Stitch Club: organic blanket stitch

Series: Stitch Club #4

Stitch Club from TextileArtist.org
Workshop: Organic structures using blanket stitch
Host: Mirjam Gielen Instagram
Aim: Create an organic embroidery using a combination of appliqué and blanket stitch.

Mirjam’s work pops up regularly in my Pinterest emails and, of course, I now follow her on Instagram. I find the way she stretches (literally) simple blanket stitch to create organic forms really interesting so, when I saw that she had a workshop in the Stitch Club library, it was high on my must-try list.

My starting point was the piece of velvet that I cut the central blob from; all the thread colours and the background fabric were chosen with that in mind.

I don’t know what it is about blanket stitch, but every time I always have to work out exactly how to start a new row of stitching. I’m fine once the first stitch is in place, but the structure of that first stitch is a mystery to me.

When it came to finishing off the design, I went beyond the limits of the workshop. I could have left the centre open, with just the satin stitch border, but I wanted to do something more. I had recently picked up a book on raised embroidery and wanted to try using some padding. I found some lightweight leather in my stash and some felt and created the dome in the middle. Of course, that left a gap between the leather and the satin stitch which had to be filled: there are an awful lot of French knots in that space…

I always find it interesting seeing the back of embroidery. I try to keep mine tidy, but I am not precious about avoiding knots, it really depends on my mood on the day. You can see that I stitched this on a double layer of fabric — the patterned cotton over a piece of calico. This has two benefits: it gives a firmer surface to stitch on that is less likely to pucker and, especially when stitching on a light-coloured fabric, it hides any threads that might otherwise show through from the back.

This also shows a simple way of mounting a piece in a hoop: position, make it taut, trim, and then fix with a running stitching using strong button thread or similar. On some pieces, I have then gone on to stitch a circle of felt over the back to create a really neat finish.