Blackwork Interlacing Design

Hello Everybody. Things are coming along apace but there is still a long way to go. I shall continue working my socks off !

Below is a link to a free Blackwork design for you, produced as a pdf. I hope you will find you can open this, print it and then enjoy stitching it.

Blackwork was and is traditionally worked in black thread. This is because it looks best that way! Any dark shade of thread could be used to good effect. Red, for instance, looks wonderfully rich. If you use mixed colours in a piece you may lose the important effect of tonal values in light and dark areas, or distort the appearance of a pattern. Having said this, you are free, of course, to interpret the designs any way you wish and experimenting with colour to gain a completely different look is absolutely fine. Hand dyed threads that go from medium to dark (not from very light to very dark) can look spectacular. As before, work a little sample and you will soon know whether to get excited or not.

The designs may be stitched on any blockweave (Aida) or evenweave fabric. On the first of these each square on the chart represents one block on the fabric. On evenweave each square represents two fabric threads. All the stitches are taken over one block or two fabric threads even if they appear to be continuous on the charts.

The thicker lines on the chart may be worked in a slightly thicker thread. This may be two strands of stranded cotton or Coton a Broder Tkt 16, or, on a larger scale, a Pearl thread of some thickness. Try out a small sample on the fabric you plan to use if in doubt. The finer lines are worked in a slightly finer thread, one strand of stranded is normal but may need to be thicker if working on a larger sale (smaller count) fabric.

The stitch used may be Back stitch, which you may find easiest as a beginner. Preferable is Double Running stitch, also known as Holbein. This was the one originally used in ancient times and makes it possible in many instances to work the piece looking the same on each side. For these designs a truly double sided piece is not straight forward, except for the interlacing itself, as the background pattern is not continuous. Even so, working in Double Running stitch is a good idea as it gives good, clean lines. Double Running stitch also has the advantage of your not ever having to cut across corners behind the work as you move from stitch to stitch, thus reducing the chances of ‘shadowing’ of thread at the back to the front to zero. This is all being quite picky though as, in practice, unless you are completely on the ball at all times, you will leave out some stitches and have to go back or strand across a minute area without it showing at all. If you are new to this, simply do your best. It is good fun and rather like solving a puzzle – with the same feeling of achievement.

To work the embroidery

The centre of the chart is marked by the black arrows. find the centre of your fabric and start stitching close to the centre, working the thicker lines first.

Start by knotting the thread and taking it down from the right side a few inches away from your starting point. You will cut this knot away and fasten the thread off later, so do not cover it at the back as you go along.  Bring the needle up at your starting point and work along a main line in Running stitch.

When you reach the end of the main line, come back along it filling in the spaces left. As you do this, branch out to work any details or filling areas as you go. As you are doing for the main line, work these branch lines by going to a further end and coming back to fill in the spaces. You will then rejoin the main line and can continue.

To fasten off a finished thread, stitch over about three stitches along the line of working, thus doubling them up.  Bring the needle up to the front of the work at the centre of the next stitch and cut the thread short against the fabric. Fasten on a new thread by the same procedure but using different stitches to double up on, sometimes by running some from the direction in which you are going to work, and then immediately doubling up on those. The double stitches will hardly show at all in your finished piece and continuity at back and front can be ascertained. Occasionally a part of a pattern will stand alone without connecting stitches to the rest of the pattern area. This is when the importance of truly two sided work is called into question. If it is not imperative, simply take a small stitch at the back of the work to a place where you can continue with the next part of the pattern. If it is really important to have a double sided piece, fasten off the thread and re-fasten it on for the rest of the pattern area.

If you are working a long straight line of stitching, make the return running stitches that fill in the gaps come out at the top of a stitch and go in just below the next one. This will give it, and every stitch, a very slight slant that matches every time and thus a neat line.

Click this link for your chart and stitch diagrams

Blackwork Interlacing Design Square