The Secret Revealed

 I was reminded when I posted about the Camp Pants project that I owe you a post about that secret, pretty item I made for a friend.  Here it is.

I was asked if I could embroider a pelican for a friend's elevation to the peerage.  I was overwhelmed, to say the least, and hesitated to accept.  My embroidery is not that advanced, and I have no mastery of the split stitch, which is the most used stitch to fill in designs of this type.  But, I can applique, so once that was suggested I readily agreed.  My part of the whole project is contained on the blue material.

Material List (all linens from Fabrics-store.com):

- White of pelicans: IL019 Optic White Fs Signature Finish linen

- Brown Nest: IL019 Potting Soil Softened linen

- Blue Background: IC64 Strong Blue (a color that is sold out)

- Outline stitching of babies and nest, black on mama pelican: DMC cotton embroidery floss, 1-2 strands

- Gold thread: High quality thread gold thread from Japan (don't have the brand name at my fingertips)

- Glass beads

The goldwork was done using two different techniques.  The outline of mama pelican was couched using two strands of gold thread and her beak filled in with lines of four strands couched down.  For the definition of her plumage, I used one strand of gold in a double-running stitch (aka Holbein stitch).  I found out when I paneled the completed item that the double-running stitch is an unusual way to use gold thread, though not unheard of.  The gold thread had a tendency to kink up, so I can understand why it's not often used that way.

The embroidery on the babies and their nest was the stem stitch.  The drops of blood are actually two glass beads tacked down only at the top, so they shift with movement or hang in the direction gravity pulls them.

This was my first time doing gold work.  Having been awarded a competency rating for this, I suspect it is also the last time I work with it.  It's a bear to use!  I will also have to stock more tightly-woven material than the white linen I used for the pelicans.  The sharp details of the outline had a tendency to unravel, even with using fray-check on them.  I'm thinking a fine silk would be better.  Or a very light iron-on interfacing might do the job.  Having a larger color selection of silk embroidery thread on hand would also be a good idea.  Given the time-frame for the project, I didn't have opportunity to order higher-grade supplies, none of which can be found locally.

I'm thankful for being given the opportunity to work on this.

~ Marjorie