Saturday, May 14, 2011

New Cyber Class

I have been busy planning some new cyber classes and finally have them ready to offer to interested stitchers. The first one I'm going to share with you today is my PETUNIAS: Shadow Stitching class.

It all began with my own curiosity about shadow stitching. What is it? How do you do it? I for one, wanted to give it a try, but didn't want to practice on a large painted canvas... so I decided to try printing up some small canvases myself, using photos I've taken of flowers in my garden. Here are a few of the canvases I've already stitched using these fun techinques:


Stitching these small canvases is soooo fun, but it just isn't possible to mass produce them for stores. Then I realized that they would be a perfect cyber class that I could offer to a select group of interested stitchers.... Stitchers, who just like me, are curious about trying out shadow stitching techniques, but don't want to experiment on larger or more expensive painted canvases.

Sooooo, PETUNIAS is the first one I'm offering up as a cyber class. It has a finished size of 6" by 6.5" and it's done on 18 ct. mono canvas with a handful of Splendor silk threads, a #5 pearl cotton for the padded borders, and a metallic ribbon that adds a bit of glitz and glamour! (By the way, I've chosen Splendor silks because DMC floss is too thin for me and I found the silk thread to have slighly better coverage. And since you use very little thread in shadow stitching, the kits will have partial skeins of silks to keep the kit costs as low as possible.)

Here are my shadow-stitched PETUNIAS for you to see up-close:


I've chosen these PETUNIAS for the first project, because there are only a few stitches to deal with in large areas, so you can get a feel for shadow stitching without worrying about too many stitch or color changes. It's a good beginning project to see if you enjoy this type of stitching or not.

And, ahem... you know how much I like to add borders to everything, so this canvas (which just has the petunia image printed on it) is embellished with a few easy borders around it. I plan to add different borders to each of these canvases and I'm busy stitching new ones even as I write this....

Anyway, the PETUNIAS cyber class (which will start in July) includes the border techniques as well, so you'll be able to finish your canvas with a few neat borders techniques.

If you're interested in signing up for this cyber class, please visit my website for complete details and order form.

P.S.: I'll be posting another cyber class announcement in a few days, so come back and visit again soon!

3 comments:

Barbara Elmore said...

What a Brilliant Idea! Love the petunia, and your border finishes it off so nicely!

LilyStitch said...

Hey Laura,

LOVE the brilliant and vibrant colors in your new cyberclasses! Looks like lots of fun. Much luck.

Christa

Marcy said...

Can you clarify whether shadow stitching means blending 2 or more thread colors in one needle? I tried this technique for another cyber class and found that process too tedious...so as much as I love this piece, I'd like to know if that's what I'd be getting myself into. Thank you!