The Rabbit Geisha's sleeves were a puzzle to me when I first looked at them. Are those fan shapes on the sleeves? Can I do long stitches covered by couched gold lines? What will make the sleeves harmonious with the rest of her outfit but not blend into the background?
I finally decided that the gold lines on the sleeves need to be tent stitched. Couching and long laid stitches just seem to be too heavy a look for the sleeves when the body of the clothing is light coverage stitches. In the photo you see that I've managed to get all the gold lines tent stitched (using Kreinik's braid #12 in Gold 02) on the sleeves and have also stitched the gold line around the hem of the tunic and the outlines around the sleeves. It took me several nights to get it all done but now I am ready to tackle the problem of what to put inside the blue sleeve areas. For the answer, you'll have to wait. I want to do another few rows of background near both sleeves so it is easy to tell how what I choose for the inside of those gold lines will look with the background as the two areas are very close in color.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
5 comments:
Looking at the picture before reading, I thought you had already stitched the sleeves. Phew, you hadn't!!! So, what will Jane come up with? There is such a nice sheen to the background, it's going to be difficult to get the sleeves to stand out. I don't envy you. A kreinik 8 in blue so it shines but also recedes a bit from the gold? Flair? Beads?
what if you did an irridescent and sparkly thread in a fine weight for the sleeves? that may make them just diferrent enough in value from background blue and the slight sparkle would tie in with the rest and also make it pop against the background. if you look at the real costumes, the sleeves are always very distinct and the way they handle them makes them an extension of the arm almost as they hold them when them move.
I LOVE the canvas of the day.
Jane,
How about rows and rows of tiny beads on the sleeves? Or would that drive you crazy? Do the robes of geisha's have beads, pearls and/or other sparkles on them? I love what you are doing with this piece.
Judy
Patt, i love those race horses, too. And the Etsy store prices are fairly reasonable!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24075308&ref=sr_gallery_6&&ga_search_query=needlepoint+horse&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=date_desc&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title
or Tiny URL
http://tiny.cc/fT6F5
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