I actually finished the stitching the rectangular design in Variations of a Florentine Design by Pat Mazu over the 5 days of the ANG Cyberpointers chapter meeting. Fun project.
The reddish, round, seed beads were the best match from my stash. Not sure what brand or size they are. They look like the same size as the Miyuki Japanese Seed Beed 10/0 Delica pictured next to it. Pat’s design called for 3 Delica beads to be strung together. They are more tubular (left bead in photo) than the round seed bead (right bead in photo).
I didn’t care for how 3 of the rounded ones lined up. The middle one looked like it was being pushed up. So, I modified the left and right side motifs by using fewer beads and more Kreinik. My neutral thread color didn’t work well and so I used the darker Marigold. I’m very happy with how it turned out.
Big thanks to Pat for sharing her designs. Dare I try finishing this? She certainly provides all the necessary instructions. And, she’ll answer any questions.
Thanks to two of my ANG Main Line Stitchers chapter members, Debra and Linda, I have quite a stash of Pearsall’s Silk embroidery thread. Since it has has been discontinued, I’ll use it for other people’s designs when I want to use my own colorway. And, that opportunity arrived with Variations of a Florentine by Pat Mazu which is this month’s program for the ANG Cyberpointers chapter.
Pat is providing 2 booklets (pdf downloads), one with the design which can be made into 4 different options and the detailed instructions for finishing them. And, at no charge! She provides 35 pages including an extensive bibliography mainly on bargello for the designs and 47 pages also with an extensive bibliography for finishing. Very generous of Pat to share her experience with ANG Cyberpointers’ members.
I’m working on the design in a rectangular shape which will be for a travel eyeglass case. I have a leather tooled case that my grandmother made and I don’t like taking it out of the house in case I were to lose it. Isn’t this lovely!
I’ve got 2 colors and a neutral: Marigold, Sage Green, and Olive Brown, respectively. I had 5 shades of Marigold to choose from. The lightest one was too close to the Olive Brown when stitched. It looked like more contrast when they were in the bags. Pearsall’s is a very pretty silk but a little difficult to handle. It catches easily and is difficult to lay. Mary Corbet describes it as “bumpy”. Is this what people use thread conditioners for? An internet search revealed they are beeswax mainly. I don’t think I want to try that. Using shorter lengths and ironing the threads are helping. Dampening the threads very slightly was also suggested and is helping some too.
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