Playing with Patterns: Herringbone

I was looking thru magazines this morning while having my breakfast and came upon this page with two interesting herringbone patterns:


The magazine blurb says about herringbone patterns: "...rendered in new materials, with a metallic flash or a new set of references, this spiny motif of syncopated chevrons reaches higher levels of chic."

Of course, I was intrigued about how these patterns might look as stitched patterns, so I created a doodle canvas and whipped out some herringbone samples:


The three patterns on the RIGHT were stitched with #5 pearl cottons. I like each one of them. They have great potential as borders for painted canvases, don't you think?The middle (solid color) one would make a great basket texture on an appropriate canvas (it's done on the diagonal over 8 canvas threads). Imagine this herringbone pattern as a border to a handpainted canvas, with a plain (or padded) diagonal satin stitched row on either side of it, to create a basketweave mat effect around the central design. Can you "see" how elegant that would look?

The other two patterns have a variegated thread in them; maybe it makes them rather busy, but perhaps with subtler variegated colors it could create a sophisticated effect for a border, or large pattern area. Imagine this pattern done in two solid colors - or maybe two solid colors, but in different TEXTURES - wouldn't THAT look elegant?? [FYI:The top right pattern is done in rectangles of 2 x 6 threads, stepping up 2 threads each box. The lower zig zag of chevrons is done on the diagonal over 8 canvas threads.]

I wanted to see how the herringbone would look for a background stitch, so the two patterns on the LEFT were stitched with 1 ply of a 6-ply cotton floss. I REALLY like the look of those stitches! I don't know where I can use them, but I'll certainly try to find a use for them on some canvas somewhere! [FYI: You might want to play around with stitch lengths for these background patterns. And depending on the size and scale of your canvas, you'll need to enlarge or reduce the pattern size to fit.]

So, I'm thinking herringbone patterns might start showing up in some of my next designs because they're.... Chic?? WELL, YES! Fast and fun? MOST DEFINITELY!!