Braiding My Own Ecru Yarns

After I had explored ecru as a colour palette I began thinking about how I can apply this to weave. I decided to use my yarns from Texere to create braids. I wanted to vary the thickness, colour and surface as much as possible. My photographs are below.

The yarns used in these samples are

• Chemille in vanilla and mink
• Combed and undyed wool ends
• Combed and brown dyed wool ends
• Combination of mohair, wool and nylon
• Silk noil fibres in silver
• Viscose ribbon in oyster

Thanks for looking!

Ecru Embroidery Samples

After I created the ecru card wraps I began thinking about using other materials and techniques in the same colour palette. I decided to work in stripes as to mimic the stripes in the card wraps. This also meant I could still focus on colour choice and the materials texture rather than composition. My photographs are below.

This sample uses a running stitch, cross stitch and a couching technique with ribbon. I like how the ribbon catches the light creating a focal point against the matte background. 

This sample was created using white material and white thread only. It is interesting to see how tone and texture affect the sample by using different materials. It is also interesting to look at the zig zag machine stitch and how the width and spaces can create tone too.

This sample was created using many handstitch techniques including couching, backstitch, cross stitch and pleating techniques. I feel this sample has quite a sandy or beachy feel due to the colours and material textures. All the materials have a matte finish and are also quite grainy which links itself to sand.

This sample is all machine stitched. I feel this sample is the weakest as the stitch is limited to what the machine can perform. I also think the colours are a little mis-matched and the yellow stripe down the centre becomes too much of a focal point drawing attention from the other subtle colours.

This is my favourite sample and is entirely hand stitched using techniques such as couching, satin stitch, cross stitch, back stitch and chain stitch. I took the most time over this sample and feel that the quality of colour choice and stitch are higher than previous samples. I also like how the materials vary in texture and the stitch creates detail.

More to follow...