Doing something new takes longer when you’re a beginner. Everything seems more difficult. It’s frustrating, confusing and you’re unsure if you’re doing it right or not.
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Here’s the progress so far on my first embroidery piece incorporating gold work. So, how did it go?
It was challegning. The pearl purl #1 is so small I can’t see it without loads of light, my new reading glasses and some imagination. I’m either going to get magnifying glasses or wrinkles! I like the pearl purl thread and love how it looks next to the silk. Couching it on went quite well. Bringing the couching thread up from the back and over the stretched pearl purl was pretty easy and the couching thread lay nicely in the little trough.
The Japan thread is another matter all together. After using it for about two hours I feel as if I never want to use it again. What am I doing wrong? I cut it into lengths and couched it down, alternating the couching thread to form a kind of brink pattern. So far so good. When it came time to plunge the Japan thread to the back, I use a large crewel needle to pull the Japan thread through to the back. This is recommended in the A-Z of Goldwork with Silk Embroidery.
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It worked pretty well. But then I noticed that the gold was stripped off the silk in some places, leaving gaping white threads in the middle of my beautiful gold couched thread. So I pulled it out and started again. It went better the second time but I’m still not thrilled with the results.
I also noticed, now that the gold pearl purl is on, that there are parts of the silk design that aren’t symmetrical. I’m going to do my best to fix that but I may have to live with it.
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The gold pearl purl looks beautiful and the effort pays off in gorgeous results. I don’t want to give up using Japan thread; it’s affordable for one thing! However, the results are less than stunning. Does anyone have any tips for working with the Japan thread? Is it just a matter of practice and experience? Help!
