Hardanger Doily

I started this Hardanger doily 2 weeks or so ago. I've finished the stitching that the chart called for and it's ready to go into the wash. I'll do the cutting, Needlewoven bars and Dove's Eyes after it is cleaned. After that is done I will cut out the doily along the Buttonhole.

I thought I was working on a piece of white 28 count evenweave. Boy, was I wrong! I think my eyesight is going :-(. I know it happens with age, lol. Anyway, I did all the Klosters and Buttonhole in DMC White #8 Perle Cotton. My mom pointed out to me that my cloth was off-white and if I were to do all the stitching in white it would always look dingy. We put our heads together and decided that the Tulips/Ships and the Cable Stitch should be in a very light taupe . I chose DMC 822 #8 and #12 Perle Cotton. The needleweaving will be done in DMC White #12 Perle Coton.

This is a close up of one of the corners.

You might ask why my mom and I wash our Hardanger pieces regardless of what they are going to be used for. In fact, you might ask why we wash them before we cut them as this is not what all the books tell you to do. This is why: My mom did a beautiful Hardanger dresser scarf one time and completed it with everything done, the Klosters, the Tulips/Ships, Eyelets, Buttonhole, and Woven bars (to have this step done in Hardanger you will have cut the cloth and removed threads to weave bars out of those threads that are left). Following the instructions for washing after completion my mom threw the dresser scarf into the washer. Unfortunately, my mom had unknowingly used a poor quality of evenweave for this project. After it came out of the dryer it appeared shredded and ragged along the cut Buttonhole edges and in some areas of the cutwork where the Woven bars were located. My mom was devestated. (A very small piece of that dresser scarf can be seen on my Dottie Doll in another post from January 25, 2009). She took the seemingly ruined piece to a friend of ours that is a great stitcher of Hardanger, in fact one of her mentors. Our friend explained that the cloth had shrunk OUT OF the Kloster blocks by almost 1/8" and she would not be able to fix the piece. My mom said to me, "From now on no cutting gets done on a Hardanger piece before it's washed, to ensure that the cloth is shrunk." So that's a little reason behind why we wash our Hardanger pieces. Another reason is no matter how hard you try to keep your hands clean, dirt and body oils will always appear on cloth. It's just nice to start with a clean slate so to speak before any cutting gets done. Then, if you get the piece dirty again while cutting you are assured in your own mind that it won't shrink anymore when you throw it into the washer and dryer.

Below is a picture of the dresser scarf. My mom was able to save it and turn it into a panel on this bag.



I'll post another picture after I do the cutting on it so that you can see the finished piece.

Keep on Stitchin'...