Australian Homespun – August 2019

PREPARATION

1

Stretchoneofthesquaresofcalico

intheembroideryhoop,ensuringit’s

verytaut,andtightenthescrew.Flipit

oversothatthebackofthehoopis

facingupandcentreit overthedesign

onthePatternSheet.Puttinga light

sourcesuchasa lightboxorbrightlylit

windowbehindthepatternmakesit

easiertoseethedesignthroughthe

fabric.Usea sharppenciltotracethe

designlightlyontothefabric.Chloe

prefersusinga mechanicalpencilto

anerasablefabric-markingpen,but

stressesthatyoumustkeepthelines

finetoensuretheyarecoveredbythe

stitching,aspencillinesdon’twash

out.Removethefabricfromthehoop.

2

Tracearoundtheinnerhooponto

thesquareoffelt.(Dothisnowas

youwon’tbeabletodoit oncethe

calicoisbackinthehoop.)

3

Turnthemarkedcalicosquareover

sothetraceddesignis facingup

andlayerit ontopofthesecond

squareofcalico.(Thesecondlayerof

fabricaddsstabilityandopacityand

concealsthreadsbehindthework.)

Stretchbothsquaresinthehoopready

tostitch,checkingthatthetraced

designis centredandthatthescrew

is atthecentretopofthedesign.

EMBROIDERY

4

RefertotheStitcheryGuideforthe

threadsandstitchestouseforeach

areaofthedesign,Diagram1, which

shows the placement of the stitches

onthehen’sneck,wings,tailandlegs,

andthestepsbelowforextradetails.

Chloerecommendsbackstitchingall

theoutlinesaroundthehenfirstinthe

threadslistedintheStitcheryGuide,

asshowninDiagram2,andthen

stitchingthebird’seye.

5

Whenstitchingtheeye,workinthe

orderlistedintheStitcheryGuide.

6

Outlinethehen’sclawsinblack,

thenadda coupleofstraight

stitchestothemiddleofthemasfilling.

7

Whenworkingthesmallstraight

stitchestofill thehen’sface,

wattleandcomb,varythedirection

ofthestitches– verticalinthewattle

andcombandhorizontalintheface.

8

Afterbackstitchingtheclamshell-

shapedfeatheroutlinesonthe

upperwing,aroundthebaseofthe

hen’sneckandonherbelly,fill them

withfanningstraightstitches.Chloe

likestoleavea littlespacebetween

thesestitchestocreatea nice

patternedeffect.

9

Theeasiestwaytoworkthestraight

stitchesonthelowerwingfeathers

is toworkallthestitchesinBlack(310)

first.Startfromthefrontofthebirdand

leavespacebetweenthem.Thengo

backandaddstitchesinBlanc

(White)betweentheblackones.

10

Thesmallstraightstitchesused

tofill thehen’sneckandchest

switchdirectionastheygodownthe

neckandbodysotheyareroughly

parallelwiththeoutline.Onthe

bird’sbelly,thesestitchesareworked

perpendiculartotheoutline.They

arefairlysmall,butChloevariedtheir

lengtha littleasrequiredtofit them

intothespace.Shesaysthatthese

stitchesarethemosttimeconsuming

partoftheprojectandyoumayneed

todosomeunpickingasyoudevelop

a feelfortidystitchplacement.Chloe

workedallthewhitestitchesfirst,and

theninsertedtheblackspecklesin

spacesthatshe’dleftaswellas

overlappingthemonthewhite

stitchesinsomecases.There’sno

needtofollowChloe’splacement

oftheblackspecklesprecisely.

CHLOE’S

STITCHERYTIPS

Henscomeinmanydifferent

colours,soyoucouldlookat

referencephotographsandhavea

goatstitchingthishenina

differentcolour.Thepatterncan

beshrunkeitherbybeingscanned

inandprintedata differentsize,

orphotocopyingit,soyoucould

trystitchingthehenina smaller

hoop.Likewise,youcouldalso

enlargethepatterntostitcha

gianthenif youwerefeeling

ambitious!If youhavesewing

skills,whynottrystitchingthe

henontofabricandthenmaking

thefabricintosomethinguseful,

suchasa teacosy.

Diagram 1 Diagram 2

Black (310)

Ecru

Red (321)

Dark Tin (4)

Light Shell Grey (453)

Blanc (White)

Homespun 63