Joining stitches 11 – 14
From L to R: 1) basket stitch 2) baby randa 3) Gujarati or Sindhi stitch 4) beaded join
The joins are complete for now. 21 squares, seven strips of three. This has been a really worthwhile project. The sampler concept helped me overcome my anxiety about starting a new unknown stitch. I had fun trying to decipher the Hindi/Urdu/Arabic YouTube videos. That embroidery tradition has much better joining stitches for this purpose. Maybe because their climates are warm so they needed airier seams for clothing? Maybe because they are closer to a hand-stitching tradition in general? I couldn’t find any information on randa embroidery online in English, which is very strange. I feel like a Western randa expert at this point (ha!). Actually my skills need a lot of work. Especially in evening up the squares. I think all of these joins are not even top to bottom.
From left to right:
1) basket stitch from Jean Wilson’s book. 100% cotton sashiko thread, color “carrot”. I didn’t enjoy stitching with this thread and I didn’t like the basket stitch. The reverse side is just a row of straight stitches. The fold is rather reluctant.
Jean Wilson, Joinings, Edges and Trims
2) what I’m calling “baby randa” due to its simplicity. Just three passes with the needle. Variegated green perle cotton. I had great fun with this stitch. It is quick and easy. Love the variegated perle cotton. This is a perfect stitch for quick joining that is narrow and subtle but still offers some intricacy. Sushma’s video #73 is not very easy to follow. It’s one of her earlier videos, so I made my own tutorial photos. I’ll post them elsewhere.
73-Joining two cloth pieces in decorative manner(Hindi/Urdu)
3) Gujarati stitch worked in two shades of Buaisou indigo thread. I really love this stitch although it was hard to work especially the fourth and last trip up the spine. Requires sharper eyesight than I actually have. Nothing shows up on the reverse side. At first I thought this was a negative, but when the pages are folded over the stitching, it creates a great looking shadow line on the spine. Worthwhile for a special book, but get a magnifying device and bright light! I took my own tutorial photos on this one also.
4) beaded join using light coral embroidery floss (2 strands). I absolutely love this beaded join. It feels unfair to introduce this bling into a thread-based process. But I’m glad I did. I love the feel of it and the satisfying click when I place in on a hard surface. I could see it done in tinier seed beads too. I didn’t really follow Sushma’s steps exactly but there’s not much exactitude required for this. Just secure the beads basically. The fold goes both ways easily and the spine looks really nice.
161-Bead stitching for joining cloth pieces (Hindi /Urdu)
That’s all the joining for now on this sampler. I think I’ll make a separate page for my own reference with the tutorial photos that I’ve collected.
I don’t know how I’ll assemble the whole piece. Maybe just keep them in a stack for now.
All seven strips
Stack, side 1
Stack, side 2