I love entomology displays and have meant to do this for a while. The head and main part of the body were stitched separately and are wired for shape. the head part is leather padded out with a little felt. I plan to do more as I think I can improve on this one a little so will take some in-progress shots next time. I love how it looks in a box frame, at a glance it looks real. I'm considering painting the frame black, I think it would look better. I will definitely do a bigger frame soon too containing several 'samples'.
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I actually had to unpick the legs once and start again as I managed to stitch the top legs coming out of its head. I was all finished and looked at it from a distance and thought 'that doesn't look quite right.... ' Lesson learned. Don't forget to step back from your work sometimes people!
I get so excited making things like this, I love to sit in the evenings with a glass of wine cup of tea, wearing comfy pyjamas, telly or music on, stitching away. It has become such a big part of my life that in the evenings if I'm not stitching my hands feel empty. Sometimes it seems like a strange hobby, particularly if I'm working on an unusual project and I often stitch things just for the hell of it without any thought of what I'll do with them once I'm done (in fact I have a load of completed embroideries stashed away in a cupboard). I quite like it though when I'm listening to a bit of Tom Waits or Nick Cave doing some stitching and I think to myself 'I wonder how many other people out there are doing this right now?'
And what do I do with my free time when I'm not stitching? Well I read embroidery blogs, books and magazines of course!
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Wow, your beetle looks great. I love him!
ReplyDeleteNext time you are sitting stitching and listening to Tom Waits wondering if you are alone, know that you are not and there is someone in South London doing much the same! Love the display styling.
ReplyDeleteLove your beetle! I've been wanting to make a beetle but have no leather colors that would work. But looking at your bettle made me think of an old black leather purse. Recycled beetles! I do think your beetle would look nicer with some color in the background and maybe even a weathered piece of cardstock with it's name. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteLove your Beetle! I was already wondering what the shiny bit was on it's head... I also listen to Tom Waits while stitching sometimes (and other music too) Alice is my favourite TW album. :)
ReplyDeleteThis looks so real!! Wow. You did a fantastic job. It looks like it's going to crawl out of the frame :).
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