Sunday, August 30, 2009

Embroidery is not my specialty



Melly (of Melly & Me) posted the pattern for this embroidered Kokeshi doll as a freebie on her blog on Friday, and even though I don't usually embroider beyond blanket stitching felt eyes on toys I make, I ran right out and bought a hoop so that I could make her.

I had purchased a book called Doodle Stitching on a whim awhile ago, and even though it had a bunch of cute ideas and instructions I really wasn't inspired to tackle a project until Melly posted this cute little stuffie.



I made my first one in simple red and pale blue to match the cherry blossom print I put on her back. Then I decided to go in a different direction from Melly's pattern and use a little bit of applique with the embroidery for a second doll.



This is how she turned out. Very cute. I really like the detail of the fabrics and the whole different dimension it ads to the embroidery. However, this was a huge pain in my rear. Embroidering through two layers of fabric and two layers of interfacing was a challenge to say the least. Especially keeping in mind the title of my post. I am not very experienced.



I chose to use that leftover rayon embroidery floss from my youngest sister's birthday gift because it was shiny and there were gold accents in the kimono and obi fabric I chose. I hated it then, but I thought it might work better for an actual embroidery project. Nope. Still hate it. Impossible to work with, probably won't ever do it again.



But I am pretty pleased with how my first ever lazy daisy turned out.

3 comments:

  1. Oh my god. Both of these are effing awesome. I need to make something like this.

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  2. Holy crap, those are cool!

    You did a great job with the embroidery :)

    You're right about Metallic thread, it is a pain in the ass to work with, in any application. I hate the #@*! stuff.

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  3. These are sooooo cute!!! I love them to bits!! I am so glad that my little freebie pattern inspired you to stitch - I just love stitching and think it is so therapeutic. Love the applique too!! Just lovely :)

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