Butterfly Band 1 and setup

I am trying to do some posting using an app on my iPad, and I've just discovered that it does NOT do well with photos, so sometimes my posts are a bit awkward-looking. Oh well.

I have finished my band 1 on my Butterfly, also known as the Heritage Sampler Club from Nordic Needle.

 It's really pretty! I've photographed it against a black background so that you can see that I've done a pretty good job of not carrying threads. And that little hanging thing from the leaf on the left branch is a butterfly chrysalis. Click on the photo to make the photo bigger.

 Here it is photographed against a white background. When I was nearly finished with the right branch, I realized that both sides didn't match and I couldn't find the mistake. I ended up ripping out that entire side, basting along both sides for reference, and then stitching the right side NOT from the chart but by mirroring the left side. It turned out that there were two problems. I had made an error, but the chart for the right side also has an extra backstitch on one of the stems, essentially doubling my error.

Here is a picture of that coral knot edging on the butterfly. First the outline is backstitched and then restitched with a series of knots for extra texture. It is these little extras that give needlework dimension. Because of the twist in the thread, I had a terrible time working out of the body toward the right or clockwise. I just couldn't avoid bad knots. I found that working counter-clockwise was much better.




I also realized that I didn't talk about my setup for this project.

First, I chose a roller frame because, unlike stretcher bars, I only have a small section of the project to deal with at any time. I usually don't bother to lace the fabric to the sides but Linda Driskell tells you to do so. When doing pulled thread work, keeping the fabric under both vertical and horizontal tension allows for a better, more consistent pull of your stitching thread and better control of the fabric thread distortion, which is how you get that pretty lace appearance on the butterfly.

 First Linda had me run a basting stitch down the center of the fabric. This is a symmetrical design so having that center line will be really helpful. I then basted another line down a few inches to set the top of the design.








 

I then used the velcro attachment roller bars from American Dream Products because it is really fast and easy to get the fabric straight. I used pearl cotton to lace up the sides. I don't have drum-tight tension at all but it is an even tension in both directions.