MooshieStitch Monday: Goldwork Daisy Part 3

In case you missed it, check out Part One and Part Two of my Goldwork Daisy series.

Todays' post will be what I learned from the following video:

Part 5: Cutwork and Finished Piece

The cutwork technique is used to add veins on the leaves. In the video, Sarah uses both bright check purl and wire check purl for the veins, but I decided to just use wire check purl.

Wire check purl thread is very similar to the bright check purl - but it is less shiny. More on the different purl threads can be found here.

Then it was on to finishing the flower petals.

The remaining three petals are stitched with couched down Japanese thread (the same technique as the flower stem) and I used a purple thread for the couching stitches. I really like the way the different color thread looks with the gold.

I added one couched row of pearl purl in the very middle petal and then bright check purl chips  randomly within the other petals.

This is where I didn't follow the exact instruction Sarah gave in the video. She adds more couched Japanese thread rows in the petals, but I thought I would try something different and I wanted to practice couching more pearl purl.

I will say again that I really liked this goldwork kit and would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn goldwork.

Thanks so much for following along with this series!

One last time before you ... 

This goldwork kit is the Golden Daisy by Sarah Homfray.

Be sure to check out Sarah's Instagram , subscribe to her YouTube Channel for lots of video tutorials, and go to her website where you can shop all things embroidery, including kits and supplies.

MooshieStitch Monday: Goldwork Daisy Part 2

In case you missed it, check out Part One of my Goldwork Daisy series.

Next up will be couching the flower stem with gold Japanese thread and leaves with silver Rococco thread.

Todays' post will be what I learned from the following video:

Part 4: Couching Gold Threads

Here is a photo of the Japanese thread that was included in the daisy kit and the sewing thread I used to couch it.

The Japanese thread has a main thread core with a metal foil wrapped around it - which will unwrap at the ends if you are not too careful! Click here for more information on Japanese threads.

To stitch the stem of the flower, you couch down two gold Jap threads at a time. You want to cut them longer than the length you need because to finish off the ends, you will be "plunging" the thread through the fabric to the back....

See the photo below - I left a lot of length on my ends, which Sarah explains in the video is good for beginners until you get used to it.

Let me just say as a goldwork newbie, plunging the threads is so intimidating at first! I watched the video over and over again before I attempted it. Sarah shows the lasso technique on how to plunge the threads through the fabric - and I highly suggest watching the video to see it done if you are unfamiliar (skip to minute 12:30 to jump right to the plunging!)

Here are my first few threads of the stem after plunging on the front side...

My first thread I accidentally pulled through too far and it came out of the couching on the other end! After a mild panic attack - I very gently pulled it back through to the front - but it was no longer couched at the bottom. So when I eventually added my next rows of Jap threads, I added a couple couching stitches to fix the mistake.

Once you pull them through to the back of the fabric, you need to then stitch down the ends and trim them up. Here is so far what the back looked like.

I then needed to repeat those steps of couching down additional threads to fill the entire stem. You will see below I left very long end tails to plunge to the back.

Here is the stem complete and the ends plunged and finished!

Next was couching silver plated Rococco thread with a silver colored sewing thread for the leaves.

The Rococco thread is very different from the Japanese thread. It is like a thin metal wire wrapped around a main thread core, has a wavy appearance, and is more stiff. (More on Rococco threads here)

Again, I left long ends of thread for plunging. I found Rococco to be more difficult to plunge also - I am guessing since it is thicker and stiffer?? I actually used a larger crewel needle to poke a hole in the fabric to make it easier to plunge the Rococco thread through.

Here is the back of the fabric after all my ends have been sewn down. I will admit this is my least favorite part of goldwork so far! I thought it would be the plunging - it does get easier each time you do it - but then having to finish off the ends on the back of the fabric - it is very time consuming! I can't imagine doing this step on large goldwork pieces ... but I understand that it needs to be done.

There you have it - my golden daisy with my first couched gold threads!

To be continued.....see you next time for Part Three ... but before you go...

This goldwork kit is the Golden Daisy by Sarah Homfray.

Be sure to check out Sarah's Instagram , subscribe to her YouTube Channel for lots of video tutorials, and go to her website where you can shop all things embroidery, including kits and supplies.

Thanks for following along!

MooshieStitch Monday: Goldwork Daisy Part 1

My goal this year is to learn a new embroidery technique and one that has been on my mind for quite some time now is goldwork. I thought it would be fun to document my experience learning the new technique - so this post is Part One of my goldwork series.

I started to search online for beginners goldwork embroidery kits and came across Sarah Homfray's website. I decided to purchase her Golden Daisy kit because: a) it was affordable and included most of the materials I needed, b) it was a beginner level kit and c) she has YouTube instructional videos on how to stitch the daisy.

Getting started and gathering my materials:

I ordered the Goldwork Daisy Material Kit. It includes fabric with the design printed on it, backing fabric, gold threads, sewing thread, felt padding, and embroidery needles. (There are no written instructions since you will use her YouTube videos instead)

I also ordered her Goldwork Essentials Starter Set because I needed some of the tools in it like the beeswax, mellor laying tool, and scissors. Here is a photo of everything in the starter set (I forgot to include the scissors when I took the photo though).

Here is a link to all of her Golden Daisy YouTube Videos for this kit.  I watched all the videos in entirety before I began stitching - and rewatched them many times while I was in the process of stitching.

Today's post will be what I learned from the following videos:

Part 1: Introduction and Felt Padding
Part 2: Applying Pearl Purl
Part 3: Applying Bright Check Purl Chips


Let's begin Stitching!

I traced and cut the middle of the flower with tracing paper and then used that as my pattern to cut the shape out of felt.

Here is the felt padding after it was sewn to the fabric.

Next will be couching the pearl purl - which I thought was awkward at first. I think just because it was not as "bendy" as I thought it would be. It is a wire that is wound into a coil and resembles a string of pearls.

(FYI: Being a complete #goldworknewbie I had no clue what to expect from the the metal threads until I was holding them in person. For a great online reference, check out this metal thread info page.)

Here is the outline of the middle and a few of the petals with couched pearl purl. At first I was not happy because I can see some of my couching stitches on the petals, but then again, I am new and just need lots more practice! :)

My next step was to fill in the middle flower felt shape with bright check purl "chips".

The bright check purl is a more flexible hollow tube shape that has a faceted (zig-zag) surface and is shiny. You cut the thread into "chips" and couch down onto the fabric. Below is a photo of a few of my cut chips for example. (Also the scissors that came in the Goldwork Essentials Kit - they have a serrated edge meant for cutting the metal threads)

Then start to randomly couch down the chips to fill in the felt shape...

This is so far my favorite process in goldwork. It is really satisfying and almost relaxing to stitch down each chip and fill in the space! Or maybe that's just me :)

Here it is completely filled in with the chip work.

Zoomed out - here is a look at what I have completed so far!

First thoughts on goldwork:

1. I am very happy I chose Sarah's daisy kit as my first goldwork project. Her videos are excellent for a beginner - not only are they high quality videos - she explains everything so thoroughly.

2. It takes getting used to working with the metal threads. Each are so different in feel and texture.

3. I am using tools and tricks that I have never used before in my embroidery - like beeswax to coat my sewing thread (protecting it when sewing your metal threads) and also the mellor (it is really helpful to use in nudging your metal threads into place).


To be continued.....see you next time for Part Two ... but before you go...


Be sure to check out Sarah's Instagram , subscribe to her YouTube Channel for lots of video tutorials, and go to her website where you can shop all things embroidery, including kits and supplies.

MooshieStitch Monday: "Mountain Road" Vintage Embroidery Kit

Happy New Year Everyone! I am here today to share with you some photos of an embroidery kit I just finished!

A couple months ago, I decided to go on Ebay for embroidery stuff. I randomly searched for "vintage embroidery kits" just to see the results - and what do I find but this Sunset Designs Jiffy Stitchery "Mountain Road" embroidery kit (un-opened) from 1975!

The kit included instructions, wool yarn, needle, and fabric with the design printed on it.

The wool yarn was a 3-ply stranded Persian yarn. Most of the kit was stitched using 1-ply, with the exception of the French Knots, those are 2-plies of yarn.

Only three stitches were recommended: satin stitch, French knots, and Pueblo stitch.

I had never heard of the Pueblo stitch before, but from the stitch drawing included in the instructions, it looked similiar to the back stitch and split stitch combined?? I could be very wrong - and I didn't do much research on it either - so I just worked the split stitch wherever they said to use Pueblo stitch! :)

Here is a better view of the drawing included in the instructions - numbered with what color to use.

Here it is with all the greenery finished. I switched to an oval hoop because it was easier to use.

Making progress on the mountain...

Half way done with all those French knots!!

The finished product!

The fabric really puckers once I remove it from the hoop. I don't have a hoop that is the size or shape to keep the finished work in, so I am not sure what to do with it. Should I try to find a hoop to put it in or should I frame it??

Just for fun I took a photo of the of the finished piece next to the photo on the kit's cover to compare.

Up close!

The surprising thing about this kit was how fast I actually finished stitching it! In 2017, I barely embroidered. So when I got this kit, I used it as motivation to get stitching again and my goal was to finish by the new year. 

I really did enjoy the ease of it - no thinking about what stitches to use, the fabric and yarn were included, and having the kit tell me exactly what colors to stitch and where. (Can you tell I am new to the whole embroidery kit game?? ha ha Maybe I just need to get more kits to stitch....)

What's your favorite embroidery kit? Share in the comments, I would love to hear!

MooshieStitch Monday: Kamal Kadai Stitch (2 color with pearl cotton)

Hello there! One of my favorite embroidery techniques is Kamal Kadai work.

My previous attempts at Kamal Kadai, I stitched flowers using 6 strand cotton floss. I was curious to see how different it would look with pearl cotton and using two colors.

To start, I referred to this photo tutorial.

I drew a 3.5 inch by 3.5 inch square with a water soluble pen onto my fabric.

Find the center of the square - draw lines and create 4 boxes within that square.

Then I made a mark every 1/4 inch - so there were 6 marks total between the middle box line and each corner ... hopefully that makes sense and the photo helps with the explanation!

Starting from the lower left square, bring your needle up from the top mark and stitch over the lowest mark on the upper right square (as seen above).

Continue by stitching from the next mark in the upper right square and stitch down to the next mark in the lower left square. Keep doing this back and forth until you finish stitching to each mark (as seen below). You will then want to couch down in the middle.

Now it is time to start weaving with your second color.

If you want to see a more detailed tutorial on how to weave - check out my first Kamal Kadai flower post for more step by step instructions.

Once you have weaved both squares, you will repeat the steps.

Stitch your lines and couch them down in the middle.

All finished weaving! Now my favorite part - removing the pens lines with water!

There you have it - two color pearl cotton Kamal Kadai stitch.

I really liked how this turned out. I think pearl cotton is much easier to use for this stitch than the cotton floss.

The two color effect is great for this stitch also - I now want to try it with other colors. Black and white would be cool or green and red for Christmas!

If you want to see my other version of the Kamal Kadai flower in cotton floss - check out this post!

See you next time!