Supplies

[kate_schaefer]

I am baffled that I have no plain black embroidery floss. How can I not have such a basic sewing supply? Did I decide that I'd surely never embroider again and give it away? I kept all these excellent embroidery books, so I must not have made that decision.

I'm not going to the store just for floss, so what do I have that I can substitute? Hmm. Several odd threads intended for machine embroidery, a little finer than what I'd normally use for handwork, but this is a test piece anyway...why do I have black silk suture thread? I mean, I think I know why I have it; it must have been Anna's, but why would Anna have had it? Never mind; doubled, it will work as floss for this purpose.

I am embarrassed at what a lot of special purpose threads I have, only some of which I've ever used. They are lovely and inspirational; if only I acted on those inspirations a bit more often.

Anyway, now I'm going to embroider a beetle.

Comments

[replyhazy]

"oi oi!" says the beetle. "watch it with that pointy thing!"

[kate_schaefer]

Have successfully embroidered two test beetles, one with thread, one with beads. Neither one was satisfactory (I said they were successful tests; a successful test tells me what I need to know, which can be that something won't work the way I want it to), but both illuminated the problem.

Having stared at pictures of the real beetle in question, I now know that I want russet thread rather than black thread to portray its legs. I also know that the methods I've tried for embroidering the legs are just fine; it's the wings that I'm having difficulty with.