Tangled Thread

how to go from photo to finished fiber art?

by Chloe on February 26th, 2008

I suggested playing with photo editing software to help with plan out stitching lines.  Now that we know where we’re going - it’s time to stitch!

I began with two shades of yellow - both plain old polyester sewing machine thread.  I wanted the yellow to be small “pops” of color to make it more interesting - but not so much that it’s overwhelming.

Here’s the first shade of yellow:

I used free-motion embroidery to create short lines radiating out of the flower centers.  I filled in the remaining centers with a darker shade - using the same stitching technique.

I threaded my sewing machine with purple next:

I wanted the purple to echo the pen lines I drew on first, but I didn’t want to match them exactly.  I used quite a loose, fluid line of stitching to give the petals some extra dimension.  The dark purple thread blended in a little bit too much with the paint, so I went over some of the lines again with a paler shade of lavendar.

I used an olive-toned green to outline the leaves, and to add some depth & volume to the embroidery.   It’s getting close, but I still think it needs a little more something… but you’ll need to wait until tomorrow for that :-)

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POSTED IN: Creativity, Embroidery, How To, machine embroidery, techniques, tutorials