Firstly, must APOLOGISE for the picture quality - I am still using my blackberry and not editing anything. Promise to improve, once I find a user-friendly camera/downloading system! I know that this comes with blogging territory!
Secondly, these Christmas decorations are incomplete; I still need to stitch the backing on (someone want to lend me a sewing machine?!), cut around them and "stuff 'em proper"!
So, here is the first little cab off the rank, on unbleached linen imported from Russia with love:
You can see that I have tried to use all the stitches I learned at the Prints Charming workshop - chain, running, whipped running, long, back, that filling-in one, and the list goes on! The hardest, for me, is achieving the perfect French Knot! Those bobbles above the heart. Little buggers! I like them quite chunky, but they get loose, won't spin beautifully ... To keep them secure on this one, I actually added some little white beads, forcing the twirls to stay together. Realised that I quite liked the look and idea of the little beads, so added some at the top too - the red diamond shaped ones - as well as teeny, tiny turquoise beads at the very, very top (almost impersonating perfect French Knots!). I had lots of fun with this design - the whole process is so, so addictive!
Second cabbie:
This is the dove I started in the actual workshop at Prints Charming, and I finished her off (not literally, or she would not be happily pictured above) this weekend. Again, embellished the design with a little add-on. A wee, red button for an eye, this time. She still needs to be backed, turned inside-out and stuffed, too. I can feel an afternoon of sewing and stuffing coming on!
What I really love about all this is that you can play with colour themes as you go, add things, practice different stitches and techniques. I may even make some stuff up! And I love the look of blanket stitches, so will figure out a way to learn and use those, too.
I'll find the time to make some more and complete them for some lovely Christmas decorations!
Thanks again to Cath Derksema and Kirsten Junor, for the lovely embroidery lesson a fortnight ago! You certainly made what I fondly refer to as 'my granny activities' fun and memorable!
Night all, am off to bed with Anna K., again! Have a feeling I will be sleeping with her for a while yet! She has just returned to St Petersburg from Moscow, and being spoken about behind her back ... Vronsky, her Moscow admirer, is causing a noticeable stir amongst her circle of friends - he has followed her and keeps on popping up in her social circles. Her "friends' are all gossiping about Anna's new shadow (said Vronsky). She has not even deceived her husband yet, but the thought seems to have entered her head! Delicious!
Night all,
Ike
x
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