Progress - Yes!

I seem to be making some progress on my Beyond TAST rooster.  I think coming to the realisation that he was going to be eternally awful in his unfinished state has given me enough courage to carry on with him even though I have no idea what I'm doing and I could very well make a terrible mess of it.  But he's definitely going to look awful half done.  Anyway the wattle is done and I've begun work on his comb.

I'm still not that happy with the reds... but you can only sew with what you have or what you can get. And even though they're a lot 'redder' than the original image I'm pleased with how its turned out.  I wish I was more artistic and could relate the colours for the shading better... but I think I've got enough colour differences in there to at least not have it appear totally flat.

I think I used about 5 or 6 different reds in the wattle.  At one stage I had them all going at once.  What a nightmare, tangles everywhere and the colours are so close in value that at times it became simply a case of 'ok lets throw a bit of that one in there now' without any real clue which one I was using haha.  Its definitely not been a section I have been able to sew at night, even with my sewing light.  Maybe I should start working on the beak during the evenings... hmmm maybe.

Anyway here he is so far.

The next Beyond TAST stitch or stitches have been announced and they're individual stitches.  Not sure I'll get around to trying something with those, not for a while anyway.  I want to get this guy finished.

Oh! and yes he is as wonky as a wonky thing.  I'll see what I can do with him once he's done... The stitching on the comb seems to be pulling that section in as I go... so its obviously just the mass of stitches causing it.   I still love him, wonky bits and all.  I really should try some form of backing next time.  I'll learn eventually haha.

Miss P's TAST progress

Did I mention my sister gave Miss P a huge case of threads?  We're busy working our way through it, putting it all on nice new plastic bobbins and relabelling it.  Seems my daughter has the same pedantic ways as her mother and prefers it all looks nice and neat.  Anyway, she's doing pretty well.  She's finished Fly and Detached chain.

I think I mentioned that we're doing TAST together and that she's picking the elements we include for each 'motif' on our sampler.  So for this one we've got a felt Letter (no idea why she picked an H) and a bit of ribbon, and 3 buttons (not in the picture) along with the two stitches, Fly and Detached Chain. 

I've set her up a FB account so she can post to the TAST group herself which she's pretty keen to do. So now we're just waiting on approval.  

I have possibly opened up Pandoras box with the FB account I know.  But she's under strict instructions on how it will be used and how it will NOT be used.   😀

Speaking of which why is she so quiet??  Thats never a good sign.  Sounds like I better finish my ramblings and go check.

Anyway thats it for now, thanks for stopping by.  

Oh! I almost forgot, feel free to leave a comment, I suddenly seem to be able to reply to them which is new.  Whoop! Whoop!

Not a lot of progress on the encrusted calico piece in the last couple of days, due to the Viking costume, work and just general life.  But the Viking warrior costume was a hit with Miss P.  Unfortunately due to the early hour, the wet weather and the fact its winter here the photos are dark and fuzzy.  Will get her to put it on again to take some more pics if it ever stops raining.

On the encrusted calico front there is some progress, not a lot but some.  I did stem stitch band on the dog bone button and that worked well although its a bit boring so will have to come up with something a bit 'extra' for that.

I do have a plan for this weeks TAST stitch (Sorbello stitch) although I haven't started the stitching yet.  I was really struggling for inspiration this week, some just seem to fall into place and others are a real slog.

A bit more progress on the encrusted calico.  Managed to add a few beads without hating them, so I've definitely had some 'growth' as an embroiderer 😊.  Sorry about the lighting its dark and grey here today.

Oh! I did also have an idea for the bone shapes, I'm going to try raised stem band.  So we'll see how that goes... you never know I might even include some beads haha.  If the raised stem band doesn't work out I might try some 'cast on' loopy bits.

Finally came up with a plan for the TAST stitch for the week... Herringbone Square.  I can't say I'm a fan of the Herringbone family of stitches, I just want them to all be uniform in size and shape and it never works out that way.  Will hopefully post a pic of the finished piece tomorrow.

Meanwhile this week I also need to make a 'Viking' costume for Miss P as this week is Book Week at school and they're having a 'come as a book character' day at school.  And as her favourite books of late are the 'Horrible Histories' series... she's chosen 'Vicious Vikings'.  So watch this space for that disaster later this week 😆