All Sewn Up

All Sewn Up

I showed you various stages of these pomegranates here and here. I had quite a bit of waiting time in the last couple of weeks so I finished stitching, adding some leaves and adding a bit more stitching to the pomegranates.

Tracing of Pomegranates

The first thing I had to do was figure out where I wanted the leaves to go. So I took a couple of pieces of tracing paper, traced the pomegranates and drew in some leaves. I did have a photo of what pomegranate leaves looked like to help me with my leaf shapes.

Printed and Stitched Pomegranates

And here is the finished piece. The piece is done mainly with stem stitch and all the thread is wool. I  stitched 3 times around some of the pomegranates to make them more prominent.

Hand Stitched Pomegranates by Ruth Lane

I didn’t add any more of the seed stitches in the middle.

Close Up of Pomegranate Stitching

You can see that the pomegranate on the left in the foreground has a thicker outline. That is actually 3 rows of stem stitch next to each other. The green wool thread was some that I dyed with natural dyes a couple of years ago. And I didn’t try to transfer the leaf design on to the wool, I just looked at my pattern and stitched it by eye. I have never found a really good way to transfer a pattern on to wool and it didn’t matter if the leaves were exactly the same as my sketch.

Now I just have to figure out how to finish the piece. The wool is cut unevenly on the left side and some of the sides were already blanket stitched. What do you think? How would you finish it?

 

22 thoughts on “All Sewn Up

  1. That looks great, Ruth! How did you make the leaves, I can’t see stitches? I think I’d take the easy option and just neaten the side up and finish with blanket stitch to match the other.

    1. Thanks Zed. The leaves are made with stem stitch. It is mainly the wool thread that kind of blends itself together that makes it look like that. I think blanket stitch is winning.

  2. I think this beautiful piece should be matted and framed.As for the uneven edges,I have had this issue too and just needle felted some wool around edge just so it fits neatly in mat..cream mat/black frame

  3. I kinda like the look of the uneven edges and if it were my piece, I suspect I’d minic the other edges in that manner and “frame” it with a small blanket stitch edge.

  4. The piece is beautiful! I appreciate the leaves in outline, and the prominence of the stem-stitched
    pomegranate. I tend to like organic edges but I could also see the piece framed. Decisions, decisions. Always the most difficult part–the finishing.

  5. It’s lovely with the added leaves Ruth.
    I like organic edges, but with this piece I would think about whether to trim and blanket stitch to match the other sides.

    1. Thanks Lyn! I agree that it probably should be trimmed. And blanket stitch seems to be winning the popular opinion poll 🙂

  6. The leaves really add to the piece. I like organic edges, too. I agree with Lyn to trim and blanket stitch to finish. I look forward to seeing it finished for hanging.

  7. I’m so late to the party, so just ignore what I say! 🙂 But I prefer the organic uneven edges, neatened up just a little, and maybe mounted on a plain white background and framed.The leaves work really well – I think it’s a stunning piece!

    1. Thank You! You’re not late. I haven’t even started working on finishing this piece. It’s just sitting there right now.

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