Walls for the wind and a roof for the rain and drinks beside the fire ~
laughter to cheer you and those you love near you and all that your heart desires.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Buttonhole Blues...

So, I picked up my 17th Century Style sampler again, needing a break from the multiple color changes of greys and browns of the wolves, and remembered why I laid it aside in the first place. Buttonhole stitch. Usually I don`t mind it at all...once you get a rhythm going, it is fun and goes quickly, but this was a buttonhole variation. Unfortunately, I didn`t think to get a pic of what I had done before I cut it out, but i`ll try to describe the problem.

The stitch is done over 2, 3, 4, 5, then six threads, then you reverse the order and repeat the sequence, with the 'looped' end of the stitch forming a wavy edge. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the threads to lie smooth. Instead of the thread lying in nice straight lines, it always had a bit of a curve. I ripped and stitched it several times, and no matter how I adjusted my tension, it just looked messy. If you look closely at the pics that came with the pattern theirs also looks messy...the threads have the same curve, although mine was a little more pronounced.

So now I am staring at the sampler and wondering if I should try the buttonhole again, or just substitute a row of satin stitches in the same wavy pattern. I think i`ll go with the satin stitches. If something is wrong on my stitching, it seems to mock me every time I look at it, so I am thinking neat smooth satin stitches are the way to go. I will update with pics soon...keep stitching ladies!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi mj, I know what it's like when something just doesn't look right (plenty of French knots have been ripped by yours truly). By all means replace if you can't get it to look the way you want it to! Look forward to pictures.