Playing dress-up

The purse I blog-stitched sometime back has arrived from the finisher!  Needle Nicely in Vero Beach. Florida (www.needlenicely.com), worked its magic to create a soft shoulder bag for me to wear to some September weddings.  The purse is pictured here against the dress it will accessorize.

The design was adapted from one by needlepoint icon Maggie Lane and stitched in basketweave with Vineyard Silk Classic and Kreinik metallic threads.  The purse is lined in blue with a hidden snap closure.

I'm so thrilled with the way it turned out! 

Purse Finale

Why this photo showed up sideways, I don't really know.  What matters is, I've completed stitching on the evening purse and it's ready for the finisher!

The pattern, a variation of a Maggie Lane design, was worked in five colors of Vineyard Silk Classic and two colors of Kreinik metallic braid on 18-ct. canvas.  It was stitched completely in basketweave to keep the snag factor to a minimum.

I'll be sure to show a photo of the finished purse when I get it back!

Purse progress--Side Two

On a trip to my LNS last weekend, I hit the jackpot:  every thread I needed to finish this project was in stock!

All of the colors are now in play.  Vineyard Silk Classic Ocean Wave has been added to the center of the royal blue octagons, while VSC Reef Waters is at the center of the jade octagons.

The top six horizontal rows represent one side of the purse.  Slowly but surely, I'm making my way to the bottom of the canvas!

More purse progress

Still working from my stash, I finished off the last of the Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #033 (royal blue) inserting the "spokes" inside the jade octagons.  I then moved to the royal blue octagons, stitching the spokes in these with Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #014, a watery blue.

My stash yielded enough of this thread to finish off the entire canvas--front and back of the purse.  I also finished stitching the small intersections between the octagons with Vineyard Silk Classic Spray.  Two less threads that I need to buy!

I'll work on the centers of the octagons to gauge how much thread I'll need before my shopping trip.

Purse progress - 1

This past week was a busy one, with a Needlepoint Now deadline to meet, some canvases to paint, and more than one project to stitch.  But a good start has been made on the purse project!

It's being stitched in basketweave in sea glass colors with Vineyard Silk Classic and Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #033 so far.  The larger octagons were worked in VSC Celestial (royal blue) and Cascade (light jade) with the smaller intersections in Spray.  The top of the canvas to the bottom line of completed octagons represents one side of the purse.

Working from my stash, the  Celestial and Cascade threads  have been exhausted, but I at least know how much more I'll need to buy on my next trip to my LNS.  There are more sea glass colors in my stash that will be added later

While I'm still waiting....

I know--this doesn't look like much--but it's the beginning of an evening purse I'm stitching for a wedding in the fall.  When it's finished, it will be folded in half to form a soft purse approximately six inches square.

The pattern is a variation on one I found in Chinese Rugs Designed for Needlepoint by Maggie Lane, one of my all-time favorite designers.  I've lost count of the number of pillows I've stitched using center medallions and corner motifs from the rug designs in some of her books.

I'm pretty handy at counting--after all, I'm a stitch painter--but I prefer to have the piece I'm going to work on already painted on the canvas so I can sit back and leisurely stitch.  It's a lot easier to paint over a mistake made in transferring the design to canvas than it is to rip out a bunch of stitches!

I'll be back from time to time to show my progress on this piece!