V I V A Z I V A ! n e w s l e t t e r

▪volume number: 1004▪ FREE NAPKIN RING DESIGN N° 1 ▪

HAPPY NEW YEAR! BONNE ANNEE !

Thanks so much for subscribing to the VIVA ZIVA! Newsletter.

I’ll be issuing a newsletter every three months, with a new free design each time... exclusively created for the newsletter.

This time the free design is a colourful napkin ring that will go with all your napkin colours for a festive, casual lunch or brunch!

WHAT’S IN EACH VIVA ZIVA! NEWSLETTER?

• New Designs & Updates
• Your Stitch to Try
• FREE Design
• Ask the ZIVA DIVA!
• Next Issue

NEW DESIGNS & UPDATES

NEW DESIGNS – ANATOLIA TEA COSIES

Tea cosies with exotic flair… inspired by the vivid colours and patterns of Persian carpets.

The tea cosy design at right exhibits the traditional carpet colours from Anatolia (now Turkey).

A second colour scheme, more contemporary in nature, gives the design a totally different look!

Their striking colours blend well in today's modern or traditional interiors.

CLICK HERE to see both these elegant Persian tea cosy designs.

NEW DESIGNS – CLUTCH BAGS

Add that final elegant touch to your basic cocktail dress or evening wear by stitching one of these new CLUTCH BAG designs!

ZIVA’s first new designs for 2010!

Our model on the right is wearing the Chrysler Coupé Clutch Bag … a dynamic design of neutral grey and wheat colours with teal green and cranberry red accents.

CLICK HERE to see more of these new clutch bag designs.

UPDATES FROM THE LAST NEWSLETTER

In the last newsletter, I promised two napkin ring designs for this newsletter, “one traditional, and one more contemporary… to suit any dinner or lunch party”.

But, once I started working on the designs, I realized that there would be too much information and too many new stitches for one newsletter!

So I decided to split the free napkin ring designs into two newsletters:

• January 30, 2010 Newsletter # 1004

  
  This newsletter has the contemporary napkin ring design called ‘Like a Rainbow’(see photo at right)… perfect for casual lunches and brunches.

  
  I’m dedicating this newsletter to discussing the many options for finishing the edges of your needlepoint tapestry.




• April 30, 2010 Newsletter #1005

  
  The second napkin ring design ‘SOOO POSH’ is an elegant traditional design, ideal for a more formal dinner setting.

  
  You will learn how to do the Stem Stitch and French Knot, and how to work with metallic thread.

FINISHING THE EDGES OF YOUR TAPESTRY

I’ve had so many questions from visitors to this site about finishing the edges of their particular tapestry. After all your hard work stitching, you certainly don’t want the finished piece to look amateur because of the making up.

I also want you to be happy with the final result after purchasing one of my hand-painted designs!

You will find a dedicated section ‘How to Finish: Sewing Needlepoint’ on the ZIVA website just for discussing how to finish different types of tapestries, including:

• SEWING NEEDLEPOINT TIPS –description and advise on basic sewing skills required
• SEWING NEEDLEPOINT UPHOLSTERY- when and why you should use a professional upholsterer
• SEWING NEEDLEPOINT HANDBAGS- when you might need a professional and when you can do it yourself
• SEWING NEEDLEPOINT CUSHIONS OR PILLOWS- different finishing ideas are suggested for cushions and pillows.
• SEWING NEEDLEPOINT BELTS –two stitch types are discussed here for finishing and protecting the edges of your tapestry.
  You will be trying one of these stitches for this newsletter’s free design!

Please click here to go to ‘Sewing Needlepoint’, and hopefully you will get a better insight on finishing your labour of love!

If none of the above ideas help you, please contact me if you’re looking for other ideas for finishing your project.

YOUR STITCH TO TRY

I’ve chosen 2 edge stitches for Your Stitch to Try this time. They work well for protecting the edges of any needlepoint tapestry.

The first one is called ‘Braided Edge Stitch’ (left photo below). The diagram clearly shows how to make this edge stitch.

The second one I call the ‘Loop Edge Stitch’ (right photo below), which is the stitch I used for edging the ‘Like a Rainbow’ napkin rings.

I prefer this edge stitch because it creates a smoother result.

Note:These stitches can, of course, work anywhere where the edges of your finished pieces are going to be left exposed.

They’re done after you’ve blocked your piece and have trimmed the excess canvas, leaving enough (approx ½ “or 1.25 cm) to fold the spare canvas back and be ‘caught’ by the edge stitch.

With the Loop Edge stitch;

• fold over the unfinished canvas to the back to create an edge. Lightly iron down if necessary.
• feed through the yarn on the back of the tapestry as you usually do,
• then loop the yarn to the front of your tapestry
• starting at #1 (on chart above) stitch down from the front to the back of the tapestry ( NOTE: You will be putting your needle down through the last row of the finished basket weave stitch ),
• then loop the thread over the folded edge to the front again and stitch down again into the next hole (#2) to the back.
• Repeat the whole length of the edge to be protected

TIPS:

• Make sure that you go through the same row of holes on the back each time because this edge stitch will be visible on both sides.
• You can work it as shown with needlepoint yarn in a matching or contrasting colour.

Now it’s time to try it for the Like a Rainbow napkin ring… this newsletter’s free design.

PRACTICE FIRST!

The photo at right is what you want this loop edge stitch to look like when you’ve finished practicing it.

Don’t worry what colours you use at this stage, but use cotton yarn to get a feel for the final effect.

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

FREE DESIGN

‘LIKE A RAINBOW’ NAPKIN RING DESIGN

These festive napkin rings add the finishing touch to your table for an informal lunch or brunch with friends!

With this vibrant design in a rainbow of bright cotton colours, you can rotate the colours anywhere you want to match the napkin colours you have!

Or you may want to do just one range of colours and repeat the colours around the entire napkin ring. Your choice.

Please click here if you want more background about this napkin ring design.

The entire napkin ring is stitched in the Basketweave Tent stitch.

As mentioned above, the Loop Edge Stitch is done after you’ve blocked your tapestry and trimmed the excess canvas.

COLOURED CHARTS

I’m including two coloured charts for your reference at different gauges, so you’ll have no trouble getting the canvas in your area.

NOTE: Both charts show the colour distribution of the pattern only. The background in these charts is dark teal blue, with the mid-grey colour as part of the detail.

If you use the mid-grey for the background, the dark teal blue would be used on the detail. See coloured photos.

This first chart above is for canvas at 12 holes per inch

This second one above is for canvas at 13 holes per inch.

YARN COLOURS

All the COTTON yarn colours as stitched are from the DMC SOFT COTTON Colour Range, which are readily available at your local needlepoint shop or online.

To make 3 napkin rings with the dark teal background and 3 napkin rings with the mid-grey background, you will need three skeins of each of the following colours from DMC SOFT COTTON :

Colours as stitched:

Colour Groupings from top to bottom of Pattern:

• #2726 Yellow
• #2741 Yellow Orange
• #2947 Orange Yellow

• #2946 Orange
• #2103 Red
• #2109 Red-Pink
• #2718 Fuschia
• #2916 Red-Purple
• #2227 Purple
• #2996 Blue
• #2956 Turquoise
• #2911 Green

Background Colours :

• 3 napkin rings in # 2595 Dark Teal Blue
• 3 napkin rings in # 2318 Mid Grey

Loop Edge Stitch Colours :

• # 2103 Red
• # 2595 Dark Teal Blue
• # 2726 Yellow
• # 2956 Turquoise

OTHER MATERIALS

You will also need :

• mono interlock canvas at 12 or 13 gauge,
  approx. 10.5” x 16” (approx. 26 x 41 cm ) to make up 6 napkin rings
  Note: Interlock canvas is recommended in order to trim the canvas for framing without any risk of it unravelling. (See Making Up section below.)
• Needlepoint Needle:
• For 13-canvas, use size 20 needle
• For 12-mesh canvas, use size 18 needle
• Masking Tape
• Scissors
• Fabric glue
• Waterproof marker

Go to the ZIVA site for more detail info on the MATERIALS required.

STARTING UP /STITCHING IN PROGRESS

• As usual, start by putting masking tape on the canvas edges to protect the yarns from getting frayed.
• Mark out, with a fine waterproof marker, the outline of the 6 napkin rings, making sure you’ve allowed spacing of 2-3 inches (5-8 cm) between each one. Note: each napkin ring is 72 stitches long x 18 stitches wide.
• Always stitch the detail design first (above left), then fill in the background colours.
• Just as you practiced it, stitch the Loop Edge Stitch after you’ve blocked the tapestry and trimmed the excess canvas.

DESIGN SUGGESTIONS

To complement the colours of your napkins or the colour scheme of your dining room, you could stitch the same pattern all in one colour or in a range of blues, for example.

Use your imagination and make it your own creation!

Send me a photo of what you’ve done. I’d love to see it and put it on the site!

FINISHING

• The photo above left shows the napkin ring with the Loop Edge stitching complete.
• Then, after trimming any excess canvas at the corners to make it as neat as possible, glue the canvas seam allowance with fabric glue to the back of the tapestry (Be sure to follow the manufacturers instructions)
• To continue the informal festive feel of the napkin ring design, I picked bright red and yellow ribbons for the backing. Again, with fabric glue, glue the ribbon to the back of the tapestry. (photo above right)
• Slip Stitch the two ends together to create the ring shape.

TIPS: