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Blackwork and Color Theory
Kathy at The Unbroken Thread recently completed an absolutely beautiful blackwork piece. The first photo is the finished piece. The second photo is missing some of the border, but it is at less of an...
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Blackwork Pattern Book: Ensamplario Atlantio
String or Nothing has posted a brand new free blackwork pattern book, Ensamplario Atlantio! It’s pretty cool – there are over 200 patterns in there. The patterns range from simple geometric repeats to...
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Kasuti: Indian cousin to blackwork
Kasuti is a type of embroidery from Karnataka, India. Like blackwork, it is geometric and worked in double running stitch. However, it is traditionally very brightly colored. I found a few books in the...
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Medieval Middle Eastern counted thread embroidery
I found a fantastic website from Mathilde Eschenbach with charts for medieval Middle Eastern counted thread embroidery (blackwork, pattern darning, cross-stitch) plus photos of the original pieces....
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Kasuti Bluebird
This was inspired by a comment from a friend on my post about Kasuti embroidery. The bird is in DMC 3807 blueish purple and the border is in DMC 718. It came out really well! The stitched area is about...
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Rooster Project: Start
I can resist no longer. New project! This is the blackwork/cross-stitch rooster from Carol Leather of X-Calibre Designs. I am swapping out the suggested threads for DMC Floche 815, 310, and 437. I...
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Rooster: Gold feathers
I cross-stitched the gold feathers plus some decorative dots. I’m still thinking about the large black feathers – maybe fill them in with double running stitch over two squares? That would be quicker...
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Rooster: Body in Blackwork
I started work on the blackwork body. I’m glad I chose a darker ground fabric. If I was working the pattern on white I’d consider backing it with something. I think it would be tricky to keep the...
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Rooster: Feather Experiment
I tried a couple of experimental feathers (on the right) before finding an arrangement I liked: solid outline on one side with horizontal lines filling it in, which creates stylized feather shapes....
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Rooster: More Feathers
I’ve been working away on the feathers. Maybe the upper layer of feathers could have a vertical pattern, as if they are drooping. I’m afraid the PhD dissertation takes priority, so I’ve got limited...
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