Its me again

[Iminei]

Its me again and my lifelong search for my inner artist lurched forward a notch yesterday as I took the Starry night to the Hop with me.
£ hours of enforced sitting in a chair (with a drip attached to my arm) and I decided instead of reading the paper I would attempt to get a handle on the nad stitching.

Now THIS is what it is meant to look like



apparently this took the very talented Clare Passmore 3 solid months!! and this was mine before the visit to the Hop.



But I spent a very enjoyable time stitching away and now it looks like this in one corner ....



Yup Pathetic right??!!

I kid you not that took HOURS!

So Im back, begging you to help me out here...

HOW do you split the embroidery thread stuff without it getting tangled and knotted up ???

HOW do you start and finish the threads ??? (you DO NOT want to see the back of this!)

ANY other help, gratefully received PLEASE???

I did enjoy myself though, and it was completely absorbing ... I was just quite shocked when I came to take the pic by how little I had achieved!!!!

No pics??? Linky to album

[Pearl]

Me, Miss, me, Miss, I know this.  I learned it on a kantha course.

Cut the thread about the length of your forearm.  Hold it at one end so that it hangs down.  Take the strands you want with your other hand and pull them upwards.  Hope that makes sense.

[Iminei]

Upwards ????? Surely all of it will go upwards too ? 

[Ploshkin]

Hold the rest between your knees?

[Ploshkin]

Iminei, your hills and things have lovely soft edges and the whole effect is slightly hazy.  I don't think you should be attempting to replicate the stitching on the original.  I would go with the type of stitch and density of stitching that will enhance the features without losing that lovely softness.

[Pearl]

Upwards ????? Surely all of it will go upwards too ? 

No you are holding the rest between the finger and thumbs of the other hand. 

ETA - I tried to take photos but batteries are flat. 

[Bodgeitandscarper]

I'm with Ploshy on this, I love the soft look too.

[wrenkins]

Yip.
Hold the thread (six strands) in your dominant hand and tease one strand apart from it. Pull it up. The whole thing will follow ( ) it but will drop away again.
...and repeat...

[Lowena]

Perxactly!! I have a Kantha book and it tells you to do exactly as @Pearl says. It's quite easy and straightforward.
Don't try to replicate the original, do your own thing...or you're not an artist but a copyist.
I often use Perle cotton instead of embroidery floss if it's feasible.
It'll look great, your work always does 

[maliw]

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that stitching. It will be among a lot of other stitching when the whole thing is finished and you won't be looking at it in close up anyway. The picture will blend all the stitched areas to give an overall effect, keep going it's fine.

[BrendaP]

Just cut off about 18-20 inches of the floss, separate out 1, 2 or 3 strands depending on what you want to be using, and pinch those tightly between thumb and finger (I use my dominant right hand) and just below that hold the whole lot with thumb and finger of other hand but don't grip so hard.  Now  pull the selected strands upwards and outwards.  The remaining strands will bunch up but as soon as the selected ones are free they will un-bunch themselves.

As others have said use the original as a guide but make it your own.  With this type of textile art anything goes, there are no rights or wrongs so long as you like the end result.

[Puzzler]

While watching Bluprint videos for free the other week, one embroiderer spoke about a new thread product, new to me anyway. https://www.sulky.com/products/thread/petites/  Maybe you can look for some at FOQ.

I have a question. Does Clare Passmore put her work in a hoop when she embroiders? Just wondering.

I agree with others about the soft contoured edges. If you copied the original you would obliterate them. If it were me, I would go for more vertical or slightly angled stitching. But take what I say with a grain of salt. I only dabble in embroidery.

[Iminei]

No, Clare works au naturale as it were ...

she just says to make sure nothings bunching up ie pull the whole thing out occasionally ?? if you see what I mean.