Poetry of stitch - 2 - opening exercise

i braced myself and set to on the machine stitched curves from week 4 - i really did not enjoy this as it's not a task i would ever set myself - i know that the last thing i would want to included in a piece is a small area embellished with this type of machining as it is too fiddly to be worth the effort for me! i would choose a different technique or get round it in sosme way

so i feel rather pleased with myself for persisting! my main problem was that i started with some Bobbinfill thread in the bottom spool - see top left curve ..... not a good idea! i could not get the tension right at all, i think the difference of weight between top and bottom just made it to difficult to achieve the right balance with a zig-zag stitch although the straight stitch was ok i switched to the same thread top and bottom for the R hand curves

i have never thought to use ordinary paper to void the puckering on the zig-zag - that worked well - definitely work remembering, but only for work where the fabric handle is not an issue - where that matters i will use a stiff soluble or tear-away stabilizer

it will look better after a little stretching and i need to decide whether or not to machine the square outline or not .....?