Pincushion = Finished!

I think I needed a small project that could be finished in a couple of days. The coif is getting kind of depressing. The pincushion is finished, and kinda cute, if I do say so myself! (Looking at it now, it would be a cool way to make xmas tree decorations. I think I might work on some through the next year to give away. Nice little personalized prezzie for peeps.)

But on to the finihed project:

Inside of the cushion, five seams sewn together (My is that messy! Thankfully, my coif is no where near that messy on the insides.)

Outside of the cushion, five seams sewn. (I ended up doing the scrolly vines that courtierka suggested on the long ends. I left the second short end blank. Oh well.)

Finished sides

Finished top. (I need to find a design that lends itself more easily to fabric....it's really hard to get a fleur symmetrical!)

I'm going to be picking up the coif again later today, but I'm giving my hands a much-needed break. My tendons are stiff and sore, and my fingertips are growing callous!

More coif-y updates

Here is the general color scheme for the rest of the coif. (Mostly so I remember what goes where!) Oh yeah, the purples at the top? Those are the supre-cute wooden thread winders from the event!


And now onto what is actually done......
(4 blue carnations)


(1 giant yellow carnation)


(1 mutant something....a thistle? It didn't turn out very thistle-y if that is what it is...)


That leaves only 4 'major' flowers to be done. Then comes all the tedious filling-in work. All the leaves and teeny flowers and such. I'm ignoring the scroll work for as long as possible since I have no idea where to even start on that. I need to find out what the best gold to use is, and how to actually *do* a plaited braid stitch. *dies*

I may end up doing something else for the scrolls, but I really want the gold! :(

Dropping the coif project for a moment....(but only for a moment)

(This is the shortest side of the rectangle)

While perusing Attack Laurel's site looking for coif-y information, I happened across *teh cuteste* pincushion on the planet! I decided I *NEED* a similar pincushion, so the coif if resting for a little while. Last night I cut out the pieces and I'm working on the blanket stitch edges. I probably should have figured out the embroidery design before hacking away at the fabric, but oh well. Worst case scenario, it doesn't work, and I go back to my coif.

I have not quite figured out what I'm going to do for the decoration, but it will probably end up having fleurs or something like that. (Since, ya know, I'm fleur-obsessed) She did couching, but I think I'm going to do a double running (?) stitch, or the ever-present chain stitch. I'll probably also put my persona's initials (S.B.) somewhere on there. I guess if I was a good girl, I would go research some Italian motifs, but I'm not gonna. I think this is more of a "just 'cause I wanna" project more than anything else.

I'm using dark green wool felt and goldenrod-colored wool embroidery thread. Next time I see someone spinning I'll try to con them out of some wool for stuffing. Or buy some at Hancock Fabrics.

Oh yeah, did you know that Hancock Fabrics sells little packages of wool?? I think it's for ummm....I can't remember what it's called right now, but you use a stiletto and make sculpted/raised thingabobs? (Yeah, really, I'm awake......)

Pincushion Conundrum

I am terribly un-original when it comes to graphic design. So far, this is what I've come up with, and I'm not very extatic about it. The top (largest) part is the fleur, which I may or may not keep. The two shorter sides are my mundane initials and my persona's initials. (Too cheesy?)

If I end up keeping everything so far, I still need to do something for the longer sides. Hmmmmm......I'm outta ideas. I'm not even liking the ideas I have in the first place. I think I need to go dig though some of my books at home and see if there is anything that catches my eye. I'm down to the last piece with the blanket stitch, so next up is the embroidery. I better figure it out soon or I'll have yet another project that goes in the 'forever unfinished' pile.

ETA: I was originally inspired by Attach Laurel and her beautiful pincushion: http://www.extremecostuming.com/gallery/otherprojects.html