First Embroidery Piece in Progress.

I couldn't wait to share this with you!

Embroidery is full of possibilities! I'm still taking baby steps because this is only the beginning of a journey. The figure that you see will go in a shadow box. She will be pinned to the background with tiny golden pins. I will also add other elements to finish the visual story that I'm telling.

The story is about a woman that feels lost and is trying to find herself. One day, after walking and walking for a long time, she decides to stops. The woman makes a big discovery: she realizes that in order to find herself she doesn't need to go far away, because everything that she is has been within her from day number one. The story is about accepting ourselves 100%.

This idea sounds cliché but it talks about the origin of an important part of human suffering. There is nothing more liberating that accepting ourselves exactly the way we are, with our unique characteristics and limitations. From a place of acceptation we can do so much! Being unhappy with who we are demands lots of precious energy from our brain. If we use that same energy in constructive ways amazing miracles will happen :)

Comments

[Elizabeth Mackey]

OOO I knew you would take embroidery to a fun level. Can't wait to see more!!! I've been working on my etsy line a lot, and have put down my embroidery needle for a bit, but now I really want to add some more to my children's clothing line.

[Bonney]

Just lovely; I love your style!

[Neta]

WOW!!! I have read somewhere, don't remember where now, that the brain mode while embroidering is similar to its mode while dreaming, and your piece is more beautiful then any dream.

[elizabeth]

Dear Elsita, this is just fabulous.

I can see that you used a number of different stitches to bring a different texture to your embroidery piece and by adding beads and pieces of cloth your pieces became instantly mixed media. The way you embroidered the fabric of the body in the first piece is really stunning, very cleverly done. Did you put a pipe-cleaner in the arms? And how did you make the fingers because as far as I can see they aren't stitched on something?

Can you tell that I'm totally excited? (LOL)

Anyway, thanks for sharing these fabulous pieces.

xoxo e.

[Elsita]

Hi Elizabeth!
I made the body of the woman in appliqué technique.
I started the piece by mounting a piece of cotton fabric on a round hook.
Then I did the appliqué with a little stuffing inside for dimension.
Then I embroidered everything else with a mix of different stitches.
The hands were also made out of stitches.
I digitally removed the image from the background just to show the detail here, that is why
The hands look like wire. But the whole piece is made out of fabric and tread.
I cut it from the background when I was finished because I only want the figure which I will pin o the final background.
Yu will understand better when I show the finished piece :)

[Marie-Sophie]

So amazing !!! I love it !

[elizabeth]

Thanks for answering my questions Elsita, now I get it. Still I think you did an amazing job. At the moment I am totally smitten by the bayeux-stitch, which brings wonderful texture. A very slow process I have to say but that's ok, it is the result that counts. Anyway, have a lovely time while you are holding your needle and I'm looking forward to the next episode of embroidery-journey.

[Lois Collins]

Love this soooo much Elsita! Very wise words as well, that's the way Buddhists think. that we should accept ourselves as we are in this present moment! :0) Big hugs. xxx

[Mariella :)]

omg!!!!! so beautiful! looks vintage and ethnic.. LOVE IT!!

[margie oomen]

i really love how you combined beading, traditional embroidery, ribbon embroidery and applique. Only your beautiful mind could take all of these and create something so colorful, beautiful and filled with hope and promise.

[Glaucia]

When i read on the other post that you fell in love with embroidery, I've got so curious about what you'd come up with and since then i've been looking forward to see. Embroidery was my first passion in art and handcraft, so I was really interested as I knew you'd make something breathtaking. I'm always amazed on how you use different means with such a precision and attention to the details, colors, texture and a design that is impossible to ignore. Thanks for sharing Elsita, you're a very talented woman :)

[Susie Chavez]

I'm still stuck with the sentence "first embroidery piece in process". How could this be anyones FIRST piece? Your such an inspiration! The detail carries me into the piece and through the piece. Such an exquisite portrait of a woman. I'll keep checking back and thanks for the words of encouragement...

[Donna Butcher]

Gorgeous! And this is your first piece? It is incredible!

[Lebron James Shoes]

So amazing !!! I love it !

[Basketball Sneakers]

Gorgeous! And this is your first piece? It is incredible!

[fiona]

Dear Elsa, this is very beautiful. (I'm not sure that it compares, for me, with that drawing of you bending wire with your front teeth though). So those scuffed teeth are partly responsible for the incredible work above. Yay for your choppers (and perseverance and talent). Love Fiona x

[Annika]

It's beautiful! Such bright colours. I love the little deatisl, like the pearls and ribbon!

[Joan Chandler]

Hi, Elsita. What amazes me about your work is how SMALL you can go to create such a BIG story. Your idea of self-acceptance fits right into that perspective.
Love,
Joan Chandler

[Ana Gonzalez]

La pieza es preciosa. Estoy deseando ver lo que sigue.

Tu reflexion me recuerda a mi que hay personas que cuando tienen problemas se mudan a otro sitio pensando que sus problemas se resolveran y cuando llegan a ese sitio se dan cuenta que no es asi. Todos los recursos estan en nosotros mismos.

[Glori]

Grazie per aver condiviso questo bel lavoro e anche per avermi fatto ritrovare un sassolini sul sentiero per ritornare a casa:me stessa. GRAZIE!! un abbraccio Glori

[Bhavna]

Just beautiful Elsa. i love how the form of the woman comes alive with all the stitches and the patterns.

[sarah vazquez]

Hola Elsita, me encanta todas tus creaciones! Gracias por compartir tus historias e inspirarnos

[Claudia Liliana/rasamalai]

Elizabeth, I'm so happy that you asked that question! My daughter was also admiring the doll's hands and wondering how such fine fingers could had been made and I was really excited to see Elsita's reply right under your comment!

Elsita, ¡muchísimas gracias por la descripción del proceso tan detallada! Ahora siento muchísima curiosidad por ver la pieza terminada porque aunque la estoy viendo no me la imagino :D

Mi profesor de música -voz- nos dice exactamente lo mismo que aqui nos compartes: nos sorprende cómo sonamos en una grabación porque no podemos escuchar nuestra voz tal como la escuchan otros ya que la escuchamos filtrada por nuestros huesos, etc. Y nos dice que sólo hasta que nos aceptamos podemos verdaderamente comenzar a trabajar y progresar y también nos recomendó aplicarlo a todas las otras áreas de nuestra vida.
Es fácil de hecho olvidarse de éstas valiosas lecciones conforme van pasando los días así que agradezco muchísimo leerlo aqui ^u^

[ana]

Es precioso, Elsa! Yo también acabo de enamorarme del bordado y no puedo parar! Ahora estoy exprimentando con el bordado ruso, es decir el de la aguja hueca con la que consigues rizos, volúmenes y efecto "peluche", si quieres echar un ojo: http://www.anasender.blogspot.com/

[Mary]

I love this. It's so amazingly intricate and detailed. And of course, I love your message about acceptance and finding peace within ourselves. It's so much easier said than done sometimes. The beadwork is lovely. :)

[Camila Faria]

Uhhhh...that's pretty!

[Elsita]

Ana, me he enamorado de lo que vi en tu blog!
Sabes como se le llama a esa tecnica en Ingles?
Me encantaria comprarme algun libro para aprenderla.
Mil gracias por dejarme el link!
Elsita

[Alita]

Elsa felicitaciones por el trabajo, pasaré más seguido por aqui, lindo blog. Saludos Alita

[Crankypants]

So gorgeous. It makes me want to embroider too!

Did you draw the pattern first, with the woman and house? Or was this freeform?

XO,
Crankypants

[mel mccarthy]

This is a fascinating & beautiful piece. Such incredible detail!

[Gina Purlia Johnson]

Fabulous, innovative, wonderful......love!!!!

[kolten]

En su lugar he tratado de decidir este problema.
http://www.freepornclp.com/

kole

[טויוטה]

Wow... It's amazing tutorial shared by you. I love this. I want to make such embroidery piece for my little daughter. Thanks for sharing this one.

[Iram]

Thank you so much my dear friend, ppolee like you also are priceless. I got motivated to hand stitch by a young girl on youtube which was a surprise because young ones don't do that anymore and since then i enjoy it. Hand stitch is in my POV the most cheap way to embellish fabric, cloths, anything, you need just a needle and thread , try it and you will see. Bendiciones!

[Armaan]

I read your psoitng and was jealous

[Joelma]

Hmmm, let's see...what about a chained fttrhetsaiech, Cretan stitch, wheat-ear stitch, or rosette chain-stitch? I don't use very many stitches myself but I'd love to see what you come up with!I'm very excited to have my first (very simple) embroidery pattern coming out in FQ soon; it's actually a component to a larger project but I'm pretty happy with it!

[Rayan]

So sorry for your run of bad luck, hope your daughter is minedng well. :)It looks close to me on the map (but maybe not), in January my daughter will be headed your way, to Belgium, yikes! She'll be going with my sister and is so excited!

[Ahmed]

hi lakshmi...i am sshhirti.i was searching for some handembrodairy designs and got ur blog and i must say it is awsome.i stay in hyderabad and love to do handembrodairy...very nice to see u and ur designs

[Faustina]

I use poly thread. Smart Needle sells oplsos with a matching bobbin pre-wound in the base of each spool. These are great when you really need them, but don't take the place of our regular embroidery thread and bobbins. The price is good for quality thread, but not all of us can afford use these all the time. Sew long! Stitchgeek <<<< has been know to use fabric marker with no problem if you heat set them.

[Sonia]

Ok, wow! (Swoon) This whole outfit is too alroabde for words. I am bookmarking this post right now so I can keep this DIY in my files of things to do. It looks so easy and way to cute to not try:)

[Didier]

My grandma lived right down the srteet from us. I used to ride my bike to her house every day after school. If my mom couldn't find me, she knew where to look.I remember, when my grandma was getting older and her eyesight was going, that she liked to do handsewing. I don't remember what she was sewing, but every afternoon I would go to her house and thread about 50 or more needles for her, and line them up for her to use. The next day she would sew, and that evening, I would go and thread them all again. Ohhh. Now I really wish I knew what she was working on every day. I was only about 10, and for some reason, that wasn't important to me. I just loved knowing I was helping her. She died when I was 18, and I missed her so bad for the longest time.

[Gabriel]

No, pare che sia la versione per Wii. Intendo per il tuo sutopre per la grafica di questo gioco! Ma non mi basta, ora vado a vedere qualche video e a scoprire qualcosa sul gioco. Poi vedr se merita anche in altri campi al di fuori della grafica. Spero di si per !

[Dembo]

Potrebbe anche non essere afaftto male ma voglio aspettare qualche news in pi anche per la trama ed il game play. Comunque devo dire che mi sembra che qualcosa si stia muovendo.

[Felipe]

white in last pic looking good I dont rmvoee the stitches...Devi use darner needles no7 and 8..and anchor cotton thread is best as a beginner..begin with stem stitchand daisy stitch..if you google you can find lott lazy daisy designs..pick any small one and work on a napkin or your kids shirts..:)all the best!!

[Monique]

Having a notebook by the nesiwg is a great idea. I have been printing out my design with the colour numbers that my program recommends and then I make all my notes on this piece of paper. I never thought to include the type of fabric and that I used. Once I am finished with the design I file the page in a binder with the that I have. Thank you very much for all the helpful hints.

[Josie]

This is a great idea. I also write down the time of the stitch-out. I uallsuy will print out the stitch-out using my software, and add the notes to the blank portion of the paper. This way it keeps all the information together. Plus since I have 2 machines I will also write down which I stitched it out with.

[Dustin]

She could make neat stuff out of junk that most people thow away. Like waste batekss out of egg cartons, miniature furniture out of beer cans, siamese cats out of Michelob bottles, pincushions out of tuna cans, she would take the front page off of old greeting cards, poke holes around the edges, and crochet around them .they were so pretty, then give them as cards again. There ya go, a new hobby to keep you entertained.

[Abiola]

She let me do things that my tohmer would never have considered. Like, I was allowed to flip hotpads on the wood burning range, pretending they were flapjacks. And fill the tub almost full to “swim” during bathtime.We went to the park, and got the kids to push us around on this merry go round thing. There was always something crazy that Grandma was doing. And she always baked the best raisin filled cookies and steamed quickbreads.

[sharifatul]

I love your needle book, I have been "needling" ntmeohisg like this for awhile now! I think I may add a strip of material or ribbon to top of each felt page to identify the size of needle, since it's getting hard for me to read those tiny numbers of them! TFS this, love it!