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design & technique

Additional illuminations

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Sophie wrote, “Oh what beautiful illuminations, and what a shame I have no space for them in my panel!”

A:Thank you for wanting to further enhance our scroll, and for your perfectly timed comment. Several artists have donated original artwork for inclusion in our scroll, and I am in the process of reworking them into cross-stitch patterns.
One of each design will be made available as a kit, and will be announced in a MailChimp newsletter.
If you would like to create your own design or know other artists interested, please let me know. We are looking for artwork that illuminates specific passages of themes.

 

Colonial knots for taggim?

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Eve asks: The pattern notes that the taggim can be created with a straight stitch and a french knot. Can we use colonial knots instead? Some people find them much easier to execute and from a distance, they’re near identical.

A: Colonial knots are a great option if you enjoy doing them.
Eve further suggests a page from the website of Mary Corbet on the two knots:
http://www.needlenthread.com/2012/06/the-french-knot-vs-the-colonial-knot.html

Colour palette

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Margo comments: I think the colour palette should include a green.

A: Margo, you are not alone in that preference. A moss green has been added, and the other colours tweaked. However, part of the reason I restricted the palette is to encourage stitchers to think imaginatively . . . in the spirit of mediaeval manuscript illuminators and/or early 20th century impressionist painters.
MS and Derain
In the case of the former, permanent colours were restricted to those made from ground up minerals, mostly gold and semi-precious stones. You may have noticed in old tapestries that mainly reds and blues have survived the centuries; yellows and greens tended to be plant-based dyes and not colourfast.
Around 1856 aniline dyes were invented, and that afforded typically cash-strapped artists the opportunity to explore a full range of colours (and to take aspirin for their aches and pains;-). See aniline Some painters, including André Derain, whose Trees is shown above embraced high-key colours with such exuberance that they were called Fauvistes (Wild Beasts). Even though their use of colour and form was vigorously unrepresentational, there is no ambiguity in what they are portraying.
Derain and Matisse portraits

Uneven margins . . . “extra” aida cloth . . . embroidery hoops

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Lisa asked: I finished my first row and realized that the margin at the left side is wider than the margin at right side. Since I counted carefully, I’m assuming I may have turned the fabric the wrong direction. Is it possible to cut off and finish that seam? I also noticed that there are several inches extra at the bottom of the fabric. Can it be adjusted when pieced together?

Would it help to have the top and bottom marked on the fabric before the kits are sent out?

A: The first row is the most difficult, and hopefully stitching will flow more easily after this.

Yes, there is some extra space at the left side and there may be some at the bottom depending how long your portion is. The canvas is cut as a square to accommodate 13 lines of text, which is the longest portion I gauged. Your “extra” bottom space is for your creative treatment, if you decide to do that. But note that there is a precise “picture plane” boundary, indicated by the orange dashed line on your template.

Although your suggestion of marking the 4 corners is a good one, I really couldn’t do that with complete precision on unstitched aida cloth that is subject to the vagaries of humidity and tension. That is the reason why positioning the first line accurately is so crucial.

Don’t cut away any “extra” cloth. We’ll deal with it at the assembly stage.

Correcting mistakes . . . even starting again

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Several people have broached this subject. They realized, usually within the first line of stitching, that something was not right.

They also worried that taking out their mistakes would ruin the aida cloth.

By all means start again. Craftspeople do that often.

A primary goal of the project is a word-perfect version of the text. The aida cloth is very sturdy, and will definitely withstand “un-sewing”. Just be careful not to rip the fabric. You may wish to begin your text again on a fresher surface by turning the cloth 180• Don’t cut away any cloth, since it will be all be used in assembling the scroll; however, process markings are often part of finished works of art.

You will hopefully be much happier when you know you have it right, and the project will definitely benefit from your care.

Cautionary hint: All of the stitchers who encountered problems realized that they had not followed the printed template accurately. They missed the correct letter height, didn’t extend letters as drafted, thought that all spaces between letters or words were the same. Please follow the template exactly; every square on the diagram has meaning, as does your every stitch.

Borders

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Yola asked: Do the borders have to be cross stitched or can another stitch be used; for example a Smyrna stitch?

A: Borders provide an opportunity for individual expression. So long as you observe the guidelines for borders regarding colours, size, positioning; and your embroidery does not distort the surface or tension of the aida cloth, other stitches may be used.
See the BORDERS ALERT! page in the Design and Technique section.

Positioning The First Stitch

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Q: How important is the position of the first stitch?

A: VERY IMPORTANT!
The project has been designed so that when the panels are assembled the areas of text will align and form columns as they do in a Torah scroll. We need several rows of canvas at the top and sides for seams.
Alongside the text there are 7 squares reserved for a border – actually 2 open squares + up to 5 for the border design – if the stitcher wishes to do that. There will be much more information on that option in later posts.

“Blobs”

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Q: What are those “blobs” on the printed design?

A: They indicate places where the width of some letters has been adjusted in order to align both edges of the text, and so should more accurately be called “stretch marks”.
A sofer is allowed to extend or contract 7 specific letters (as indicated by the turquoise squares on your printout) to justify the margins.
In the first line of the example shown, there was no need to adjust any letters; in the second line several letters have been extended in varying lengths.

Treat each square of a “blob” as a regular cross-stitch.