The names have been purposely positioned to give the appearance of being an inherent part of the original Persian design.

The lettering for the names has been created to reflect the intricate character and scale of the overall tapestry.

Once completed, it will be a cherished family heirloom!

Another design modification! This time, it’s a change to the ‘DUTCH IRIS’ Handbag.

My client requested that I paint the Dutch Iris design twice in order to have the tapestry on the front and back of the bag…… but with a twist!

She asked me to develop a modified design for the back of the bag to allow for a full width zippered pocket when making it up.

Her idea makes the front and back designs slightly different and gives the whole bag a unique custom look. Brilliant!

I hope these CUSTOM DESIGNS inspire you to challenge me to get my creative juices flowing and design something unique for you!

YOUR STITCH TO TRY

THE MILANESE STITCH

The Milanese Stitch is a diagonal stitch with the arrowheads facing in opposite directions.

It’s so easy to learn and quick to stitch!

Once the first row of triangles is stitched in a diagonal band, the rest just falls into place.

With very exquisite results!

METHOD:

Study the chart to the right. Take a piece of scrap canvas and yarn and practice the stitch, following the steps below

Note: The practice chart to the right shows the triangle created with this stitch over 4 threads.

The ‘Milanese Moderne’ design for the jewellery box insert shown on the large charts below creates a larger triangle over 5 threads.

1. Work the first triangle diagonally over 1,2 3 and 4 threads following the numbers on the chart
2. Repeat this over the length of the diagonal.
3. Start the second row with a stitch over 1 thread joining the stitch over 4 threads previously worked, and fit the stitches into the first row, by sharing the same holes and working the arrowheads in the opposite direction.
4. Work compensation stitches along the sides of the areas worked to give a straight edge.

PRACTICE FIRST!

Keep practicing until you feel confident that you’ve got it! Then you are ready to stitch the free design.

FREE DESIGN

‘MILANESE MODERNE’ JEWELLERY BOX INSERT DESIGN

The MILANESE STITCH creates a 30’s chic design, designed specifically as an insert to complement this stylized jewellery box from Sudberry House.

This black square jewellery box (‘Betsy Box’) which also has a 1930’s look complements the tapestry perfectly. They were made for each other!

COLOURS TO SUIT YOU

This colour combination was perfect for my purposes as a gift for my daughter.

Use your imagination and customize the design any way you like. For example, as an insert for a dark brown wood box (also available from Sudberry House), you may want to change the black to dark brown or taupe.

Instead of the soft wheat colour accent, you may want to create something with bolder colours!

SIZE TO SUIT YOU

The small triangles of the Milanese stitch allow you to add more or less of them in a single diagonal row, to suit other box sizes.

Just add the compensation stitches (as shown in the chart above) to square it off to the size you need. Adding a border can also make up the dimension difference.

CUSTOM CENTRAL INITIAL

You also can see in the photo that I stitched my daughter’s initial ‘H’ in the centre of the design. All with the compensation stitch, which is similar to the Satin or Gobelin Stitch.

If you want to make up this free design, I’ll create a chart for your initial of choice, just contact me. My pleasure!

READING THE CHARTS:

NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

• CHART COLOURS: To make the charts easier to read for you, I picked strong accent colours, i.e. green, red, blue and mauve, to depict the 4 shades of grey , from dark to light respectively.
• The Milanese stitch has been rescaled by working the diagonal stitch in each triangle over 5 threads before the repeat.
• Compensation stitches follow the angles of the Milanese stitches and become an integral part of the design

CHART N° 1

The first chart below shows the total insert design.

CHART N° 2

The second chart below depicts approximately a quarter of the design so you can see the individual stitches more clearly.

YARN COLOURS

All colours are chosen from Appleton Tapestry Yarns

They are readily available at your local needlepoint shop or online.

To stitch the design in the dimensions as shown, you will need four skeins of each colour.

OTHER MATERIALS

You will also need :

• mono interlock canvas at 13 mesh,
  Size: 8” x 8” (20x 20 cm)
• Needlepoint Needle: For 13-mesh canvas, use size 18 or 20 needle
• Masking Tape
• Scissors
• black (or colour of your choice) square box (‘Betsy Box Sudberry House or equivalent

• As usual, start by putting masking tape on the canvas edges to protect the yarns from getting frayed.
• STARTING UP : In the photo above left, I stitched the Milanese stitch in black and in the 3 grey colours diagonally 8 times to make up the first row.
• I then stitched Milanese stitch triangles in the opposite direction in the soft wheat colour on either side of the greys as shown. The black Milanese stitch at the bottom of the photo shows the centre of the design starting to set up.
• IN PROGRESS: In the photo above right, you can see the design emerging as you change direction with the stitch and start another quarter of the design (bottom right of photo).

MAKING UP SUGGESTIONS

After blocking the tapestry, check the dimensions again to be sure that the stitched area is still 5” square.
NOTE: Sometimes the canvas will shrink slightly when wetting it as you are blocking.
If necessary, compensate by adding another outside row(s) to be sure of a perfect fit with the jewellery box top insert.

As mentioned above, I purchased the black jewellery box from the Sudberry House. Be sure when you purchase one of their boxes (or the equivalent from someone else) that it specifies ‘5” x 5” Visible Design Area’ to be sure the insert design ‘Milanese Moderne’ will fit.
The mounting instructions, which I found easy to follow, are included with the box.

ASK THE ZIVA DIVA !

QUESTION:
Dear Sylvia,

I’ve noticed on your site that you use mostly wool tapestry yarn for your designs. Can I substitute another yarn fibre? Thanks, Bev, UK

Dear Bev,

You’re right; I use wool almost exclusively for my designs. Aesthetically, wool has a rich texture and lovely depth of colour. There are an amazing number of beautiful colours from several manufacturers, such as Appleton, Anchor, DMC, etc.

But equally important, because I have a lot of seat covers on the site, wool, being a strong fibre, wears well on upholstered pieces.

You will note, however, that I have used cotton yarn for some of my small purses and bracelets, where I wanted more vibrant colours, and there is less wear on the tapestry to be concerned about.

Other fibres?

Of course, it’s your choice if you want to use another fibre yarn for one of my designs. But please discuss it with me, so I can advise you if I see a problem.

Silk is a beautiful fibre, providing vivid colours with a lovely sheen. But, for example, it would be too fragile for a footstool cover. It would be better suited for a cushion, a small clutch bag, a necklace or as a decorative accent stitch.

Silk and Wool yarn blends give you the benefits of the two fibres, but can be very expensive.

I hope my response helps you in your decision of what fibre yarn options you have.

WHAT NEXT?

The next VIVA ZIVA! Newsletter #1212 will be issued in the fall of 2012 .

I’ll be including:

• New Designs & Updates
• A new Stitch to Try with a
• Free needlepoint design: to be announced on my What’s New blog in the summer, 2012.
• And lots of other features!

Please contact me if there is a particular stitch you’d like me to use for a free design in a future newsletter!

Share this newsletter with friends and relatives.
They can also go to my subscription page on the site to get on the mailing list for the next VIVA ZIVA! Newsletter

Looking forward to sending you the next newsletter!

Sylvia McLeod