Crewel Wreath by Lucy Edmison from EGA’s Website for the Brandywine Chapter

December 3, 2023, 11:24 am
Filed under: Brandywine Chapter, Crewel Wreath by Lucy Edmison, Embroidery Guild of America

The Crewel Wreath by Lucy Edmison calls for Appleton wool, which appears to be the preferred wool for crewel. However, I don’t like Appleton wool. So, I went to my stash and found substitutes. I volunteered to stitch the EGA Petite Project for my Brandywine Chapter.

For the brown, I used Weeks Dye Works Crewl Collection, labeled Crewel Wool and Merino Wool (CW-1268 Molasses).

The green overdyed thread was identified by Therea A on Needlepoint Nation to be Needle Necessities Overdyed French wool, a discontinued thread line. But ThreadworX has photos of the threads online for informational purposes only. So, #34 is Utopian Green. The tag helped identify it.

I picked up white linen twill at Nimble Needle in NJ.

The gold trim Kreinik #16 Braid 017HL and unmarked red beads were also in my stash. I used a long enough strand of Kreinik to make the loop from the trim. Hopefully, that works with how I finish it!

There were 2 different pictures of the design on EGA’s website. One had a very round brown ring of chain stitches while the other had more of an intertwined look to it, which I tried to emulate. So, I made the ring of chain stitches as directed and then added the outshoots. I wrapped the chain and added a small French Knot to give some texture to the outshoots. It’s not like the photo but the instructions didn’t say what stitch was used. Oh well! Maybe I’ll try again when we have the program. I’ll have plenty of thread. It’s only a 2″ diameter.

Another finished ornament for 2023 and is ready for my EGA Brandywine Chapter Holiday party today. I have been getting a lot of practice this year. But I still need more. That hot glue is HOT, and I got a 1/2″ long but slender burn from it, which blistered up quickly. Put my left finger index finger right into the glue. Also, cut the gold thread for the hook accidentally. I should have thought that working on linen was like working with fabric, not canvas. I cut a tad too close to the edge (which you do with canvas), and Kelly Starke is correct in that you can’t hide those errors . . . at least not easily. I decided to go around the edge with 2 different cords to cover my issues. But, I also forgot to leave an opening to tuck the cording in. The glue works really well, but I managed. I am so glad I started with this ornament and not the Pomegranate Heart from EGA Seminar (because it’s on linen, not canvas).