stitching the dragon - beginning

 since "lockdown" i  have been a bit busier with hertstitch, and my own stitching has taken a bit of a back seat - but now this is bearing fruit and i am starting on some medieval embroidery with a kit from Tanya Bentham
she has an eye for picking out some of the more unusual images from medieval illuminated manuscripts and i'm sure her experience in medieval re-enactment is echoed in her approach to this work!
my kit arrived a couple of weeks ago and i have been itching to get started - i had a practice run with Bayeux stitch on a letter i did for a banner - i found it a bit tricky, needing magnification to help me keep the stitching regular, but i found the overall effect pleasing 

the kit materials are wool; a piece of ine woven wool with the design and naturally hand dyed yarns which are deliciously soft and strokable - my penchant for variegated thread is catered for as the have natural variations in colour intensity - i look forward to ssing them appear on the work


my next step was playing with the colours to decide what to use for each section - i just love an excuse to play with my artflow app, it makes swithcing the colours round really easy - i think i've settled on this arrangement:

i'm thinking about adding some dainty claws ..........?

then i decided that the fabric should be backed and stretched - previous experienc has taught me that it iseasier to achieve precision if the fabric is under tension, i don't often aim for accuracy but this is one piece where i am trying to get it right, so it's worth going to the trouble .......and it's good discipline for me
 so now i'm ready to go

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