Phase 3: Cords, Grommets, and Tassels

I have an update! I haven't done a ton of work (I've been busy), but I have done something new!  During my JE lesson this last weekend, I started on the cords on the right side of my fan, which involved doing two new elements — the grommet and one of the tassels.

While these are new elements, most of the techniques were not new themselves. I started with the grommet because it was in the foreground of the cords and so had to be done first. The grommet on this fan is done the same way as all those swirling cords on my phase 2 piece, which I'll include here to refresh your memories:

Except in this case, I was using 10 strands of cotton padding (5 doubled) instead of 12. But as with the above cords, I twisted the cotton strands very tightly and couched the padding down closely:

I did taper slightly but very quickly on each end. Then I stitched over the padding in diagonal layer using a very dark teal:

I think it looks pretty nice. With that done, I could start the cords in the background. (The rest of the grommet is behind the cords and so will be done later.) I started with the center cord because it was in the foreground:

It didn't start off brilliantly, but I think I really got into a rhythm after the first inch or so, and it looks pretty even to me. I'm actually really happy with this one.

Then it was time for the second new element — the tassel. Tassels are stitched in horizontal layer, which is essentially satin stitch that is stitched perpendicular to the element. I started with nice even stitches across the top of the tassel:

But because the tassel curves, the stitches have to curve with it to remain perpendicular and to help demonstrate movement:

I think I did a pretty nice job on it. At the base of the tassel, I did some long and short stitches, which you can see better in this close up:

The reason for this is that the bottom of the tassel is a different color, and the long and short stitches will help blend the two colors together a bit more. For long and short stitching in JE, the stitches share a hole, rather than going somewhere down within the stitch. And for the shared hole, you should always go down into it on the second stitch, rather than coming up (which can disturb the first stich):

This was easy enough to do on the left side, but on the right, I needed to use a straight edge to figure out where to bring the needle up:

And then again, I took the needle down the shared hole:

Here are the long and short stitches completed:

After finishing those, I stitched from there to the top, again going down the shared hole where the ruffle met the main body of the tassel:

And then I finished the horizontal stitching on the bottom of the tassel. Here it is completed:

Not bad for my first tassel and my first real long and short stitching in JE (the first time I did it on my step 2 Midori piece, I did it the regular embroidery way, which isn't correct). I think it looks beautiful, and I'm really loving this color combination. Of course, the tassel itself isn't complete. This is just the foundation. I still have to add some superimposed lines and Japanese knots, but that is for another day!