Tuesday 16 November 2010

Some improvisation

Or cheating, if you prefer. I said last time that something was worrying me about the cowslip flowers; the problem wasn't with the flowers as such, but with the spaces between them.  As you may recall, all the flowers are going to be cut out and applied to the red velvet that will form the Banner panels.  Some of the shapes, especially the cowslips, are going to be tricky enough as it is, but the little gaps are even worse.

If you're not sure what I mean, have a look at what the arrow is pointing at in this image:


In reality, that little gap is just a few millimetres across, and even with my pointiest scissors and my steadiest hand, cutting that out neatly is going to be a challenge, and runs the risk of catching the stitching with the point of the scissors, which I do not want to do.

So, how can I get around this?  Cheat!

The flowers are going on red velvet.  So, I got out the velvet and some red threads, and found the closest match, Madeira 0511.  I then filled in the little gaps with this:


Here are all three flower heads, with the gaps filled in in red:


Hopefully, it won't be obvious that the red here isn't actually the red of the velvet showing through, or not without getting very close and peering at it, anyway.

It also gives a tantalising hint of how the yellow and green of the flowers will look against the red of the background, which is quite exciting.  That will be starting very soon, I promise!

4 comments:

  1. Oh, clever!
    I would have suggested the use of an awl and Fray-Stop, but your solution is MUCH better.

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  2. I'll definitely have to remember this little tip! Very ingenious. I can't wait to see how they look on the red velvet.

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  3. great solution:-)

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  4. This is a very clever solution. Its amazing how our eyes trick us into believing that something is true.

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