I have managed to do a little stitching on my goldwork parakeet (designed by Georgina Bellamy of ‘That Embroidery Girl’) , The design was published in Inspirations magazine if you would also like to have a go. Last time I had managed to cut out all the felt padding and had started to sew it down onto some synthetic organza.
Once the padding had been stitched in place it was outlined in gold pearl purl, after which I could then start adding the birds feathers. These were made from cotton organza that had been coloured using painting pens. Feathers were cut out using a simple template and then sewn down to the felt padding. I also put some large tacking stitches across the feathers to stop them getting in the way of further stitching. The lower body of the bird was covered with smooth pearl in gold and olive green.
I have added a beak made from kid leather and started on the head of the bird. This is sewn in long and short stitch. The head has proved the most difficult part so far as there is such a lot of stitching around this area, making it hard to get even a beading needle through. Here is a close up of work so far….
I hope to find some time soon to finish this little fellow off.
Thanks for popping by, happy stitching.
fascinating to see progress ^^
Thank you
He’s absolutely charming – how are you finding working on the organza for this?
The organza is easy to work on – it is a synthetic organza so doesn’t fray much. It also means that there is minimal bulk at the end.
You inspired me to have a go at some machine embroidery with organza – I was impressed how well it survived!
So glad it worked – your work looks far more experimental and daring than I could manage. I certainly wouldn’t know where to start when programming a sewing machine!
It’s not as bad as it looks with the right software but I will say the ‘bird’s nests’ of thread and unholy messes you can get with machine embroidery are unparalleled by any other technique!
Those really dense areas of stitchery can be quite trying. Have you used needle grabbers? They are small circles of something grippy like rubber, and they can sometimes help with pulling a needle though densely stitched areas.
Might be better than the pliers I am using!! The beading needle helps a little.