Lace cottage tutorial continued....part 3

Step 1.. I embroidered  the chimneys and the little roof section over the door with a long and short satin stitch. .  The roof section I just embroidered right over the cut edge of the house lace.

I also found this cute little edging that I wanted to use.

Step 2:  I split it lengthwise and used part of it across the ridge of the roof.  People often had a ridge decoration to keep birds off the thatch roof.  I used the other section for trim along the eaves which I may or may not keep as it keep shifting..

Step 3:  Then I attached the lace I had dyed for the roof.  I ran it about 1/2" beyond the edge of the roof.

Then from the back I ran a basting line so I knew where I wanted to cut for the roof. 

But before I trimmed the excess I used a matching thread and all along the inside of the edge (see arrow) I made tiny stitches securing all the lace about 1/4" in and then I could cut it without it raveling.

Now I can start on the windows and door and the roof trim.


While looking through my journal laces I found a quite large table runner that I had been saving for a large journal cover.  It would be perfect for the fence and since it had a damaged section right in the center I would have had to remove a section anyway, I will have enough to use for the fence...

To answer Cindy's question.... I am using a piece of cotton.  I love using good quality used sheets from the thrift store.  They have a good thread count and after repeated washings all the sizing is washed out and they needle beautifully.  This one was a treasure.  It was a king sized Ralph Lauren that was a soft white.  It will last me a while but I do use up quite a bit for projects for my students.

Another "Gerry Day" and a support for Bill....

One of my blog readers emailed me that she had had a "Gerry Day"  My immediate thought was "Oh you poor dear!"  And sure enough she had a bad fall and did serious injury to several body parts.  I also had  another "Gerry Day" today.  I was trying to wire these wheels together and went running into the house to get my pliers.  I managed to fall UP the porch stairs, cracked my knee cap on the edge of a step and rammed my elbow into the porch rail... I am limping and sore tonight... DH says just about anybody can fall down the stairs, but it takes a special skill to fall up the stairs...aren't I the lucky one to have that skill.

I was trying to wire these three wheels together to make a support for my new clematis "Bill Mackenzie" so it could ramble over and through these wheels and hide that ugly stump.  I used to put a large brass container of flowers on the stump but always forgot to water them.  This will be much better.

The largest wheel in front is 5' and is way too heavy to lift.  In fact I could hardly keep it upright to roll it along.  My original plan was to put a post on either side to support it.  I quickly learned that digging post holes by that old stump was not going to happen.  So I dragged two smaller wheels (about 40lbs a piece) from the barn and plan B was to wire them in a triangle and I think that is going to work. And dear "Bill" is planted and ready to ramble.

Years ago in the back of the garden I put an even larger wheel between two posts and planted a pink macropetala clematis at the base of each post and they eventually covered the structure which was about 8' tall. It was stunning in bloom and  I loved it.









Today's new wheel support is a much smaller endeavor but should be great when in bloom and it is just feet from the front porch where I will get to enjoy it...

"Bill" has huge nodding bright-yellow flowers, with darker red centers. The flowers appear during  summer and are followed by attractive wispy seed heads into fall.  It is an aggressive grower and I might let it ramble over and up the clothesline pole.

Lace cottage tutorial continued....part 2.

Second Stage:

Step 1:
At this point I use a black sharpie pen to darken the windows  Very little of it shows when finished but it makes the sashing on the windows pop.

Step 2:  Once you decide on your lace, put a large enough piece to cover with excess on the top of the cottage.  Depending on the size of the cottage, baste or pin in place.  My cottage is quite small so I just pinned it down.

Step 3:  Turn your needlework over and from the back, baste just around the wall area.  With my particular lace I could have seen  through the lace to baste from the top but it is neater and works better doing from the back.

Step 4:  Turn the needlework right side up and trim leaving at least 1/4" outside the basting line.  Now the fun begins..

I can guarantee that if you trim the lace to exactly fit that it will pull loose.  I work with lace a lot and the biggest problem  is stabilizing a cut edge.  I have a few tricks I use that I will share as I go along.

Step 5:  Choosing laces for roof and trim is fun because as long as it is in scale, the possibilities are endless.

On the left is a 1/2" piece of crocheted lace that I have dyed and antiqued for the roof.  On the right is an assortment of very narrow braid, soutache, cording, and rat tail.  I will antique small pieces of these for trim around the doors, windows and the edge of the roof.

Before I start on the roof I will satin stitch the chimneys and the tiny roof over the door.  I'm hoping to find time to do that this evening.

What do you do when you can't stitch?

When I was first married in 1956 I always did my kitchen floor on my knees with paste wax and ironed my sheets and my house sparkled..  By the time I had three kids and was teaching full time, my priorities had changed...a lot!

Over the years cleaning house was relegated down the to-do list.  But when I'm frustrated and can't stitch I find doing something physical helps.... I sometimes cook but there's only two of us and there's a limit....if it is nice outside working in the garden is my second choice and the garden is showing the extra care... but if all else fails I have been cleaning and much to my surprise, enjoying it.  It has actually been therapeutic and last week I was even excited about going to Walmart to buy a new mop...and couldn't wait to use it.  Can't say the house sparkles yet but it is improving.

And speaking of the garden..... I had been so happy that my purple beans had been unmolested and were about 18" high but yesterday I went out and this is what I found.  Earlier this spring we added extra wire to every inch of the already in place deer fencing and I just can't believe the rabbits can still get in.  That leaves the quail but these beans were tall.  I may have to put up a cot and sleep in the garden.  Does anyone else have quail that destroy their garden?

Yesterday I bought some forms used to dry baseball caps and am using them to protect my squash plants.

The perennial geraniums naturalized over the years and are blooming in drifts all over the garden.... and in and out among the old rugosas..

The actual beginning.... part 1

This is my rough drawing for my new lace cottage.  I will make a simplified one later that you can download, but this is what I usually work with... pretty rough and as a rule I make a lot of modifications as I go along. 

I mainly am concerned with the general placement of things, not details at this point.
I do not like to make any marks of any kind on the front of my work...ever.  well almost ever.

STEP ONE: The very first thing I do is make a "reverse image" of this drawing.  I do it in my photo editing program but you can do it with most printers also if you check under options.  I do this because I will be putting the image on the back side of my block. 

SECOND STEP: Apply fusible tricot knit interfacing to the back of fabric.  Do not skip this step.

THIRD STEP:  Using a light source (light box or window) lay your fabric front side down on the reverse image and trace the outline onto the back of the fabric.  Since it is on the back of the fabric on the interfacing I can use a fine permanent marker such as a pentel micron fine liner.

You only need the basic outlines.. Note that I marked the corner of the outside of the block as a guide for now as I may adjust the outer edge as I go along.

FOURTH STEP: Then using a single strand of thread I do a fairly small running stitch over all these lines.  This basting will be the   guide as to where to place the laces

 

When I turn the fabric right side up I have my guide and no marks on my fabric.  I can remove the basting stitches as the work progresses.

I use this method of marking on the back and basting to the front so often and love it.  I use it over and over and over again.  It is by far my favorite method of getting a design on fabric.

FIFTH STEP:  I don't intend to stitch in the sky so at this point I apply a light wash of blue in the general area of the sky..  It doesn't matter if it bleeds into the area of the house as it will be covered with laces.  Start with a VERY light wash and test where it won't show.  You can always add more color but it isn't easy to take it out if it gets too dark in the beginning.

I went through my laces and picked a few I might use. It is fairly easy to find narrow laces for the roof but much harder to find lace for the walls.  This is the type of lace I look for....an small overall pattern.  It matters not to be if it is machine lace (as on the bottom) or hand made as on the top.  I prefer the top lace because the stitching is denser but it may be too thick... I will just have to test them..  It is difficult to find this type of lace... large enough and the right density..

 

For the fences I'm always collecting laces with a grid pattern such as these.  They work well for so many things....but especially fences.
 The top machine lace will probably work the best because of scale but I'll see.

This grid is especially nice for fences because it works as a guide for stitching in every other column to make the slats for the fence... clever huh?