Friday 20 July 2012

Vintage embroidery competition, or not.

Yay, it's Friday!!  It's just a shame it's not FNSI as I feel stitchy.  Speaking of which, do you remember my FSNI post on Saturday?  I showed you this little lady I was stitching up:


Well she's finished.  In fact, she was finished on Saturday night.  That must be some kind of record for me.  The poor thing never even got to be a WIP.


I've mostly used running stitch, though the chair is done in chain stitch, the rope thing that goes to the pedal was done in stem stitch and the sewing she's producing was satin stitched.  I used metallic thread for the machine (nightmare) and silk thread for the dress and sewing (pure heaven).  I was worried about my cracked eczema hands with the silk threads, but it was fine.  I used a mixture of brown and yellow for the hair to try to recreate my blond hair.  Yep, she's meant to be me, born in the wrong century I was. 

She was for the competition over at a group on Flickr, but the host of the competition was so damn rude to me that I pulled out, I just deleted my photos.  I didn't understand the 36 pages of rules apparently and had missed something out.  When I said that I didn't understand what I'd done wrong (which was invalidating my entry?!?) she got really shirty with me so that's a group I won't be visiting again.  Ah well, the pattern is lovely. 

I started with this vintage embroidery pattern, found in the Hoop Love Flickr group. I used a bit of fabric from one of the linen pieces my lovely friend Fiona sent me.

I wanted to finish her in a hoop, but not alone, I had an idea...


This fake hexie fabric has been in my stash for ages, bought on a whim from Fabricland.  I thought it was perfect for this project.  Especially as the purple in it was similar to the purple I'd used for the fabric in the picture.  That's right, I didn't think it through and use a thread to match the fabric I intended to use, I just stitched it!


It's meant to look like she's sewing the border.  I know it doesn't really work, but I kind of like it anyway.  I didn't like the wooden hoop against the design, so I wrapped it in white faric first.



And here she is, all hooped up.  From hoop to hoop in just 2 days!



Now I just need to get round to adding her to my gallery, that's two new pieces waiting to be hung!




Don't forget to enter my Something Old, Something New competition.  The deadline is 31st July and there is a prize!


something old something new button

21 comments:

Celtic Thistle said...

That is a shame about the group, I think maybe they have missed the point about sewing and sharing on the internet. It is about INCLUDING not excluding people, still you are probably better off out of it, if that is their attitude.

I like what you have done with the fabric and the hoop too.

Melody said...

Brilliant work

cauchy09 said...

wow, your work is far more creative than the entries for that contest. i went to read the "rules" and fell asleep in the middle. wtf? sheesh. such narrow categories don't encourage or celebrate originality at all. so sad.

JLVerde said...

This is beautiful. And you already won, getting it all done in record time!

(I'm not a huge fan of crafty competitions, especially ones with a novel's worth of rules--where's the fun in THAT?).

CREATIVE KHADIJA said...

Very Nice, so beautiful..I love doing embroidery but its time taking job..I work on & off..

Pam @Threading My Way said...

Your embroidery looks fabulous in the hoop.

Anonymous said...

I think it turned out great and I saw right away that it was supposed to look like she was sewing the fabric that frames the stitchery.

Allie said...

Ah she's gorgeous, Wendy, you did a fabulous job! Sorry the group owner was so snotty, what's the point of that? This is supposed to be fun...so stupid. You're better off out of it.

OksanaB said...

She is adorable! Great job!!!

JoJo said...

What a clever idea for finishing the embroidered piece! Well done!

36 pages of rules? Seriously? You are better off without them! Man alive that's nuts! I used to draft complex legal contracts that were less pages than that!!!

mdgtjulie said...

Wow, Wendy, that's amazing. Hoop to hoop in two days. I'm in awe of you!!! Grats on the finish. It looks great. I'm glad you enjoyed the silk threads part of it!!!

Sandra :) said...

Holy shit it looks like a lawyer drafted those rules, with multiple rewrites for clarity, lol. PASS!

She's a lovely and very prolific seamstress - look at how much she has sewn already!!! :D

Fiona said...

I love your final result ....
Hugz

Anita said...

Cute pattern,beautifully stitched! sorry for your experience with that group

maria said...

It's so sweet, I love how she's sewing the border.

Anna said...

Beautiful embroidery ! I have an old sewing machine like in your fabric...
Thanks for the visit.
Have a fine Sunday ! With sun I hope...
Anna

Jeanette said...

Gorgeous. I love what you made. Hugs,

Nicole @WonkyW said...

Looks great - you are very talented. I have just started practicing embroidery. Visiting from PetiteHermine linkup :)

~Damita's Pretty Wrap~ said...

What a very sweet embroidery hoop!! Happy Monday! xx Holly

Christine Jargick - JPEG Apothecary said...

I love it! Metallic thread is a bear, isn't it? Too bad about the competition. I generally avoid things that have too many rules, I have better things to do than have to worry abiding by 36 pages of rules.

Unknown said...

What a shame really (about the group) but it's clearly their loss, not yours! congratulation on this embroidery! I really love it. We are featuring this at the blog, by the way ^^)

I hope to see you at the party this week.

Have a great weekend!

Hugs,
Lelanie

http://www.to-sew-with-love.com
http://tocookwithlove.com
http://villaportillo.blogspot.com