Apple Blossom Time!

I was printing up some of my kimono patterns to send to a store in Canada this week. It's been a while since I actually "looked" at these designs, and I was reminded of how enjoyable these patterns are to stitch - and look at. And the springy ones really caught my eye and I thought they might bring some springtime cheer to all of you too.... The kimono above is called APPLE BLOSSOM KIMONO, done with silk Waterlilies 088 ("Mountain Meadow") and a handful of pink and gold threads.

What I like about these kimono designs is how well-suited the rectangular blocks of the sleeves and body are for composite stitch patterns. The kimono shape provides the visual focus for whatever patterns you want to put inside of the kimono. Another great thing about these designs is how perfectly they show off variegated threads. The designs simply wouldn't look as elegant or complex if they were stitched with solid color threads. Here's an up-close look at the Apple Blossom patterns and how beautifully they showcase the variegated thread:


I developed a certain "formula" for these kimonos, in that I used smaller patterns inside the body areas, and then put the larger, coordinating patterns in the sleeves, and sometimes along the bottom of the kimono. I also discovered the soft rayon metallic thread called HI-LIGHTS (by Rainbow Gallery) that I used for all the kimono lapels because it had such a nice soft, shimmery sheen - like satin fabric.

Here's another seasonal design I call SPRINGTIME KIMONO (this is the pale version done with a now-discontinued Rainbow Gallery thread, but it's similar to Waterlilies 110 - "Hyacinth"):


I particularly love the little floral pattern that makes up the kimono body, as you can actually see lots of overlapping flowers. In this detail shot you can see that I picked out some random flowers at the kimono bottom and stitched them in metallic thread, to create a bit more texture and drama:



I also stitched SPRINGTIME KIMONO in a brighter colorway to see how it looked:


The great thing about these kimono designs is how adaptable they all are to changing the thread colors....A great project if you want to try mixing and matching your OWN colors!

In any event, HAPPY SPRING!!!!

My Kimono with Fans

I keep meaning to show you the way I framed this particular square piece within a standard rectangular frame, because it might give you some ideas for framing some of your own pieces that are unusual or non-standard sizes.

Normally, for my pattern covers I scan each finished piece onto my scanner for the best possible close-up image of the stitched model. I don't provide a photo of the framed piece, since THAT part of the process I leave for each stitcher to determine themselves.

But the way I framed this piece provides a rather simple way to create an elegant look and I thought you'd be interested in seeing the overall piece.... After I finished stitching this piece, and laced up the back around a piece of mat board, I went looking thru my pile of frames. As I recall, I had to get it framed quickly to send it off to a show, and I didn't have time to shop around for the "perfect" frame.

All I had on hand was a lovely rectangular frame with a gold finish that matched the golds in the piece. [ASIDE: I took this photo on a dark grey day, but the frame and kimono actually are a deep gold color, like the kimono lapels.] To eliminate the extra space on the top and bottom, I decided to use pieces of fancy wallpaper (from an old discarded wallpaper book) - that I tore up "artistically" and placed on the background purple mat. (You could also get this same look by using one of the many scrapbooking papers available...or you could even use pieces of fabric..)

But it still needed something..... so I added yet another piece of darker purple mat board, which provided extra dimension, plus the additional accent of color (it also echoes the dark purple lining of the kimono and draws the eye up and down, attaching the two separate pieces of wallpaper). Here's what the bottom half of the piece looks like up-close:


It had never occurred to me to collage the background of a stitchery piece, but as you can see in this model, it works well with the piece and even adds some additional interest to the finishing. (And, in case you're wondering....I glued the papers with spray adhesive, then hot glued the laced model on top of everything.)

So, I hope this gets you thinking about different ways to finish your stitched pieces, and trying other combinations besides regular matting....

P.S.: For those of you who might ask, this design is called KIMONO WITH FANS and can be found in my KIMONO COLLECTION at my website.

More Kimono Trios

As long as I'm showing you the kimono series, I thought I'd show you photos of the other two.....

THREE SPRINGTIME KIMONOS


and THREE WINTER KIMONOS


They each use just one variegated colorway - with a trio of separate accent colors. And isn't the variety amazing? Pretty neat illusion, huh? Something to think about when you're stitching a project and you need a way to tie separate elements together. Remember: LET THE VARIEGATED THREAD DO THE WORK FOR YOU. This is a really good way to pick out thread colors. Find a variegated thread you like and then match your solid colors to it. Chances are, you won't go too far wrong if your colors match the variegated skein.

(And no, there isn't an autumnal trio. I think I ran out of kimono energy and never got back to designing the last in the series.....sigh, I'll just add it to the list of 1,534 other projects waiting to be created in my head....)

The Old Switcheroo

While I'm talking about the fun of working with variegated threads, I should show you how my "Switcheroo Effect" works on some of my kimono patterns. Here's one of my kimono trios: THREE SUMMER KIMONOS. (I also have THREE WINTER KIMONOS and THREE SPRINGTIME KIMONOS, which also use the same technique.)


Anyway, I used the SAME variegated thread for all three kimonos...but I used THREE DIFFERENT solid color accents (with a matching metallic). Each kimono takes on the tone of the solid color yet they all blend together because they have the same variegated foundation thread (I used The Thread Gatherer's Silk 'n Colors 056 -"Mermaid Shimmer".) I was curious to see how much of a color change would occur when I tried a trio of Switcheroos.... and I was pleased to see how well my idea worked.


Here's the kimono on the left. The primary foundation of the kimono patterns is done with the variegated silk, and the accent stitches are worked with a sage green (it's the color of the tent-stitched lining area.)


And here's the middle kimono. The accent color is the dark teal silk in the lining area. Isn't it amazing how much darker the middle kimono is, having the darker accent color worked thruout the pattern?

Finally, here's the kimono on the right, which uses a turquoise accent color.

Please notice the different composite stitch patterns used on each of the kimonos. I consider it a point of honor NOT to repeat my stitch patterns, so I always have fun creating new and different stitch combinations for all my designs.

These kimonos are worked on 24 ct. pale green Congress Cloth and the overall size of the design is 5" high and 15" long. I've also stitched just one of the kimonos by itself, and they're equally fun to stitch.

Flowering Blossoms

Spring has arrived in the wine country of Northern California. You can tell because everything is starting to bloom like crazy. The small peach trees that last year didn't put on much of a show, are going to town this year.

And I'm getting quite a rush of orders this week....especially in my kimonos. I just filled another order for a woman in Colorado who is stocking up on my kimono patterns so she has her stash ready to go for her annual RV road trip. Lucky lady!

Here's one of the kimonos she ordered, my APPLE BLOSSOM KIMONO:

It's another favorite of mine, because the colors are so delicate and they mimic the softness of tender flower blossoms. For this design, I used Caron Waterlilies (silk) in 88 - Mountain Meadow with several pale pink silks, and a soft pink metallic - Hi-lights H609. I love to use the soft rayon Hi-lights for the kimono lapels because the colors are very soft, and look very much like silk fabric.

This design, like all my other kimonos, was done on 24 ct. Congress Cloth, which is a very fine type of needlepoint canvas.

Here's a close-up of the individual kimono patterns. You can see that the kimono body is made with a small box grid, and inside are "flowers" made of an upright cross, covered with a regular cross stitch. Then the larger box grid on the sleeves echoes the body pattern - only the flowers are larger and made with lazy daisy stitches, topped with various accent threads, to create a little sparkle. This larger pattern is repeated at the bottom of the kimono, to tie the patterns together, and also, to create a little more interest in the whole design. And we can't forget to add a few beads, to create even more texture and dimension! And the flower branches are created with random straight stitches, with small lazy daisy flowers and leaves sprinkled on top.

As I look at this design, I begin to wonder what it would look like in pale plum or orchid colors.... Sounds like a good idea for another kimono: the PLUM BLOSSOM KIMONO...or maybe the ORCHID KIMONO....hmmmmmmm....

Springtime Kimono

I was just printing out some kimono patterns for a customer's order and realized that I haven't really looked at them in a while. Although I don't ordinarily do "oriental" designs, I really enjoyed creating my series of kimonos, and for a while was eagerly stitching them up, one after the other.

I discovered the kimono shape is absolutely wonderful for showcasing composite stitch patterns.(NOTE: Composite stitch patterns are made from combining different stitches to create a new, more complex stitch pattern.) Here's a detail photo of the above kimono. Look at the simple flower pattern of the robe, and the block pattern of the sleeve. Notice the one "flower" I stitched in metallic on the robe, and then did more of them along the bottom edge of the kimono. The fun part for me was thinking up new composite patterns that would replicate the look of richly textured kimono fabric.

In the kimono, there are two simple rectangle shapes (the sleeve block and the robe block) that can be filled with complex stitch patterns; then there is the lining area that I fill with a simple tent or basketweave stitch (a good calm area for your eye to rest); and finally,there is the silk lapel area that can be stitched with a simple diagonal satin stitch, but using any fancy, shiny, metallic thread of your choice. And once I had the kimono stitched and floating on the canvas, I had to think of some way to anchor the kimono to the background (and I didn't want to fill the whole background with stitches). So I thought up suitable "oriental" motifs to use in the background. This pattern has parasols stitched in the back of the kimono; I have used a variety of other things in the backgrounds of my other kimonos.

Now let's talk about the variegated threads I used....Because I initially stitched all my kimonos on 24 ct. Congress Cloth, I was able to use much finer threads. In this design I used a fine, single-ply cotton (such as Bravo!, Encore, or Wildflowers). You can also easily substitute 2-3 plies of a variegated cotton or silk, and the design still looks elegant!


What's wonderful about these kimono designs, is that you can easily change the color palette to reflect your own preference. To conclude, I'll show you the same SPRINGTIME KIMONO in another, darker palette. (I enjoyed this design so much, I stitched it up TWICE, just to see how different it would look in darker spring colors.) That's the joy of using variegated threads: you never quite know how the finished piece will look until you get it all done...it's that "surprise" element that has me totally hooked on using variegated threads every chance I get!