BAS - Week 36 - Raised Cretan Stitch

Sorry for the long delay in getting back to posting the BAS stitches and seams! What with moving back home from the lake and then going to Colorado for the retreat I have been pretty busy and not always near a computer. I resolve to do better though!
This week's seam is the Raised Cretan Stitch as shown in the photo above. I have made this particular one pretty wide and with the stitches close together but you can vary the stitch by adjusting these variables. In case the stitch is not familiar, I am including some photos of how it is made.

You start out by making two rows of backstitch parallel to each other and evenly spaced.

Bringing your needle up at the top of the first backstitch on one side, take it across and through the outside of the first backstitch on the opposite side. Pull your needle through, being careful to keep the thread that came across in the last step underneath your thread this time. If that is not clear take a look at the photo and you should be able to tell what I mean by the placement of the needle.

Take your needle across and through the next backstitch on that side, always working from the outside to the center of the seam and keeping the previous threads underneath. Continue on back and forth in this way until you have completed the seam.

I hope you enjoy this seam and I'll look forward to seeing some photos of what you do! If you have any questions or I can make this clearer please just ask.

Comments

CarolynPhi said…

Oh my gosh, Kerry, you are so generous with your time and talents in hosting this wonderful learning experience for all of us, you don't have one thing to apologize for...

Thank you for being you!!!

Big hugs, Carolyn

October 10, 2009 at 2:38 PM

Anonymous said…

Perfect timing, Kerry! I was just teaching a friend open Cretan--now she can ad raised Cretan to her sampler. Thanks! Lynn in SoCal

October 13, 2009 at 7:59 AM

Giveaway Day! (CLOSED)

I am very happy to be joining in the Giveaway Day through Sew, Momma, Sew . I have chosen to share one of my finds from a shopping trip, or treasure hunts as I think of them. This is an antique sewing box - I could not resist it when I saw it for sale! Were you able to guess the item from the sneak peek earlier in the week? The box itself is fairly small, 8 inchs X 6 inchs and 4 inches high (20 cm X 15 cm and 10 cm high). From my research it is of Asian origin. Inside the sewing box is lined with hand-painted silk. The inside of the lid features a neat little needlebook. In the bottom of the sewing box there are more beautiful hand-painted blossoms and an attached pincushion. I hope you are as charmed by this little box as I was when I found it and that you will enter my giveaway. I will be pleased to mail internationally so everyone is invited to enter. To enter, visit my Etsy shop and then come back and leave me a...

BAS - Week 81 - Sequin Flower with Tutorial

This Build a Seam (BAS) Challenge is a little different - not exactly a stitch per se. It is a technique for making sequin flowers which can be a wonderful addition to a seam treatment or motif. You will need cupped sequins for this - flat ones will not work properly - and some seed beads. Mark your fabric with a center dot and five evenly spaced dots around the outside. Bring your needle up through one of the dots on the outside and string on one sequin (cup upwards), a bead, another sequin and two more beads. Take your needle down through the middle dot. Carry on making another leg in the same way on each of the other four outside dots, always going down into the center dot which will be the middle of your flower. This is what you end up with after you have done all five legs - a nice little sequin flower! You can add a bead or two more in the center of the flower if you wish. You can also vary the number of legs depending on the size of t...

Giveaway!

I am feeling like celebrating for various reasons! Firstly, this is my 100th post on my blog and that seems worthy of a little celebration. Secondly, I can now count the days on this year's camping season on my fingers! It has been a busy summer out here at the campground and I am anticipating getting home for a rest - I am so looking forward to hot showers, a real bed, good lighting and my comfy stitching chair! So, I have decided to celebrate with a giveaway! I think these are great fun and have put my name down for several and even won once so it feels like time to be on the hosting end for a change. I have decided to give away a squishie of items for stitching, embellishing and inspiration. I can't show you a picture right now because of the twist I have come up with! I'll start out with a squishie containing some fun items like an oya or two, specialty threads and fancy yarns, a silkie and a couple other things. For every person who puts their name in the draw by leavi...

kerrykatiecakes

Search This Blog