Melitastitches4fun's Blog


Shading with Crewel Stitches by Judy Jerow

Back in May, I went to the EGA Mid-Atlantic Regional Spring meeting held in Wilkes-Barre, PA. I went up because the Take Home a Project (THaP) class was Stitching with Crewel Stitches with Judy Jerow, an expert in Crewel.

There really are 3 different greens, purples, and yellows Appleton wools but they are so close, the shading isn’t as evident as I expected. I had greens: 355, 354, 352; first 2 too close; purples: 103, 104, 105; first 2 too close (differences showed up the least of the 3 colors, probably because they are darker threads); yellows: 471, 472, 474; first 2 too close.

The stitching is done but this will not get “finished”. Nothing really wrong with it but can’t hang everything. I never came to like Appleton wool as I continued to stitch with it. Maintaining the twist is constantly required, it’s a hairy thread which looks messy to me, and the feel is rough. I was threading the correct end. More crewel work is not in my future. I’m also not comfortable working on a hoop – it feels awkward which would probably pass if I used it more often. Working on Twill Linen wasn’t easy because I pulled too hard (maybe?) which makes it pucker (I can flatten it in the hoop). Again, something that might not happen with practice.

I do want to use the Burden stitch and love her French Knots. The Raised Outline and Stem make great leaves. These stitches could all be done with different threads and on a different ground. It’s always fun to learn something new from a project and teacher. I throughly enjoyed Judy and her class.


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brendasneedlepointstudioblog's avatar

Don’t blame you for not loving crewelwork. I feel the same way. But your stitching is beautiful and it’s a very pretty design.

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melitastitches4fun's avatar

We can’t like everything. Thanks! If I had time, I’d repeat it in different threads.

Comment by melitastitches4fun

Tina Comroe, MvRY's avatar

I also took her class, She came to our chapter and taught in person. She was lovely to learn from.

Comment by Tina Comroe, MvRY




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