MooshieStitch Monday: Woven Picot Stitch with Wool

Ever since I did the Simply Stitched book review, I have really enjoyed working with tapestry wool.

I had some leftover wool from my plushwork wreath, so I decided to try stitching a woven picot stitch flower with it.

You can refer to my tutorial for the woven picot if you need to learn the stitch - this post is more to show you how it looks using tapestry wool.

DMC Red 7108 and Blanc

I usually stitch the woven picot with pearl cotton. The first thing I noticed using wool is how quickly you can stitch it up - less weaving since the wool is so thick.

Here are the finished flower petals.

I added woven picot leaves and white french knots for the center of the flower.

I love how it looks with the tapestry wool.

It sorta reminds me of poinsettia - but maybe because it's red and I have Christmas on my mind :)

Thank you again to DMC for providing the tapestry wool!

MooshieStitch Monday: Plushwork Wreath

Today I am going to show you how to stitch a plushwork wreath for the holidays!

For best results - I highly suggest tapestry wool.

This wreath is stitched with DMC Tapestry Wool (which DMC has so kindly provided).

DMC Green 7344 and Red 7108

For my wreath template, I cut a circle about 2.5 inches wide in diameter out of cardboard.

To start, bring your wool up through the fabric (A) and back down (B)

Continue with your surface satin stitch - bring your wool back up next to the previous stitch on the same side.

Then down again across the template.

Back up again next to that stitch on the same side and repeat until your template is covered.

Here is the first layer complete.

I stitched 3 layers of wool around the circle template.

Now you are ready to cut through all the layers.

Remove the cardboard template.

Here it as without any fluffing - notice you can see a gap in the wool.

I tried fluffing the wool to remove the gap / indent in the middle of the wreath but it would not go away. Maybe my template was too wide? 

Although I was not 100% satisfied with my first attempt, I trimmed the wool a little with my scissors, fluffed it as much as I could and added a red bow and french knots for decoration.

My second attempt, I cut a smaller, thinner circle template.

Below is the first circle in white paper on the right and the new template on the left. 

Same process - I stitched three layers of wool.

I cut the layers and removed the template. See how there is less of a gap this time??

Here it is trimmed and fluffed. You can still see a line around the middle but it's less than the first wreath.

Here is the wreath finished with the bow and french knots!

Do you like the first or second wreath better? 

I hope you try this plushwork wreath sometime. If you do, leave a comment below and let us know!

Mooshiestitch Monday: Plushwork

Have you ever heard of plushwork embroidery? It is also called chenille work or Amish stumpwork. 

I had never heard of this technique before until I randomly came across a tutorial for it online - so I decided to try it out and share it with you!

First, you should really check out this awesome tutorial. It includes step by step instructions with excellent photos and a handy pdf template to print the design!

I printed the template, traced and cut out a flower using a cover of a plastic container (specifically from a yogurt container!).

My first try was with Appleton wool on linen fabric.

The technique is very easy to learn -  if you know satin stitch you can do this!

Done with the first layer.

I repeated two more layers of the same wool.

The next step is my favorite - cutting the layers!

After I cut all the layers I removed the plastic template.

Here is the finished plushwork flower!

See how fluffy! It reminds me of turkey work.

I think it could have used a couple more layers of wool to make it fluffier, especially in the center of the flower, but it was good practice.

Next, I chose a bigger size flower, cut the template out of cardboard instead of plastic - it worked just as well - and I used DMC tapestry wool.

Here it is with one layer of light blue and adding my second layer of dark blue.

Added another layer of dark blue - for a total of three wool layers.

Cut through the layers and remove the template...

Notice the difference with the DMC tapestry wool? It is a thicker wool than the Appleton wool. 

I definitely like the end result with the thicker DMC wool. What do you think?

Have you ever heard of plushwork? 

If you decide to give it a try, be sure to post your photos in the Feeling Stitchy Flickr Group or tag your photos on Instagram!

For more plushwork inspiration, check out this great Pinterest board.