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Exquisite stitches worked with silk

Spiders Web




A very fancy looking stitch that takes very little effort to get right. Used for the model was Rose silk pearl #8 and 100% hand dyed silk unevenweave 30/36 fabric in Moss. Very economical use of silk - less than 24" for the roses below, and less than 18" of chenille for the rose shown on the title page.
The spider web refers to the spokes that you weave around. As you see, the different fibers that you use to weave with, or the way you weave with them gives a very different look. The woven web below looks very much like a rose, where the whipped web looks entirely different.

First
Make sure that the fiber working end is looped under the needle.


















Second





You're making a 5 pointed star here, keeping most of the fiber on the front.









Third
The last pass for the 5 pointed star. You can of course make the base any odd number of points and any size.














Fourth
5 points finished. Now is the time to change fibers - for instance if you wanted to work in chenille. Otherwise bring the web fiber up through the middle of the star.













Fifth Starting to weave the rose itself. Go over and under and over and under. It's important to have an uneven number of points if you're going to weave. Don't pull - you don't want the slippery silk pearl to pull underneath the weaving.













Finished
This is a finished woven rose and it used less than 2 feet of silk!












Variation
A whipped web. Go around the spoke first, and then under the next. While this one is shown woven by going under and then over the spoke, and under the next, you can easily reverse these directions so that you go over the spoke, under it and over the next. It gives a much different look.












Finished
A finished whipped web - and it used the same amount of silk as the woven rose. Looks like a seastar - or maybe a wheel...