Friday, August 28, 2015

Stitching on Mesh

I had a lot of questions about stitching on mesh so I thought you might like to read an answer here rather than searching the comments for hints.

How was stitching on the mesh? and How did you like working on the mesh and would you do it again? I regularly stitch on linen and paper, and I'd have to say the mesh is somewhere in between--the the flexibility of the fabric mixed with the rigidity of the paper, but without the capacity to tear. I had to pull a little tighter to get the stitches to lay nicely. And even still, don't look too closely because some of my stitches are kind of yuck. 

This is the second of the "Fresh Mesh" designs I've done, so yes, I'd do it again! (Plus there's a really cute sunglasses pattern in this series, and I'd like to make myself a glasses pouch someday.)

Is the little tote already finish finished? Yes. It is Walker brand, and you can find them here. This was the "Nylon Mesh," but I'm pretty sure that Heather Holland Daly used the "Color Mesh" bags in Stitch Graffiti. I would say that stitching on a prefinished piece is the hardest part about stitching these projects. You've got to try to avoid hooking the zipper pull or stitching through the back. I found stitching upside down helped a lot.

Funny story: someone saw me stitching upside down and said, "I'd have to turn the pattern upside down too." I had to show her that I had. What am I some kind of spacial genius? (No, not at all.)

Did you stitch it with perle cotton or several strands of floss? Three strands of floss, but I might have done four. One of the reasons I didn't is it's stitched in overdyeds, and you cannot really mix the two threads that are leftover with the other two threads from the next section of the floss. Muddies the colors. But if I were stitching with regular old DMC I would have done four. And perle cotton, why didn't I think of that!? That might have solved it all.

Should I broaden my horizons and stray from linen?? The answer from me is always going to be YES!

As I've continued stitching on the SB Stocking (Charland) I've come to realize that I didn't buy all the threads for these stockings. I guess I know where I'll be this Saturday.

7 comments:

Needle Nicely said...

I stock the finer-meshed Walker bags which customers love. I'll have to take a look at the larger-meshed line. Thanks for the idea!

Linda said...

Thanks for the info Nikki.

Linda

Robin in Virginia said...

Thank you for responding to the questions in a blog post. I need to check out the mesh bags. Enjoy your weekend!

Robin in Virginia

Julie said...

Something I have not stitched on, it does look nice.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Thanks for the extra information. Enjoy your weekend shopping trip.

D1-D2 said...

Very interesting. I never though of stitching on mesh bags. I think I have some pouches at home.

Amanda said...

Have you looked at Ruth O'Leary's site, http://www.rutholearytextileart.co.uk? She's embroidered on mesh so as to transfer the embroidery to other fabrics. Check out the recently completed Nasturtiums, the Plantagenet Wreath in April, and the different versions of Snowdrops from last winter. Her work is amazing.