Saturday, 25 February 2012

plague doctor ghost and lion o!

So much to share today. I had a rare quiet afternoon as both my boys were asleep so I had a play:


It is glow-in-the-dark floss on gauze. The fabric is very see through so you can see the thread on the reverse. This means it is really easy to 'sketch' with the thread. I worked completely freehand using an illustration of a plague doctor for reference. I love the look of the loose ends. This was just an experiment and I think there is a lot of mileage in this technique. It is so fast to do and it was fun to do something looser than my usual style. 
It looks ghostly and would be great hung in a window. Has anyone else tried this? What did you think?

Ok and now something completely different...


After my flash gordon piece I wanted to do another nostalgic piece. I really regretted using such tiny stitches on his hair- it took forever but does look very smooth! I think I will do more embroideries of the things I loved when I was younger, it's just so fun. I want to do the car from Dukes of Hazzard, teenwolf and Henry's cat. They are all so evocative of my childhood, the funny thing is I did lion-o because it was something me and my brother liked but after posting it on my facebook it has been very popular with my friends- it obviously inspired memories in my friends too.

I've also been thinking a lot about my blog and how I can improve it. I'm thinking regular posts about blogs I like and about artists/inspiration online. Also maybe a monthly list/photo type post that is non embroidery related to let people get to know me, bookworm bethie does great posts about herself alongside her craft posts and I always enjoy reading them. I'm also musing about tutorials- I never use online tutorials so am wondering whether it is worth the effort of making one. I was going to do one about the different fill stitches I use but am not sure anyone would be interested. I'd really enjoy some feedback around what kind of posts people enjoy- please drop me a line or leave a comment if you have any thoughts on this.
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17 comments:

  1. spidermom25 February 2012 at 09:38

    embroidery on gauze??? awesome!!!
    thundercats hoooooooo!!!
    your stitchin' is amazing :)

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  2. sewphie25 February 2012 at 09:48

    quickest comment ever! Thankyou spidermom!
    Love your blog by the way x

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  3. jafabrit25 February 2012 at 10:28

    I really like your embroidery work, and the joy behind them. The kind of posts I enjoy is seeing the joy behind what the blogger is doing, I find that inspiring. So whether you are sharing tutorials, other links, etc, if you get inspiration from them, I think that gives a sense of who you and where you are coming from as an artist.

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  4. spidermom25 February 2012 at 10:30

    :) thanks! love your blog too!

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  5. Leah25 February 2012 at 12:09

    I agree with JafaBrit - if you love what you're writing about, it shines through. I think I started following your your blog because of your embroideries, but I love it when bloggers share a bit about themselves too. And tutorials are always fun! I like seeing how different people do things.

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  6. Flaming Nora25 February 2012 at 13:03

    Really enjoyed the gauze effect it looked very loose and free, and from what you said that was how you felt about it too. I do think we stitch our mood in to what ever we do! I'm a completely self taught embroiderer so its often interesting to see how other people do it properly, as opposed to making it all up as i go along. People always enjoy tutorials when I (rarely) do them on my blog.

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  7. sewphie25 February 2012 at 13:26

    Thank you everyone.
    I might just give a tutorial a go then. Your feedback has given me some food for thought. Like Leah I love it when bloggers share a bit about themselves and am going to try and include that in future posts.

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  8. Unknown25 February 2012 at 19:16

    I'm loving both of these pieces. I love the idea of stitching on transparent fabric. And awesome job on lion-o. I would love to see how you do fill stitches--always up for learning new methods.

    I've also been struggling with how much personal info to put on my own blog. I started it as a art/craft blog but really it is about me--so every now and then I post about a trip I've taken or news about my life. I'm not sure if people like reading those posts but I'm going to keep doing them because it actually helps me remember things, too!

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  9. Lisa25 February 2012 at 20:56

    Ho. Ly. Smokes! Your Thundercats piece is AMAZING. All that fill stitch, lordy, I'm feeling dizzy! I know how time consuming all of those tiny little stitches are, but wow, what a gorgeous result! I think think is my first visit here to your blog, I know I'll be back for sure, I'm following along now too! Cheers!

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  10. sewphie26 February 2012 at 11:26

    Crystal- I like reading those posts! I liked what you said about the posts helping you remember things, it would be nice to be able to look back at my blog and there be some little bits of information that remind me of what was happening at that time.
    Lisa - thank you! I do like to use a lot of fill stitch but have to admit I seriously underestimated how long it would take to fill in his hair like that. I enjoy doing repetitive stitching like that whilst watching tell in the evenings

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  11. sewphie26 February 2012 at 11:27

    *telly (stupid auto correct)

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  12. Ruby Murray26 February 2012 at 14:28

    Absolutely amazing, my hubby would love this, I'm humming the theme tune now!

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  13. Karen2 March 2012 at 09:03

    I love the fine embroidery on gauze...as for the content of your posts, mix it up a bit. A little about life and a little about your embroidery....

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  14. Lakota [Faith Hope and Charity Shopping]16 March 2012 at 15:48

    Just came to check out your blog after seeing you as a follower - wow you're talented! So many different styles, they're all very cool though. Remember Thundercats very fondly - judging from toyshop shelves recently I think it's back on some kids channel or other. MUMRA was such a great baddie!

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  15. sewphie25 March 2012 at 09:39

    Lakota - i think they've remade it - they are bound to have mucked it up though! Now mumra would make an epic embroidery, you've got me thinking there :-)

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  16. Kristin8 April 2012 at 16:43

    Wow Sewphie your embroidery is amazing, I am in awe! Being a complete novice I am really interested to see how super talented people such as yourself do things, so please, yes, post some how-to's, teach me!!

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  17. sewphie15 April 2012 at 06:22

    Awww thanks Kristin! I will get cracking on planning some tutorial posts.

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I'd love to hear from you

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