Today’s lesson on the Partridge Mystery Stocking focuses on the tree!  It’s a  large portion of the stocking and needs to be interesting and unusual but not so interesting that it overshadows the partridge yet to come.

We played it up and used fun new threads and stitches!  Woo Hoo!

All the outlines of the tree that once were brown are now purple.  We couched Soutache braid in place along the outlines.

Once they were complete, the branches were filled with a new stitch worked with Silk Wrapped Gimp.  Pretty cool.

There are some tricks to working with Silk Wrapped Gimp but it’s worth it for the pretty effect that it gives.

1.  Work with a short length of gimp at all times and keep a short tail on your thread.  Moving the needle up and down the thread damages the thread.

2.  Use a bigger than normal needle.  I used a size 20 Tapestry Needle on this 13ct canvas.

That’s not too many rules is it?

The next lesson for this class will be December 28th just after Santa visits.  I think he will approve of this fat little partridge.  See you then.

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