Laying metal

So the gold is on the third set of spools and it was time to stitch.  The instructions say to start with the Japanese Embroidery Center red gold and to couch it in place with black Kreinik.  I did use the red gold but am couching with Kreinik cord in 021C to match....this couching is actually a cross stitch.  Next, I moved to the Japanese gold #7 and that is being couched every three threads with gold silk couching thread .

 To start laying metal, the ends are plunged to the back to be tacked down with the couching thread. I unroll a bit of the fibers and hold them in my left hand while couching with my right.  This keeps even tension on the pair of threads and gets the flat look that I want of them being side by side.

  Corners are handled by first putting one stich across both strands.  Then coming up from the outside, I go down in between the two threads and hold it while laying the pair at the next angle.  The third and final stitch shares the same hole as the first stitch but goes in the new direction to make the corner.