Annies Crazy World

This first shisha is still very much in experimental phase…

I was playing around with the idea of needle lace surrounding the shisha…

I will need to do more experiments with threads and with working onto a firmer base thread…I worked this sample on one of the beaded samples which are stitched with a thin thread that fitted through the beads and it broke when I pulled on the needle lace web.

The other idea that I have been playing with is using a spider type web to hold the shisha in place…The first sample is a simple experiment to see how the spokes of a Spider Web would hold the shisha on…it works…

For the second one I made an odd number of spokes and wove the thread in a spiral, it was a bit hard to keep the tension of the spiral this may not work with other threads because the threads want to slip into the middle and I think the metalic thread catching on itself helped keep this one in place.

Covering the shisha with organiza (the gold spots are part of the fabric), as I have done in the last detail enabled me to stitch the Spider Web much the same as I do them directly to fabric…

On this shisha I was playing around with a different combination of stitches that would give more shape interest to the edge of the shisha.

For this shisha I have stitched 3 buttonhole stitches under the threads of the shisha…I have then done one buttonhole in the reverse direction so that it sits over the first 3…then one more buttonhole going in the original direction and putting the needle into the middle of the group of stitchs already there…pull the group of stitches away from the shisha so that it stretches out like a petal…seal the end by putting the needle through to the back…

tonight I did one seam of the TAST Week 36 cable chain Stitch before persueing more…

…Shisha ideas and started experimenting with adding beads.

For the first one I attached the shisha and then stitched the beads into the attaching stitches.

I then played around with using the beads to attach the shisha…limiting factor with adding beads is that the thicker threads don’t fit through the beads but I overcame that by using a thin thread to attach the beads and then going to a thicker thread for the surrounding stitches…

This shisha is a 1/2 inch square mirror…to attach it I came up at the middle of the bottom edge, down at the middle of the left edge, up middle of top edge, down middle of the right edge, that gave me 2 diagonal lines across the corners of the square…from there I finished the square and kept working around the mirror with straight stitches till I got to the corners which I finished with colonial knots…At the bottom I made a tassal from a few straight stitches.

Clusters are a good way to experiment with shishas….They allow you to play with different threads, shapes and design ideas…CrazyQstitcher has blogged a lovely cluster of shishas that not only shows how different threads stitch up differently but also shows a variety of the different objects that can be used…and my cluster, for which I have used only a DMC varigated #5 cotton perle thread, shows a variety of different ways to attach the shisha and different stitches that can be used to surround and decorate the shisha.

The first of the shishas in this line was anchored to the fabric from Sharon B’s instructions with the surrounding stitching done from my instructions with the stitches spaced out to create a lacey look.

The second and third shishas were already on the fabric, the second one has very close surrounding stitches and is surrounded by Colonial knots the surrounding stitches on the third shisha are not as widley spaced as #1 nor as close together as #2

The 4th shisha is a 1.25 inch diameter mirror that Sharon B gave me to play with….I used its size to experiment with embroidering on top of the shisha, after anchoring and stitching around it I used the surrounding stitches as a base for a row of Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch which I chose because of the loop that the thread makes between the stitches.

I anchored the last shisha with a Star which holds the shisha in place so the surrounding stitches don’t have to attach to the shisha, it is there to soften/protect the edge of the shisha. I surrounded it with a row of Portuguese stem stitch but it was a thick mirror and the first row wasn’t deep enough so I did a second row of Portuguese stem stitch on top of the first row.

I have stitched a golden Shisha Sun to Celebrate that today is the first day of spring.

I drew a circle the size of the shisha and stitched the fly stitch sun rays on the fabric before attaching the shisha because it is easier to get long spokes at the right angle when the shisha isn’t in the way.

I have made this shisha into an ATC so that I can send an overseas friend a little Aussie sunshine.

Shisha stitch and Sharon has illustrated a different method than the one I knew so the first thing to do was to try Sharon’s directions

Conclusion I love Sharon’s method for anchoring the shisha to the fabric but prefer the stitch I have always done around the edge.

I then played around with doing a knotted stitch to hold the threads in place, rather than the stitch around the edge, I was looking for a lacey effect…A bit messy, The varigated thread makes it look confusing and I din’t really know what I was doing but I will give it another go because I think that it has potential.

More Shishas tomorrow when hopefully I can get some better photos than I have been able to take tonight.

Todays detail is a Shi Sha surrounded with a combination of detached chain stitch and fly stitch sealed with a colonial knot…

If you have ever tried to sew on a shi sha and given up in disgust I will encourage you to give it another go…as they are not that difficult once you know the tricks and are worth mastering because they are a lovely embellishment and the technicque can be ever so handy for attaching many interesting items to your crzy quilts.

Shi Shas are held in place with straight stitches, the difficulty with sewing shi shas on is holding them in place while you do the first four stitches…to overcome this I suggest that you start with a sequin or coin charm that has a hole in it so that it can be stitched in place and wont fall out while you are trying to figure out where the next stitch goes…OR Learn/practice the stitch sequence on a circle drawn on some scrape fabric, then when you move onto the shisha you will know the stitch and can concentrate on holding it in place with your thumb.

Drawing a circle on the Fabric is what I did for my sample because it solved the problem I was having with the flash on the shi sha.

These are the first 4 Straight Stitches that hold the shi sha in place…don’t pull the support stitches tightly as they need some movement so that they can be pulled closer to the edge when you do the edge stitching.

Another 4 Straight Stitches complete the support structure for the edgeing.

When you start you will possibly find it easier to go come up and go down as 2 motions, once you understand how the support structure works you will find that you can go down and come up with one motion.

Step 1 of the edgeing stitch is worked by slipping the needle under all the threads from the centre to the edge of the shi sha and looping the thread under the needle as you do for a blanket stitch.

Step 2 is a small back stitch beside the shi sha which anchors the step 1 stitch to the background.

Repeat these 2 steps….

The edge stitches can be close together as in the top of my sample or spaced apart as on the bottom of my sample…

POSTSCRIPT posted 31st Oct 2007
Sharon B has illustrated Shisha stitchfor Week 35 of Take a stitch Tuesday…She has shown a different method of anchoring the Shisha to the fabric and of the surrounding stitches…I have tried her method and love the way she anchors the shisha, but I prefer the method I have described above for the surrounding stitches.

To the right is a Shisha which I surrounded with beads and then added Bead dangles to it.

Below is a rushed ribbon stitched on with Beads and sewing charms.

My second page of visual journal ideas has led me off in a different direction for tonights shishas…When I am putting down ideas in my visual journal, I make a note of anything that crosses my mind, I then look at each idea, ask myself can it be done? How? Some ideas are undoable but it is always worth thinking about because sometimes what might be a problem does have a solution and when it does…

When I got to the witch flying in front of the moon, the problem was How do I attach a charm to the shisha…I would need to have something to stitch it to, something that wouldn’t block the mirror, something like the fine net that some laces are made on…Tulle would be worth an experiment…I have used a miniature dragon because I didn’t have a witch charm and it worked, I had a solution…

…When the problem does have a Solution it can be very exciting because it can open the way for other possiblities…If I can cover the shisha with Tulle, what else could I cover it with?…Organza…It works too and below is a red moon memory of the luna eclipse last week…and there are a few more ideas that are percolating through my brain.