Buttaflies: Phase 2

Target. Acquired.

My tools: 

Needlepoint Inc. Silk 

Aand

Soie de Paris:

This will be my first time working with silk.

Let the games begin.

^_^

Buttafly One: FINISHED AT LAST!

I know you guys want to see the finished product, but I have to take it slow.

Forgive me.

**

Let me illustrate my thoughts--the most important of which being that I barely had any idea at all of what I was going to do for the body of the damn thing, and didn't know even after I had already started stitching.

What I did know, though, was that it was going to be white.

I also had some ideas for segmentation a la caterpillar, but I still couldn't think of how I wanted it done.

I wanted to stitch the colors for the segments simultaneously, in such a way that I would just finish the embroidery in one pass.

It was at this point that I realized my plan wouldn't work:

So, there I am, trying to figure out how to fix this without having to tear anything out (which I rarely ever do--so much so that I can almost say I've never done it!)

My answer came to me as such: Work the whole body in white first.

Check.

And now, for the segments. I actually got this idea for the segmentation from my Chinese embroidery book--and I wouldn't go so far as to say that I botched the technique...but I put my own spin on it.

What I was supposed to do was work the first shade, then make a line of back/split stitches and then stitch the next shade over that to give it a "raised looked"

But, in retrospect, I wouldn't have liked how it turned out if it had gone as planned because I was stitching in the wrong direction and it would've given me the opposite effect!

So, my process:

The line of stitches (I used split stitch). 

I tried to curve them to give it some dimension... not sure if it worked.

And then the shading stitches! 

The split stitches are located at the top of each orange section.

Now, I just want to say that I did not use two colors for the orange bits. I used one shade of orange, in fact, the lighter shade (that you can see in the bottom wings) because I thought that the darker orange would be too dark.

As it turns out, the shadow from the raised segments caused the tops to look slightly darker --> so accidental shading!

Yaaay!

So, here's the butterfly up to this point:

As you can see, the antennae aren't done yet.

I really struggled with the color choices for the antennae. I didn't want them to be blue or purple or that teal-esque color because of the predominance in the top wings.

So, orange it was.

And more french knots! 

I did decide to use some of the dark teal, just to keep things from being too orange, and so far I'm happy with it.

So, at last:

Buttafly Number One!

^_^

Stitching Burst

At least, it definitely felt like one. I didn't cover inches worth of pattern, but considering the medium I'm happy I finished one of those little circles before my eyes gave out.

I was originally planning on trying a type of weaving stitch on all the circles except for the corners, but... 

let's just say it didn't work out.

On top of that, when I redid the circle with the stranded buttonhole, I had this little thread that kept getting in the way--and of course it ended up as a big thing of fluff that just got everywhere.

On another note, I also worked on the buttonholing.

I feel like it should've been slightly more therapeutic... but at the time I was fighting off a lack of feeling in my caboose for sitting too long, and a tenseness in my back from being hunched over.

-_-

But on the bright side, it's that much closer to being done! 

Le Masterpiece moving forward!

While I would've loved to say that Le Masterpiece was finished when I finally got through that big fat border, there was, unfortunately... more to go.

Those round thingamabobs around the edge still had to be tackled. 

After a brief hiatus, I returned to the task.

This is my progress thus far: 

A closeup on the corner: 

It took longer than I expected, which made me a little weary... but I'm thinking I'm gonna mix it up and try something new for the rest of the circles... let's just see if it works.

In the mean time, I wanted to work on Le Masterpiece, but I didn't feel like doing anything super tricky.

So I started on buttonholing some more of the inner elements. You can see it on the inside edge of the thing border, and that round thing

In case you can't really see, here's another shot.

I do realize that I forgot the extra threads that were supposed to pad the outline... but I'm thinking I'll just save the thicker outlines for the outer border.

^_^

I've been a bad blogger... again

It's been... I'd have to say, at the very least, a week since I last worked on Buttaflies and I haven't shown my progress!

I forgot! 

>_<

So, to make things short and sweet, behold!: 

As you can see, Buttaflies is almost complete! 

I do admit I had a bit of a tricky time with the shading. I couldn't get the direction quite right (which is why the bottom left wing looks a little more radial than the one on the right) but you learn from your mistakes, so I am nonetheless happy with it!

Here's a closeup: 

I used split stitch for the lines and single-thread french knots to fill up those round bits. I almost used satin stitch, but then I remembered my experience with the yellow thingies in Doodleplex  and completely switched gears.

-shudder-

Anywho, Next on Buttaflies: thorax, antennae, and final details!! 

^_^

I said, and so I did.

I did it!

I worked on some tatting Sunday--and on some charts, too!

More specifically, I tatted in order to check the charts.

I do hope that counts.

In the mean time, before I went to bed I decided to do a little embroidery and whipped out Buttaflies again.

I didn't expect much. I've been trying to go to bed before 3 AM (which is harder than it sounds), so I did my best to temper myself.

The far shot:

The close up:

That second ball thing looks a little dingy, but it's part of the plan--which hopefully works.

^_^

Weekend Pledge

Now, I promised I would do something, and I did--and I made sure to take pictures.

My project of choice: Buttaflies.

Last seen as: 

So, I began with the background of the bottom wings. 

As per "protocol", I outlined the shape in my favorite when it comes to shading edges: split stitch (note: the stem stitch I used here is made with the needle splitting the previous stitch from above by going down into the fabric instead of coming up and splitting it from the bottom)

And, as far as I can remember, this was my progress at the end of Saturday:

(please forgive the horizontal lines, I couldn't figure out how to get rid of them post-picture-taking and my light wasn't cooperating)

Now, come Sunday I started a little earlier and finished the whole dark orange section in (for me) record time.

And, about an hour ago, I finished!:

My patience was seriously tested when trying to go around those little circle thingies.

But, done!

^_^

Top wings... done! (Almost)

Save a minor detail and an issue with the order in which layers have to be stitched, I'm essentially done with the top wings! 

To compare, let me begin with the last update seen on Lace (making) Adventures:

Approximately half of that second wing is done, as you can see. 

Now this past weekend, I had promised myself that I'd get back to embroidering after a crazy few weeks. However, come Saturday, I found myself doing nothing. 

However, Sunday, I put my foot down and picked up my embroidery hoop.

^_^

-Drum Roll-

I now give you the longest running project (that I'm aware of) currently in progress at Lace (making) Adventures! 

LE MASTERPIECE!!!

(So it's not completely finished, but do you know how much work that is!?)

I must say that I feel like I've reached a very significant landmark. I am almost done!!!

Note to any one out there who might wish to take a crack at needle lace: If you use colored thread, make sure you don't let it near sunlight... if you look closely, you can see a difference in the shade of the thread between the top and the bottom --> improper storage is to blame. >_<

But it's almost done!

^_^

Patience...

...is a virtue that I don't exactly have in spades...

But I'm trying to be good and keep it all hush hush until the milestone that I told myself I'd wait for! 

I've been working on one of my projects (not telling which) and as of late I've made somewhat remarkable progress!

Or at least, I'd say it's remarkable.

^_^

Alllmost there

I must admit that I haven't been doing too much in the way of stitching anything lately. I've been trying, but I've had a few more things going on and I haven't really had the time or the energy... Netflix marathons notwithstanding ^_^

But, I did try to get a little done here and there: 

(Forgive the iffy picture)

I wanted to finish the stripe around the shading, but then I realized that the bottom wing overlaps this wing differently, bringing me back to the "background first" thing.

As you can see, I barely noticed it in time.

^_^

Reality is relative and deceiving.

Have you ever had a really work intensive stitching session, but then look back on it and say: hey! I did more than that! 

But you really hadn't? 

That happened to me with what is, as you well know, one of the longest running projects on Lace (Making) Adventures.

Le Masterpiece.

Shall we compare with the previous update?

It'd say it's about an inch or so that I managed to carve out... but it felt like so much more.
>_<

Either way, I'm that much closer.

^_^

Back to the Buttaflies =D

While I haven't done an enormous amount of work on Butterflies, I still feel like I've made significant progress. I have the two little bottom wings planned out on the first butterfly and I'm starting to think of color schemes for the other butterflies.

^_^

First things first, I finished that teal band around the inner part of the larger wing and filled in the tip.

Here's a shot of the whole butterfly, for some perspective:

After that, I had trouble deciding on the colors to use to fill in that circle. As you can see, I'm favoring cool colors, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go that route. 

I think most of my problems stem from the fact that outside of trying to free hand embroidery patterns and doodling, I haven't had much experience in the art department--by that I mean the painting/drawing part of art--and much less in determining cohesive color schemes.

Case in point: with Doodleplex, at one point I actually closed my eyes and chose colors at random.

Anywho, after about a half an hour, and thanks to questionable lighting, I settled on the following:

I was worried about the little circle, but am actually pleased with the result. I wasn't sure at the time about whether to go with satin stitch (you remember my last run in with satin stitch?) or long and short stitch like I'd been doing with everything else. 

I did, eventually, settle on long and short, mostly because I'm trying to practice for my first Chinese embroidery project, and also because the circle was a bit too big (in my mind) for my shaky satin stitch skills.

A closeup: 

I even got some shading done.

^_^

P.S. This project is no longer "Butterflies", but has now been dubbed "Buttaflies"

Getting back into the habit

Yesterday, I embroidered for the first time in what I'd say is close to about a month. 

O_O

Long time, huh? 

Honestly, I don't know why it's been so long... but I think it has something to do with a space-themed video game and, of course, getting Evelyn's Doily ready for launch.

However, I don't think I've posted much about my progress even before I sputtered out.

So, to be brief [dramatic pause]: 

And another shot:

^_^

Testing Done!

So, long story short --> I went on a trip, forgot my first practice, and started another one! 

First Practice:

Second Practice:

Luckily, I did catch some issues with the pattern, aaannnd since the charts are all done I'd say Evelyn's Doily is almost ready to go!

^_^

Butterfly boom!

I dare say it's a good amount of progress: 

^_^

Why!?

I've officially decided that after I get this round right, Evelyn's Doily will be marked as: Finished.

There comes a time when you just get that feeling... that it's time to sign it, seal it, and deliver it. 

Let me tell you why:

This is where I am, right now.

If you look closely, you'll see that I have two little inserts yet to complete.

But do you notice anything else? 

Such as... a certain space that's too wide to bridge? 

Observe: I cut a piece of toilet paper to the approximate size of the insert, seen here: 

Now, using that same paper, I checked the space available in the remaining two spots.

Spot 1:

Doesn't quite fit, does it? 

Spot 2: 

Aaalmost.

But not quite.

I'm still going to try to finish the last two inserts, because I've come this far and because you never really ever know... but I'm not too positive at this point.

>_>... 

I think... but no

I keep wanting to say that the right wing is done... but it's not. 

>_<

I keep forgetting that that whole big ol' thing is the wing. 

Hmph. 

What I'm really getting a kick out of, though, is the way it looks with different lighting. 

^_^