I really feel as if we are on the home stretch of the TAST challenge. Once again let me know if you are still stitching and in a week or two I will do another round up so people can visit your site or flickr page.

This week I am featuring a stitch from bargain buy of the year as I discovered a copy of The Batsford Encyclopaedia of Embroidery Stitches by Anne Butler at the Lifeline Book Fair.

Lace Border Stitch looks trickier than it is. It forms a interesting lacy line which can be used on borders or in crazy quilting. To work it you need to be familiar with twisted chain stitch and scroll stitch. It may help some people to mark the width of the border they want to work.

Work from to to bottom starting your thread on the left hand side of your border.


Start the stitch with a scroll stitch, worked horizontally across the width of your border.The scroll should sit on the right hand side of your border line.

Next pass your needle under the bar formed. You so not take your needle through the fabric at this point.

Pull the thread through and take it over the top of the bar.

Take the needle to the left of your border and a little lower along the line work a small twisted chain stitch.

The twisted chain is small and when you pull your thread through it should pull into a small knot like stitch that look like the photograph.

Take your needle to the other side of your border and pass the needle through the loop formed with the first scroll stitch. At this stage you are passing the needle through the thread not the fabric.

Pull the thread through.

Move your needle down the border and pick up another small piece of fabric to make a twisted chain/scroll stitch and repeat the process working alternatively from side to side until you have worked the line. When moving to the right hand side don’t forget to pass the needle under the bar formed as it is necessary to form the knot.

This stitch is effective worked in thicker threads and works up quite quickly. It can also follow a curve well and you can widen the border in parts creating some interesting effects. You can also work the bars on a slight angle which gives the stitch a totally different look again. There are lots of ways to experiment with this stitch and I hope people enjoy working it.

That’s it for this week. Remember to swing by and leave a comment preferably on this page, so that people can follow the link and see what you have done. There is a Take a stitch Tuesday flickr group which you can browse.

embroidery.jpg

For anyone enjoying this challenge or who enjoyed the Sumptuous surfaces class, you will possibly enjoy the Develop a Personal Library of Stitches starting on Wednesday November 7. Crazy quilters will be pleased to know that the Encrusted Crazy Quilting is being offered again starting on November 9.