May Kit - or nué ireland
I won’t lie to you. This design took a LONG time to stitch. It was one of those i kept dipping in and out of. You know, I’d work on it for a week and then move on to a new design before coming back to it again. But I always came back to it. Because even though this piece is an embroidery endurance test, it is such a satisfying result!
We're working in a smaller hoop for this kit - just a 4 inch one. I think this is the most heavily stitched piece I've ever done, even with the smaller size! It might throw you off a bit if you're used to getting 6 or 8 inch hoops from me. But trust me, you'll be glad it's only a small one by the end!
We're doing a Goldwork technique called or nué for this one - using a whole 10 metres of gold thread! This is a technique called or nué. We're going to be completely covering the fabric with gold thread, but covering it in parts with green thread to create a pattern. Or nué (and a lot of goldwork) is a couching technique. So although there’s lot of gold thread, we’re not actually stitching with it. We’re just stitching it into place with regular old sewing thread!
P.S. I highly recommend stitching some of this kit in the sun so you can really appreciate the gold lustre!
We always start or nué from the outside of the shape. As you can see, the stitches distort the perfect circle we started with so that it's ended up more like a square. Don’t worry if this happens to your piece - it’s totally normal! When it’s finished, that will barely be noticeable as the eye sort of blends it all together.
