The Humbugs

fabric: 18ct Victorian Red aida ( I think)

fabric: 18ct white aida

thread: DMC 310 thread, for design and hangers

design: my own

The Challenge at EMS was to create humbugs, two of them, one done on light fabric and the other on dark, but, using the same pattern and thread on both.




I sent out the package to bebeche, then it dawned on me- I should have written in both English and French. Not just in English as I had done. Stupid me. She received them, and I think she likes them. I sure hope so.

I was going for a modern sort of look, I guess you could say. I was very nervous about the finishing and thought that if I could make it simple (KISS) then it would allow me to focus a bit more on the assembly. This way it gave me a little wiggle room in case I messed it up ( it tore or something) and I had to restitch.

I made the italicized "b" on my PC Stitch. I wanted it to be lowercase as her username ( like mine) is all in lowercase. On the backstiched username side I sketched the "b" on paper and decided I liked it. The rest of the name I sort of "stitched along" going more by how it looked and not on how well it fit. (*chuckle) Not the best way to design something. On the other hand, it felt very creative to me... I was stitching in hand, doing one section on the red then on the white, and so on. Probably sounds rather weird, but, it was very nice, going as the needle took me.
I crocheted the loops using the smallest hook I had at the time using DMC 310. I rather like the effect. Simple. My hands trembled the whole time. Nerves. Pure nerves.

The pictures are very deceptive. The stitched borders/outlines are 4 inches by 2 inches. Then once they were stitched up and stuffed they were sooo tiny. If I hadn't seen for myself how it all started, I don't think I would have believed it.