MooshieStitch Monday: My Stitchable Mesh Project

Last month, Floresita shared a great review and her beautiful stitching on the new DMC Stitchable Mesh. Since DMC also sent me some, I thought I would share with you what I stitched!

First of all, I chose to stitch on the silver side of the mesh. 

A few of Floresita's suggestions when stitching on the mesh really helped, such as:

1. Use a permanent marker to trace your pattern/design onto the mesh. Anything else will rub off!

2. Secure the edges of the mesh fabric - it will unravel. I used black electrical tape on the edges. It doesn't look very pretty but it worked.

Here is the finished product with the tape removed.

To finish the back of the hoop, I used this awesome method with a light colored felt. I trimmed the mesh down so there was just a little bit left around the edge of the hoop to stitch the felt onto.

It is not my best attempt at finishing the back side, I need to work on my blanket stitch. I have never been good at the blanket stitch!! :)

Here is the front view after the felt was attached.

My biggest takeaway on stitching with the mesh - it made me very aware of the back side of the hoop!!

Since it is so sheer, I knew I had to be careful to not carry my thread from one flower to the next. (I hate to admit it, but my embroidery back sides are usually pretty messy!) But I think I did a pretty good job.

It is surprisingly easy to stitch with and softer to the touch than what I was expecting. I used pearl cotton and DMC cotton floss without any issues. I love it's unique look and like that there is a new option of something to stitch on other than regular fabric. 

Thanks again to DMC for sending the stitchable mesh!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

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!