Jennie's Threads

Back at the start of the year I came across #1yearofstitches on Instagram and Facebook. The idea was that you stitched every day for a year. The rules were pretty loose - onestitch, one type of stitch, any project, anything goes. I love embroidery, and last year I started expanding my repertoire of stitches, so I jumped on board with the aim of further extending my abilities.      I set up a hoop, with a random white-ish solid, backed with my trusty interfacing (I use a lightweight woven fusible interfacing behind all of my embroidery which stabilises the fabric and prevents puckers - it's called SF101). Each day from January to June, I added a stitch: by that I mean that I added a type of stitch and did as much of that stitch as I wanted to. So one day I did a row of chain stitch, the next day, I added a row of blanket stitch, the next day I did a bullion knot wheel and so on. I repeated stitches. I fell in love with chain stitch, so my hoop contains a fair ...

Another week and I am becoming more and more certain that this will be a 6-month hoop. The space is filling up, and I think I'm ready to move on. So I'm now working on "finishing" it - that may mean it becomes a six-months-and-two-weeks project, but I want to enjoy looking at the hoop once it's done, and not regret not"finishing" it. This week I started filling the gaps. Monday 5th June: Butterfly chain stitch in yellow and orange at the bottom of the hoop. This was my second time using this stitch and I really like it! Tuesday, 6th June: zig-zag chain stitch in dark pink, just above the butterfly chain. I found I had to add in some extra stitches to preserve the shape of the zig zag. Wednesday, 7th June: Scroll stitch was a new one for me - in aqua, just below the butterfly chain. Thursday, 8th June: Another new stitch was plaited fly stitch - this filled up the bottom box nicely. Friday, 9th June: So I moved onto the box on the far right. ...

The weeks just seem to fly by, don't they. And I'm starting to think that my hoop may not last the year - will this be a six-month hoop? I'll let you know in a couple of weeks... Monday, 29th May: Blue twisted chain stitch - just a short line towards the bottom of the hoop. Tuesday, 30th May: Tacked Herringbone stitch. This was a new stitch for me and I love it. I started with herringbone stitch in orange, then at each intersection I used yellow thread to do two small tacking stitches in the form of a cross. the end result was fab! It's on the far right of the hoop. Wednesday, 31st May: Another new stitch: butterfly chain stitch. I did this with dark purple for the "wings" - that is the straight stitches, and then added a pinkier, lighter purple for the wrapping - it's right at the top of the hoop. Thursday, 1st June: And another new stitch: laid work tacked with cross stitch. Using long stitch I laid out a simple grid, then at each intersectio...

Here she is at the end of another week. Monday, 22nd May: Guilloche stitch in aqua on the left of the hoop running horizontally. Tuesday, 23rd May: A new stitch tonight, woven cross stitch in pink, a row of four on the left of the hoop. Wednesday, 24th May: Algerian stitch in green - close to the centre, this was another new stitch. Thursday, 25th May: twisted chain stitch in pink, near the top of the hoop. Friday, 26th May: another new addition: L'Abeille stitch - the blue triangle near the top of the hoop. Saturday, 27th May: a single double cross stitch in burnt orange - can you spot it? Sunday, 28th May: I unpicked the green heart around the two flowers at the top of the hoop and replaced it with a back-stitch box, and now I'm much happier! #1yearofstitches # embroidery # jenniesthreads1yearofstitches

I'm getting later and later in the week with these posts, aren't I! Well here is the hoop as of Sunday evening. We're 20 weeks in and the hoop has 51 different stitches on it! Some very successful, some less so! Monday, 15th May 2017: my 50th stitch tonight was Rhodes stitch - the pink square right in the middle. Tuesday, 16th May 2017: For my 51st stitch I added double cross stitch, which is also known as Smyrna stitch in lime green on the right hand side of the hoop. Wednesday, 17th May 2017: I attacked the laced arrow head stitch I did way back in march tonight. I've never liked the colour combination of green and pink - it just looked brown from a distance, so I unpicked the pink and replaced it with yellow and it's lifted the whole bottom left section of the hoop. Thursday, 18th May 2017: Four little orange cross stitches in a vertical line at the top of the hoop. Friday, 19th May 2017: I returned to the whipped back stitch tonight for another back...

I had an idea about my hoop this week. And I decided to run with it. I think it's totally changed the look of the hoop and I'm really pleased with this new direction. Monday, 15th May: I realised last week, that I hadn't actually used running stitch anywhere in the hoop. So I did. Red running stitch! Tuesday, 16th May: Pink whipped backstitch - this was the start of the change. I added whipped backstitch in pink in the corner near the blue whipped back stitch - just to the right of the three yellow satin stitch boxes. Wednesday, 17th May: And this was the day I saw the way forward - I continued the whipped back stitch to create a box in pink on the left of the hoop. Thursday, 18th May: I continued the theme and took the existing blue whipped stitch and carried it round into another box, weaving under existing stitches. When I got to the line of existing chain stitch, I threaded it with the same navy I had used for the whipping. You can barely see it, but it ties...

I experienced a bit of a creative block with my hoop this week, but still added something every day, including a few new stitches. I'm hoping inspiration will strike again soon. Monday, 1st May: Yellow stem stitch to outline the inside of the circle with the two hearts in the centre of the hoop. Tuesday, 2nd May: A new stitch tonight over on the left of the hoop: barb stitch. This is basicially two rows of blanket stitch, back to back and lined up, then whipped. I really like the effect. I used light blue for the blanket stitch and dark blue for the whipping. Wednesday, 3rd May: Another new one: La Mouche stitch. This is the pink triangle you can find towards the top right of the hoop. My hoop sadly lacks areas that need a stitch this shape but I'm on the look out for more opportunities! Thursday, 4th May: Lime green chain stitch to create a heart shape around the two flowers at the top of the hoop. I don't know that I like it. I reserve the right to unpick it. ...

Another week - the year is flying by! Monday, 24th April: Peach French knots in the arrow head stitch at the top of the hoop. Tuesday, 25th April: Lavender bullion knots in a ring to create the first of two flower at the top left of the hoop. Wednesday, 26th April: Pink pistil stitch in between the bullion knots. Thursday, 27th April: Aqua French knots in the centre of the flower. Friday, 28th April: Yellow pistil stitch to create a second flower in the top left. Saturday, 29th April: Peach long-arm lazy daisy stitch - this was a new stitch, and I really like it. But it doesn't show up very well where I did it, so I think I'll be using it again somewhere. Sunday, 30th April: Orange French knots in the centre of the second flower. The photo at the top has a couple of extra days, as the photo I was going to share was a night-time one and very dark, so I rephotographed it today. #1yearofstitches #jenniesthreads1yearofstitches

Here she is - this actually includes an extra day's sewing because I forgot to take a full picture on Sunday night - whoops! Monday, 17th April:Satin stitch in blue to create vertical stripes on the right hand side of the hoop. Tuesday, 18th April: I enjoyed the affect of the stripes so much, I did some horizontal stripes in lime green satin stitch on the left hand side of the hoop (and now much prefer this section of the hoop!). Wednesday 19th April: Running stitch in dark green in between the green stripes. Thursday, 20th April: Jessica's birthday, so I added a second heart, in pink, in the centre of the hoop. Friday, 21st April: I struggled with what to do tonight, so added a line of back stitch in pink on the far left of the hoop. Saturday, 22nd April: Blue chain stitch right across the top of the hoop - I'm not sure it looks great, so will require some more attention in the coming weeks! Sunday, 23rd April:Arrow head stitch in orange, which some yellow...

Here's my little hoops after 15 weeks - that's over 100 days now! Monday, 10th April: Twisted chain stitch in lavendar from the bullion knot wheel on the left over the top to the whirl in the top right corner. I went as far as the length of thread would take me! Tuesday, 11th April: A new stitch from TAST ( Take A stitch Tuesday over at Pintangle ): double whipped chain stitch. I really like this one: my favourite chain stitch but bolder and pretty. I did this row on the left in yellow and orange. Wednesday, 12th April: Purple satin stitch to infill the middle loop on the right of the hoop. Thursday, 13th April: I took a line of orange chain stitch up the right hand side and created another curve in the top right with it. Friday, 14th April - Good Friday: Double whipped chain stitch in green and bluey-green under the Guilloche stitch in the top right. I'm very pleased with how this combination turned out. Saturday, 15th April: Purple stem stitch beneath ye...

I think this brings me to nearly 100 days of embroidery! Monday, 3rd April: a new stitch today: Moss stitch in deep pinky red, right at the top of the hoop. Tuesday, 4th April: and another new stitch - whipped back stitch. I stitched the backstitch in navy and then laced it with sky blue. I created a corner around the cloud filler in the centre of the hoop. Wednesday, 5th April: Blanket stitch in aqua, continuing from the line I did ages ago and taking it up round the swirl in the top right of the hoop. Thursday, 6th April: I added some green blanket titch to the middle loop on the right hand side. Friday, 7th April: some blue chain stitch to the same loop. Saturday, 8th April: a row of aqua chain stitch around the Basque stitch wheel in the bottom left of the hoop. Sunday, 9th April: Twisted chain stitch in pink up and around the loop in the top right. This week's two new stitches brings me to 42 different stitches used within the hoop - I was ...

I'm a little bit late this week - I love how the only thing that children willingly share is tummy bugs! But we're now 13 weeks into this little project: a quarter of the way through the year. And this is how my hoop looks. I'm still not sure if it will last the year, but I still have a way to go yet. So far I've sewn every day, or on a couple of occasions, sewn ahead, so that I have a stitch for every day. I've used 40 different embroidery stitches, which is more than I expected! Monday, 27th March: satin stitch in aqua to fill in round the Bullion knot wheel, near the centre. Tuesday, 28th March: chain stitch in blue to echo the wibble at the bottom of the hoop. Wednesday, 29th March: Cretan stitch in yellow at the bottom. Thursday, 30th March: Lazy daisy stitch in green to embellish the Cretan stitch. Friday, 31st March: French knots in pink to finish up the embellishment of the Cretan stitch. Saturday, 1st April: pink French knots in the cloud ...

Another week gone. We spent a lovely weekend in The Lake District, last weekend and I stitched up some Chevron stitch and embellished it - vaguely reminiscent of the mountains.... Monday, 20th March: Blanket stitch in purple and pink to carry the line from the bottom over to the left of the hoop. Tuesday, 21st March: Some bright green French knots filling in yesterday's blanket stitch. Wednesday, 22nd March: A few more yellow French knots in the centre of the hoop to continue the line I had already started. Thursday, 23rd March: A new stitch today: I added pink pistil stitch to the Basque stitch flower - I think we'll be seeing more of this stitch! Friday, 24th March:Chevron stitch in blue in the bottom right corner. I've technically done two rows to create the diamond shapes. I also unpicked the narrow rope stitch and re-did it so it's now less wonky. Saturday, 25th March: Aqua bullion knots in the centre of the diamonds created by the chevron stitch. ...

It's amazing to believe we're already 11 weeks in and I'm still happily stitching away a little bit each day! After last week's light-bulb moment, I've enjoyed myself this week, building on that idea and trying out some new stitches! Monday. 13th March: Basque Stitch: the first of the new stitches. I used a blue thread to create a Basque stitch wheel (bottom left). Tuesday, 14th March: Aqua twisted chain stitch: I extended the line across the top of the hoop, under the line of double blanket stitch and swirled it round. It took me a couple of goes to get the swirl right... Wednesday 15th March: Guilloche Stitch: another new stitch. This one is quite involved. It starts with two rows of evenly spaced stem stitch (in coral). You then add columns of satin stitch at regular intervals between the two lines. I actually used running stitch to create the same effect - 5 stitches in each column. The final act is to weave a contrasting thread through the columns...

Another week and I have to confess I was struggling with where to go next. Until yesterday evening, when my mother-in-law had a look at the hoop and made a suggestion. And now I can see so many possibilities! Monday. 6th March: just a simple line of lime green backstitch heading out west. Tuesday, 7th March: I totally stole this idea from @tumpeduck o check her out on Instagram) - half a button-hole wheel in orange. I think it looks a bit like the setting sun... Wednesday, 8th March: A few dark red cross stitches right in the centre. Thursday, 9th March: My own little constellation: a star and some French knots in yellow in the middle. Friday, 10th March: I tried a new stitch - narrow rope stitch in coral. I don't think I'm a fan. It's a variation on chain stitch but it loses definition. It lies horizontally on the far right. Saturday, 11th March: Twisted chain stitch in purple/pink running vertically down towards the bottom of the hoop. Sunday, 12th March...

Monday, 27th February: pink back-stitch framing the cross-stitch and French knot border. Simple but effective. Tuesday, 28th February: I got fed up of the lines of chain stitch on the right hand side just finishing. So I picked out the same thread colour and extended two of the pink lines into loops. My new stitch for the evening was some pink blanket stitch in the loop below them. Wednesday, 1st March: Boucle' Stitch: this one is totally new to me but was this weeks TAST stitch: this is weekly stitch challenge (Take a Stitch Tuesday) from the Pintangle website - which is a great stitch resource. The stitch is meant to be worked on counted-thread - so evenweave or aida or canvas... I worked it very carefully, keeping the stitches even and managed to do a small section in yellow towards the bottom of my hoop. Although it looks a right fine mess in my photos, I think that's because of the colour I used. On close inspection, it does look like the example. I'm not sure...

We fell back in love this week. Partly because I changed my approach. Instead of adding more and move curved lines echoing the one's I'd done before, I bravely stitched into the virgin edges of the hoop. And I love how just one line of stitching can open up so many possibilities. Here she is at the end of week 8. Monday, 20th February: Laced Arrow Head stitch (bottom right) in green and laced with pink (which it turns out just makes it look brown). Tuesday, 21st February: Straights stitch in green around that swirl that I wasn't loving. It became blanket stitch as I emerged from the swirl, but this is the one piece of stitching from this week that I'm not happy with and I may go back and redo it. Wednesday, 22nd February: Feathered chain stitch in blue (far right). Thursday, 23rd February: Heart in blue using a variation on lazy daisy stitch. I didn't have much time on Thursday so I moved forward what I had planned to do on the 24th. This heart is for M...

This week was harder. I spent a lot of time staring at the hoop, not sure where to go next. And if I'm honest I'm not sold on some of the work I did. But I'm not going to unpic it. Not yet anywhere. I'm going to leave that section for a bit and work somewhere else until inspiration strikes! Monday, 13th February: Stem stitch in orange on the left hand section Tuesday, 14th February: A new stitch: Portuguese Stem Stitch. It's similar to regular stem stitch but you add a knot of sorts. I did two-thirds of this line before I realised I was doing it wrong and that's why it looked a little uneven. I decided not to unpick. I will definitely be revisiting this stitch! Wednesday, 15th February: green chain stitch on the left. Thursday, 16th February: dark red stem stitch to outline the area around the button hole wheel on the left. Friday, 17th February: more Portuguese stem stitch, this time in blue. It's this particular addition that is currently b...

Another week, more stitches, still in love with this project, though increasingly crippled by indecision at the moment! Monday 6th February: yellow stem stitch to create the swirl bottom right Tuesday 7th February:orange palestrina stitch to improve the swirl bottom right. Wednesday 8th February: pink chain stitch - still trying to improve the swirl. Thursday 9th February: round blanket stitch on the far left in aqua. Friday 10th February: Laced Persian Star Stitch - the square-ish aqua/blue thing in the middle. I quite like it, but I need some practice. Saturday 11th February: Gold stem stitch to surround the Persian star - with a little loop! Sunday 12th February: Yellow chain stitch on the far left to start developing that area, as I can't decide how to continue in the centre.

Still in love with this project... a big change this week was my hoop size. I started with a 6" hoop and realised I was filling it too fast, so I moved up to an 8" hoop this week. I can't go any bigger as that's the limit of the fabric I cut, but it's given me loads more room to play with Monday, 30th January: Some moer Palestrina Stitch. This time I used a slightly paler green thread to further divide the space around the bullion knot wheel. It's hard to see the difference in green in the photo from the big Palestrina swirl I did last week. Tuesday, 31st January: Dark purple backstitch, just to highlight the space near the centre. I had originally planned to fill the entire space with dark purple back stitch, but after going round once, I think that would be too heavy, so I need to rethink my plan for that area. Wednesday, 1st February: Pale green backstitch infill. I used my new thread (see below) to infil a section around the bullion knot wheel. It...