Lion Handkerchief

I have a piece of fabric that I have had for a long time.  At first I didn't use the fabric because I liked it so much I didn't want to use it on just any project.  It was intended for something special.  The years have gone by and the fabric stash has grown out of proportion.  The stash must be used.  This beautiful fabric was rediscovered as I was perusing the stash.  A few items have now been made out of this fabric, for instance, the earlier trapunto project. 

Although the fabric design has many animals, one piece had the complete lion's head in the center.  Ah ha!  Perfect for a handkerchief, showcasing the lion's head in the middle. 

The fabric was hooped with the lion's head in the center and I used some netting for stabilizer.

A stock design had a pretty scallop designed edge that looked as though it would make a beautiful edge but not infringe on the center of the hanky.  The edge design was intended to frame the lion's head.  Since th edge design was a corner of about 7", it was duplicated, flipped, and arranged to make a complete 10" square via the digitizing program.

The hoop was installed on the machine and the design was qued.  Rather than multi colors, it was decided to use one of the earth tones in the fabric.  A rich, dark brown was chosen.  The bobbin thread was matched to the upper thread.

The embroidery design began stitching.



At the end of the stitching, the project was unhooped.  The stabilizer was carefully cut away.  And the edges were trimmed from the bulk of the fabric.

Voila!  The lion's head hanky:>)

In My Easter Bonnet, With All the Frills Upon It

Saturday was a blast at the Easter Extravaganza on the beach.  I got to spend some time with friends, laugh and cut up.  I wore my Easter bonnet that I made on Thursday and Friday. 

I thoroughly enjoyed making that Easter bonnet.  Of course, I didn't want anything "normal."  I decided to fashion my bonnet like old Americana, or even old Cajun bonnets.  I created the pattern, which was very simple.  Then added blue lace around the edges.  That's part of that bolt of blue lace that I bought several years ago and I'm still trying to use all of it.  Then I had this adorable ric-rack that has all of the pastel colors fading in and out of each other.  I sewed the rick-rack underneath the bonnet to hide the stitching from the blue lace.  I liked that ric-rack so much that I sewed some more on top, over the stitching attaching the blue lace, too.  Then I decided to take the round part and see if I could hoop it.  That wasn't even a problem.  I embroidered the bunny with "Hoppy Easter" and the Cajun Stitchery logo.

At this point I wanted to use some of the many 3D techniques that I've been yearning to use.  The fringe flowers turned out perfect.   The butterflies were basically done like the patches.  Rather than sewing the outside of the butterflies to the fabric, I only did a zigzag stitch over the body of the bug, leaving the wings to flutter in the breeze.

There was one piece of the thick, white ric-rack in my stash and it was just long enough to go around the back of the bonnet.  Then I noticed that I had some little rabbit stickers which I glued with Elmers to make sure they didn't fall off. 

Once the bonnet was complete, I began gluing rhinestones.  The rhinestones just made the bonnet pop in the sun.

Although George wanted me to put ribbons to tie the bonnet onto my head, I did not do this.  I have a very short -- almost non-existing -- neck and I really don't like things tied around my neck.

I am very pleased at the result of the bonnet.  If I had more time, I could have put more things on it but it looks fine the way it is. 

C'est toute, mes amis.