The project was for the Primavera Shaker Village cushion tapestry.
The first problem arose when the kit was delivered from John Lewis without it's normal carrier bag. This is useful for keeping all the wools in one place and provides a colour image of the finished article. The next problem that came along was that the wools seemed to be very much thinner than in other kits making the density of the stitching to be less than normal and giving the surface a variable feel.
I spoke to Charlotte at Sew Exciting, who make these kits, and she helped me quite a bit. Firstly, she was upset that John Lewis had sold the kit without the carrier and was kind enough to forward one to me. With regard to the thickness of the wools, she wasn't aware of any change but recommended that I change my stitching pattern. It appeared that I was doing Continental style stitching so she recommended that I change to the 'English' style. In the continental style, you get two differing patterns on the back of the web where with the English style you get one. She felt that changing the style would result in a consistent tension and improve the look.
I did this and it helped somewhat but I am still fundamentally unhappy with the finish on this cushion. Wendy - my daughter - recommended that I return the kit on the basis that it was not up to standard. However, I decided to persevere and finally finished the item. I think that it will probably look better once it is turned into a cushion.
here it is as a finished tapestry.
Don't forget that you can click on the picture and see a larger image.
I will be turning it into a cushion in the next week or so and I will post a photo at that time of the finished article.
I am now working on a 'Jolly Red' kit for 'The Tree Of Life' and I now have a Primavera Tea Cosy to make after that. I have a stash!
