Australian Homespun — May 2017

Materials

Q 25cm x 84cm (10 x 33in)

rectangle of 10-count

mono canvas – see Note

Q DMC Tapestry Wool:

six skeins of Taupe

(7461); two skeins each

of Ultra Dark Bright Pink

(7600) and Medium

Forest Green (7890); one

skein each of Burgundy

(7147), Medium Olive

Green (7364), Light

Brown (7463), Medium

Yellow Green (7584),

Chestnut Brown (7700)

and Khaki Green (7769)

QTapestry needle

QMasking tape

Q30cm (^33 ⁄ 8 yd) furnishing-

weight fabric (back)

Q2m (2^1 ⁄ 4 yd) cord with

a diameter about 6mm

(^1 ⁄ 4 in) – see Note

Q Machine-sewing

threads to match the

cord and fabric

Q Heavy fi lling material

such as rice or fi ne

gravel – see Note

QFunnel or cardboard

cone

QTemplate plastic and

permanentmarking pen

QSewing machine

QGeneral sewing supplies

Stitchused:

Continental (tent) stitch

Finished size:

9 x 74cm (3^1 ⁄ 2 x 29in)

Note: Read all the instructions

before starting the project.

Before you begin stitching,

measure the width of the door

that you’re making the stopper

for and adjust the canvas length

accordingly. Barbara says that

you can add taupe stitches

evenly to both ends of the

design to fit the stopper to your

door’s width – hers has about

2cm (^3 ⁄ 4 in) added at both ends.

Select a cord to match one of

the darker thread colours –

Barbara used a dark red-brown.

If you’re making a longer

stopper, recalculate the amount

of cord needed. Barbara used

rice as the filling for her stopper,

but it can attract unwanted

pests – alternatives include fine

gravel and granulated kitty

litter. Seam allowances of 2cm

(^3 ⁄ 4 in) are used throughout for

the construction unless

otherwise stated.

Preparation

1

Trim the canvas to size if needed,

leaving about 6-8cm (2^1 ⁄ 2 -3in)

around all sides of the design area.

2

Cover all the edges of the canvas

with folded masking tape to stop

the threads catching on the canvas

and to prevent it from fraying.

Alternatively, you could turn under

a hem around the four edges and

tack it in place.

3

Barbara suggests sewing a line

of running or tacking stitch in

machine-sewing thread to outline

the edge of the design, centred on

the canvas. The design count is 30

stitches high and 287 stitches wide.

Embroidery

4

Barbara began stitching at the

top left corner of the graph and

worked across to the right-hand side

of the canvas, working the design

horizontally across the canvas.

However, if she were doing it again,

08

PROJECT

Needlepoint detail

94 Homespun http://www.homespun.net.au/homespun-patterns