Today I will be showing you 5 different approaches to cutwork which I tried out on my gold leaves design. I say 5, but there are really 6 here because the last one isn't really cutwork in the traditional sense so it’s up to you if you want to count that on in or not

Table of Contents:
Cutwork Style 1 Bright Check Paired with Central Groove 00:51
Cutwork Style 2 Smooth and Rough Purl with Check Edge 04:36
Cutwork Style 3 Rough Purl Basket Weave 07:53
Cutwork Style 4 Bright Check and Rough Purl over Cardboard 09:56
Cutwork Style 5 Smooth Purl over Felt Pad with Chain vein 12:51
Cutwork Style (6) Rough Purl 'Broken' Cutwork 17:28

So up first we have Bright check cutwork paired, I both started with something hard and something easy. I should probably first mention that cutwork is where you lay cut to size pieces of purl onto your surface as a fill method. You can use whatever kind of purl you want, smooth purl, rough purl and as in this example bright check. Prior to filming I prepped the base with string bump padding so I had something to build onto.

With Cutwork there is a lot of trial and error and the more you do the better you get a judging it. I should also point out this isn't an instructional video, merely the documentation and my thoughts on this project as I am still honing my skills so if you want to learn for yourself you should check out a proper teaching programme like the online classes offered by the London Embroidery School, link below.

I will be the first to say that I think cutwork is easily one of the hardest goldwork techniques and so when I say I started with something hard and something easy, both are true. The pairing of this leaf is the element that looks to make it harder, as you not only have to try and make it look nice on one side, but then make the other side look nice and the reflection of the first. You can see as this progresses that I lost a lot, if not all of the shape of the leaf in this process and it starts to look more like a wheat sheaf than a leaf in my attempt to keep the angle, something to work on. The easy part was my choice to start off with bright check, I had two types available to play with which have slightly different patterns so you can tell them apart even though they are both highly textured. Alternating between the two look pretty so I’m pleased with that but I do think the bright check is covering over all kinds of sins.

the whole shape of the leaf, no groove. It was time to be brave and use smooth and rough purl for the fill this time. I say this because smooth purl in particular bruises, marks and cracks much easier than the bright check so it is more likely so show me up. I was looking to try to get more of the ‘essing’ effect where the purl snakes around the padding and appears to tuck in under itself.

To give myself a little rest and hopefully a rest from the difficulty, I took a slight side step and tried basket weave in cutwork. I really enjoyed and was surprised at the simplicity of basket weave in passing thread so trying it again in cutwork was very appealing as it, for the most part takes away the challenging ever changing length cutting element.

Coming back to the more traditional approaches with cutwork, I thought I would try with cardboard underneath. This did not feature in any of my books as a raising technique but I know I've seen this in real life and when it’s done properly, it gives a really sharp edge so may be this would help me more with my length judgement as its got such a clear edge to it.

Bolstered by the cardboard leaf outcome, I went back and thought that smooth purl seemed like a good idea. Having tried two lots of soft string pad and cardboard, I thought I should use a felt pad for a change.

So perhaps not the usual way and maybe not even cutwork to traditionalists but it is a way to do cutwork without a base down first. Again, without the books to lean on, I'm just winging it and guessing that so long as the cut isn't too long so it bags out, it should be fine. And it’s more about trying to randomise where the breaks fall with this one as much as possible.

Useful Links:
Couched Threads 5 ways Goldwork Leaves :   • New Project Couched Threads 5 Ways o...  
Experimental Gold Leaves 3 Ways:    • Experimental Gold Leaves 3 ways Gold...  
London Embroidery School: https://www.londonembroideryschool.com/

Music Credits:
'Venice Beach Sunset' by Sarah, The Illstrumentalist (ES) (Epidemic Sound)
'Malibu Cruise' by Sarah, The Illstrumentalist (ES)
'Isla del Sol' by Henyao (ES)
'Coffee and Unicorns' by Henyao (ES)
'Rainy Sunday' by Henyao (ES)
'Summer Girl' by Cospe (ES)
'Tiger's Eye' by Sarah, The Illstrumentalist (ES)
'Motivation' by Henyao (ES)

Get your own 30 day Free trial of Epidemic Sound use: https://www.epidemicsound.com/referra...

0:00 Introduction
0:52 CUTWORK STYLE 1
7:53 Rough Purl Basketweave
9:56 CUTWORK STYLE 4
12:52 Smooth Purl over Felt Pad
17:28 Rough Purl 'Broken' Cutwork