Monogram Embroidery Day Two ...

I actually like photographing my embroidery progress because I can better assess things than when I'm holding it in my hand.

This is where I am so far, and I'm thinking the vine-y bits at the top of the monogram are too heavy-handed, so I'm going to remove those today and re-do them. At this point, they draw my eye away from the more delicate florals and leaves below them. They're not the stars of this piece, so I have to take them down a peg or two.

This represents about twelve hours of embroidering, and I know I have more than a few hours left. I'll frog the vines first, and then proceed with more of my design. 

I work this evening, so my stitching will be done during the day today. I'll share updated progress photos tomorrow. What do you think so far?

Getting Started...

I contacted my niece (mom of the groom-to-be) to see if she knew what the colors would be in the bride's bouquet. She actually sent a photograph of what they've chosen, so I could pull colors to begin my embroidery. Some of these threads are silks, and the rest are cotton. There are also some embellishments I may or may not use. I'll decide once I get the needlework finished. 

I'd love to show you the photograph of the bouquet, but I can't do that at this point. I don't want to ruin the surprise for the wedding couple. I will share it with you later, after the piece is done - or after the wedding. Wouldn't it be best to show the bride carrying it? I think so, too.

After all the colors were selected, I pulled a beautiful piece of white linen as my ground fabric. It's actually a tight weave, but I've enlarged this to show the beginning of my embroidery work, so it looks more open than it actually is.

You know what I'll be doing all day today (while I also run back and forth to the washing machine and dryer...laundry day). We'll see just how much progress I can make. I don't work again until Friday evening, so I have a lot of time to sit and stitch. I want to make some good headway so you can get a feel for the finished piece. I'll have more to show you tomorrow.

Here's What's Next...

I see flowers in my future. Lots of flowers, for a wedding monogram I'm going to start today. If you've been to my Etsy shop, you've seen the "B" framed piece used as an example of wedding pieces that you can commission me to stitch. This is going to be similar to that. 

The flowers in this first photograph are not my work. They're from the book that I use for the monogram shapes. Aren't they pretty, though?

This is a portion of the piece I'll be doing. It's actually the letter "N", and most of the flowers on the pattern are irrelevant to me, as I'll mostly use my own flowers to coordinate with the bride's bouquet. That's a bit tricky in this case, as I have no idea what the bride intends to carry. 

When I'm not sure exactly what flowers to use, I default to the wedding invitation for an idea of the bride's taste. As this is for my great-nephew's wedding, I'm going to contact his mom today to see if she can at least advise me of what colors will be in the bouquet. Once I know that, this piece could be anything from tones of white and cream, to wintry or spring colors. 

Today I'll begin by preparing the fabric (linen), and transferring the basics of the design onto it. Once I have the conversation about colors, I'll pull silk threads for this piece, and begin stitching by lunchtime.

I enjoy doing these monograms, so I know it's going to be fun, especially since it's for a couple I know and love. I'll share more information about it tomorrow. I intend to add a few symbolic touches to this piece, too, which I'll explain later.

I guess I'd better make that phone call so I can get started on this. See you tomorrow!