's just so tricky to do without accidentally showing through the silk.
Next, I moved on to the lovely, long curlicue on the lower right side:
Again, I laid down a pair of passing threads that I started by folding the thread in half and stitching down the bend so that I didn't have to plunge and secure those ends. (Can you tell how much I hate securing ends?) I really like this passing thread in this context. It's more delicate than Jap, bends more easily, and looks really pretty as a dainty detail. It offers a nice contrast to the heavier, more solid Jap.
The last step was adding the beads! Three little beads just at the top of the tulip for a glittery finish:
They added a nice subtle sparkle, and that was the last element I had to add! But one more picture before the big reveal. This is the back of the piece:
I think it's always helpful to show the back of a piece — not because I think the backs always have to be supremely tidy or anything (though I do prefer a nice tidy back), but because sometimes it helps people to see how things were finished off.
To start a line of thread, I mostly do waste knots and two or three holding stitches before I cut off the waste not. To finish a thread, I also like to do a few holding stitches in an area that will eventually be covered up. But sometimes that isn't possible — especially as you get to the end of a project, when things are mostly finished already. In those cases, I generally try to weave the thread underneath other stitches on the back, but if I have any concerns about anything coming loose, I'm not above tying a very tiny knot or two, half-hidden in between other stitches on the back. I did that a few times here, especially with the bright check and the beads, as I don't want any of those coming loose.
Once that was done, everything was really complete. Here it is, in all its glory:
I photographed this with a lamp on so you could see the true color. This is how sparkly it looks in person. It's just beautiful, all that glitter and shine. I'm already very much in love. It's still attached to the frame right now:
I need to remove it from the frame, cut off the extra muslin, mount it, and frame it. But that will probably have to wait for this weekend. And the actual framing may wait even longer than that. We'll have to see what my motivation level is this weekend. :)
Now that this project is done, I have another goldwork kit that I could start, but I think I may go back to my whitework sampler and lace bookmarks. I've taken a bit of a hiatus from them in order to focus on this project, so I think they deserve a little attention. I also may want to design my own goldwork project. I've just ordered some lovely silver and other vibrantly colored goldwork materials from England, and I'm dying to create some lovely design of my own and make something fabulous with them, most likely with the addition of silk threads, too!
I am also thrilled to finally be taking a little time off work — my first real vacation in a good long while. Some of that time will be getting away from the Phoenix heat and heading up to an Airbnb in northern Arizona with my siblings to celebrate my birthday and relax in the cool mountain air (a good 30 degrees cooler!). But I also hope to spend some time doing embroidery projects over the next week and a half. The thought of ten whole days to do whatever I please is wildly intoxicating.
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