Sunday, July 11, 2010

Attaching a Parrot Head

Ultrasuede Parrothead
After a few more rows of tent stitches in the background, I attached the Ultrasuede parrot head to my canvas using a very strong pair of magnets.  Then with a tiny sharp beading needle, a ply of the same dark purple Gloriana silk used on the body of the bird, and my thimble at the ready, I carefully stitched around the perimeter of the fabric to attach it.  I used simple, small straight stitches and usually had no trouble penetrating the Ultrasuede.  The only hitches were when I had to pierce a canvas thread also.  I used the thimble then.

It took a while but the head is securely on now.  I will decide later whether to couch a thread around the edge of the head.  I stitched tiny stitches along one side of the eye hole to keep the fabric snug to the underlying canvas.  I will wait to see if I need to continue once I attach the long strip of ribbon floss above the eye to make the black streak painted there.

Once the eye is finished, I will embroider on top of the Ultrasuede.  I am thinking a scattering of motifs as I sketched out, not covering the fabric with a lot of embroidery.  We'll see how that works out tonight!

So far the hardest part has been cutting a smooth eye hole to allow the stitches and bead of the eye to show through.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

8 comments:

Melinda said...

This is so beautiful, Jane! I love the ultrasuede for the bird's head and can't wait to see how you embroider it. Off topic, but I love the flower photos you post under your welcome. What was the flower you posted yesterday? It was pink - ruffled, maybe?

mskathk said...

What a clever idea! It challenges all of us to be more innovative in our stitching. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work!

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

The flower from yesterday was a gloxinia. They come in fabulous colors!

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...
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Carol in Indian Springs Village said...

I can't wait to see your embroidery on the parrot head. I've not ever attached ultra suede to my canvas but it is a great idea. You always give us such good ideas and then tell us in detail what to do (and not do sometimes) so it makes it seem achievable. Hope your heat wave has backed off some. It is still hot here in Alabama but it is supposed to be this time of year so we are used to it.

NCPat said...

Beautiful! Such a great idea perfectly executed!

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Thanks, Pat. It was pretty easy, too.

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Carol , this is definitely easy. And our heat wave is over within back to highs in the low 90s, which is normal for this tome of year. Thanks for asking'