Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) 4/1/2014

TAST Stitch #104: Buttonholed Cable Chain

The good news is that I have been working on TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday) Stitches I am learning from Sharon Boggon's blog Pin Tangle.  The bad news?  My computer access has been so limited, I have not been able to share them.  (By the way, there is a Pintangle page on Facebook now. If you frequent Facebook, I encourage you to check it out!)

I am working TAST stitches where I think they will fit into projects I have pieced.  For that reason, the stitches I use will jump around a bit and the projects may as well.  I have a list of stitches I have shared at the end of this post.

TAST Stitch #97: Shell Chain Stitch

(To see a larger image, just click on the photo.)

I worked the Shell Chain Stitch onto one of the seams of the Under the Sea ornament I made as a wedding gift for a friend of mine from high school.

It is a little tricky to see it, buried beneath seaweed, but it is the set of tan links running diagonally from the upper-left corner to the lower-right corner.

TAST Stitch #104: Buttonholed Cable Chain

The photo Sharon shared of this stitch was so pretty, I knew it would be the next one I would tackle.

The stitch requires the Cable Chain Stitch as the foundation.  Let me just say, it took me a few attempts to get the hang of it.  The thing about a chain stitch, is that if I mess up, it means pulling out just about everything I have done because the previous stitch collapses on me as I remove the error.  In this case, the fourth time was a charm!  I simply needed to hold the thread taut with my thumb after making the knot and while making the next loop.

I still need to practice on making the stitches more even, but I am happy with the results!

Beads are not required for this stitch, but they dress it up so nicely! I did practice three links on my doodle cloth with a strand of size 12 white pearl cotton and confirmed the links were large enough for the beads I planned to use.  Then, I changed my mind about the thread and used this pretty size 8 pink pearl cotton. Note to self: using a larger thread leaves a smaller opening. My pretty pink pearl beads did not fit. Oops! Thankfully, I had enough of these small white pearl beads that fit perfectly!

This is another stitch I see myself using in the future.  It took me a while, but it is just so, so pretty!

TAST Stitch #103: Beaded Butterfly Chain Stitch

TAST Stitch 103: Beaded Butterfly Chain Stitch

I had just looked through the last 3 pages of TAST stitches, wondering which one would fit well onto one of my current projects when I stumbled upon a blog post (oh, I wish I remembered which one! If it was yours, please leave a comment with a link to your blog!) that included a link to ideas for couching down rick rack and ribbon.  Curious, I followed the links and when I saw the double cross-stitches couching down the ribbon in this photo at Soseptember.blogspot.ca by September House, I thought it would look lovely with the beaded butterfly stitch.

In the past, I have only run ribbons and trims along seams that begin and end at the edge of the block.  I finally gathered enough courage to pull a few stitches from the foundation of the block in order to lift the blue fabric within the block and tuck the glittery blue ribbon underneath.  After carefully tacking it back down (from the back without going through the top of the fabric), I tacked the ribbon down again between my seam-line and cutting line, to hold it steady.

Originally, I planned to just add the bugle beads, but there was so much extra space, I opted to add some sparkly blue seed beads as well.

I would love to thank Sharon Boggon for teaching so many beautiful stitches.  I encourage you to visit her site, even if you do not plan to work the stitches.  It is so much fun to stroll through the comments and follow the links left there to see the variety of ways other readers have used these stitches.

TAST stitches I have shared (click on the name to see Sharon's directions )
# 95: Linked Chain Stitch
# 96: Beaded Link Chain Stitch
#97: Shell Chain Stitch
#98: Beaded Shell Chain Stitch
#103: Beaded Butterfly Chain Stitch
#104: Buttonholed Cable Chain