First Stitches

I've made a start to my embroidery. I cut a window in the covering muslin to expose one flower. I'm not convinced my chain stitch is absolutely smooth, but I don't want to keep starting again. If I get to the end of the project and decide I can do better after a lot of practise, I'll redo it then.

After I'd worked my sample, I read Mary Corbet's post Hand Embroidery Tips for Beginners and Beyond. I followed a link there to read about joining in new threads and realised I hadn't used the best method in my sample. I used the Away Waste Knot method, basically leaving a strand of thread that I sewed into the back of the work afterwards. It's a bit fiddly, especially with a small frame like mine, and wasteful of thread. So now I'm following Mary's instructions for anchor stitches on a line. I make a few small stitches of back stitch that will be covered by the subsequent chain stitch.

The stitches should be closer together, but even so I can see the method is effective and uses up less thread. So, I've learnt something, thanks Mary.