Project 3: Trapunto Block

Step 1 – Traced the pattern with a pencil and then started backstitching the design
Step 2 – One side stitched on the front view
Step 3 – Back view of the stitching
Step 4 – Almost finished the complete design
Step5 – Starting the Stuffing process, I used a seam ripper to gently poke a whole in the fabric and cut a small slit
Step 6 – One side all stuffed with poly fill
Step 7 – Back view of the one side stuffed
Step 8 – I tried several different tools to stuff the poly fill, but using the eye of a large needle worked the best to “grab” the poly fill and stuff it into the hole (I just had to be carful not to poke myself since I was holding the sharp point of the needle with my fingers)
Step 9 – I tried a straight needle first for the curves, but ended up using a curved needle to guide the yarn through and not have so many holes
Step 10 – Finished Back of the Trapunto
Front of the Trapunto

This was a new technique that I had never done before and while it was more time consuming then I originally thought, it was fun to do. I enjoy doing needle work and the back stitch wasn’t hard to get into a rhythm of doing, although I would occasionally have my stitches get too long and have to redo them. The curved lines that I stuffed using the French technique was alittle harder to backstitch, but very easy to “fill” with the yarn once I used the curved needle. I ended up stuffing it with 6 strands of yarn to get the desired look. I used only 4 strands of yarn to go around the center circle. Stuffing the poly fill wasn’t hard and the large eye of a needle worked great to grab the poly fill and stuff it into the hole. The larger needle made the fabric hole bigger so when I whip stitched it closed there was a larger hole then I really wanted in the fabric, so I would use something smaller next time I did this. I do like the overall look, but I think it would also look better if I used alittle less poly fill.