lynxlace.com
lynxlace.com
Pulled Thread Work Gallery:
Curvilinear & Geometric Designs
and Related Forms
© 2009 Lorelei Halley All rights reserved.
For distinction between pulled thread and drawn thread see compare. The initials LH indicate my original designs, worked by me.
Pulled Thread Work
Pulled Thread Tutorial
Pulled Thread Tutorial 2
Designing for this kind of lace is a matter of juxtaposing areas containing differing kinds of holes, and varying this with surface stitchery of differing textures--smooth and shiney, or bumpy. Also some traditional stitches produce puffy or ridge effects, and this, too, adds to the interest when used judiciously. You want dense areas, different kinds of holes, simple holes and complex holes, and usually some textured surface embroidery to give relief and variety. This form of lace is relatively easy to design for, and there are several approaches historically and in the modern age.
One
approach for curvilinear design is to create fairly large simple shapes and fill
them with the chosen stitch. Choose a
surface embroidery stitch which has some width and texture to outline the filled
area. Begin by working the wide
outlining stitch around each area and then fill in the shapes with a pulled
stitch, hiding the beginning and ending tails of the pulled stitches under the already stitched
outline. It is also possible to
start by filling the area with a pulled stitch and then work the outline
stitch over the thread tails, covering and hiding them in the process (although
this is harder to do neatly). In either
case the outline stitching is not worked in tension.
m/b Tatiana Tara
m/b Lynette Hale
pt
210 mb/ db/ LH
pt39
Pulled thread work made and designed by Lorelei Halley
LH 630
48 db/ mb/ LH
676
670 
675
674
Curvilinear Design with background filled in: *
A second approach,
again with curvilinear design, is to make a motif in a simple shape and leave it
unworked. The background is then
filled with one pulled stitch. The
unworked motifs may be outlined and some surface stitching can be done on the
motif to lend some realism. For
both of these forms one can make a simple silhouette shape of any plant or
animal motif that you like, even starting with a photo and just using the
outline of the figures -- the family dog or cat, a family photo, your house,
etc.
47 mb/ db/ LH
pt 30 Pulled thread embroidery made by and designed by
Lorelei Halley
pt28a
pt28 mb/ db/ LH
Curvilinear Design outlined in double back stitch:
Some
historic examples show motifs outlined in double back stitch (similar to shadow
work) and then fill the shapes with complex satin stitch grounds (damask stitches),
with pulled thread stitches in the ground areas of the design (outside the
motifs). (See Fangel Winckler and the DMC Encyclopedia of Needlework for
examples of this kind of design.)
A more modern
approach is to use the pulled stitches somewhat randomly as an irregular
background to surface embroidery.
Or one can fill in irregular areas, arranged randomly, with pulled
stitches, and work scattered surface stitches as a foil to the pulled stitches.
653
654
655
657
658
656
659
669 
668
pt8 LH Cable stitch, 3 sided stitch, square back
stitch, eyelets, French knots, buttonhole stitch.
pt10 LH Satin stitch, pebble stitch, braid stitch, square edging st.
pt6 LH Diagonal cable, square double back stitch, eyelets, ringed back
stitch, squared edging stitch.
pt42 LH The light colored little squares are square double back stitch.
It makes a puffy little square spot, which stands above the surface and gives
interesting relief to the piece. I also used upright cross, Greek cross
and diagonal cable stitches in this piece. Upright cross also makes a
raised ridge. Three sided stitch secures the edge.
pt7 LH Pulled thread work. Diagonal cable, ringed back, 4 sided stitch, lazy daisy.
pt3
LH
Greek cross, eyelets, diagonal cable, upright cross, 4 sided, buttonhole, lazy
daisy.
pt 38 LH Satin, colonial knot, double window, spaced
faggot, eyelets, lazy daisy. In this one I tried outlining the pulled area
in satin stitches, not exactly the same way as in Hardanger, but similar.
Can't decide if it works.
pt 2 LH Small ringed back, coral knot, diagonal cable, Greek cross, long
armed cross, Hedebo buttonhole. In this piece I tried to use a layout that
works in Hardanger, to see if it works for pulled thread. Not sure.
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One more approach is to invent geometric motifs made up of several pulled stitches and then scatter them on the cloth in some regular geometric array.
Still another way to think about design for this form is to borrow ideas from patchwork quilts (especially very simple ones), canvas embroidery, or blackwork embroidery. In canvas work one juxtaposes stitches with different textures and different colors. In blackwork one works with differing degrees of light and dark. In pulled thread work this becomes large holes and small holes, or simple holes and complex holes, with textured surface stitches as a foil. One could use a patchwork quilt layout and fill the geometric areas with different stitches, using different kinds of holes instead of different colors of fabrics or kinds of prints.
Related Forms
Schwalm
A peasant or folk embroidery style from Germany using flower shapes and hearts as motifs, which are outlined in chain stitch and coral knot. Inside the motifs some fabric threads may or may not be cut (to accentuate the holes) and pulled thread stitches are worked on the remaining threads. Surface stitchery is added in the form of flowing lines and curlicues. The designs are charming and pretty, intended for household linen, and usually worked white on white. This style has gained in popularity recently and several books have been written about it in the last few years. It is a hybrid form, with drawn thread and pulled thread elements. Hessenstickerei is similar to Schwalm, but not exactly the same.
Naversom
Swedish birch bark embroidery is also a combination of drawn thread work with pulled thread work. One starts by removing threads both horizontally and vertically from the fabric, usually remove 2 leave 3, remove 2 leave 3 intact across the whole fabric. Then faggot and reverse faggot are worked to accentuate the holes and bind the remaining threads, and darning stitches are used to fill in some holes and recreate solid cloth. The designs are always geometric.
MargeB
http://maggies-textiles.blogspot.com
See the Nordic Needle website for books http://www.nordicneedle.com/
A combination of drawn thread and pulled thread: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NKoGjY6rLGQ/SXzRDXEhKCI/AAAAAAAAAZQ/RXmg2WqICVo/s1600-h/Piece+1.JPG
Other Schwalm and Naversom:
http://www.jmddesigns.co.nz/tutorials/schwalm_tutorial.htm
Other pulled thread:
collection of photos (my pinterest page)
http://www.k-lace.com/frontpage/pg00056.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30406806@N07/sets/72157624828738221/with/4989582662/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30406806@N07/sets/72157624828738221/
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Pulled Thread Work The White Sampler
Contact me at lhalley@bytemeusa.com Last edited: 10/01/18
