Monday, September 21, 2009

Clown Fish Embroidery

This is the clownfish embroidery I did for j_q_adams in our Tea Towel Tour 5 swap on Craftster. He wants an aquatic/oceanic theme for his towel, and I thought that the clownfish might be the most charming fish in the ocean. I remember teaching about the coral reef back when I was a teacher. The reef pictures I found just didn't have the appeal of this little guy.

Clown Fish Embroidery

His towel is a nice ecru color. I did my favorite chain stitches with 2 strands of embroidery floss. I used a coloring book image, (I think.. clown fish images were easy to find) and just started stitching the outline in black really late at night. About halfway around, I realized that doing the outline that way meant that I would have to fill-in a lot. I have a phobia about fill-in stitching. I don't know why, because I think these rows and swirls of chain stitches look cool.

Clown Fish Embroidery

Something else I noticed is that DMC embroidery floss is really nice and silky. The black I had was something I've had in my stash for a while, maybe Coats and Clark or something and it was just noticeably not as easy to work with.
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9 comments:

  1. Little PenpenSeptember 22, 2009 at 7:39 AM

    Love the clown fish... the fill in looks great. I recently finished four fish blocks for a baby quilt... they were fun.

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  2. DeepaSeptember 22, 2009 at 11:00 PM

    Lovely!! I was of the assumption that DMC and Anchor cotton floss have the same look and feel.

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  3. Mom WaldSeptember 22, 2009 at 11:44 PM

    Your stitches are perfect. You made wonderful patterns instead of simply filling. You, my dear, are an artist!

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  4. IamSusieSeptember 23, 2009 at 7:31 AM

    Deepa- The black I used came from my grandma's stash, so there is no telling how old it was. It was just a subtle difference, but it definitely doesn't have the sheen of the orange.

    Thanks Mom Wald and Pen Pen! I can't tell you how I dread filling in!

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  5. The Daily ReviewerSeptember 23, 2009 at 9:20 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Daily ReviewerSeptember 23, 2009 at 9:41 PM

    Hi!

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  7. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2009 at 5:11 PM

    Hey Susie,

    I thought I would mention that black floss because of the dye content is always less smooth and more likely to tangle than it's lighter counterparts.

    That being said DMC floss is always smoother than Anchor but as a trade off it has a sheen that sometimes is undesirable whereas Anchor is very matte. I like the sheen and use almost exclusively DMC.

    rectangel

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  8. IamSusieSeptember 28, 2009 at 7:12 PM

    rectangel- Interesting about the black dye content... DMC is definitely my favorite brand. I love the sheen too.

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  9. JohnNovember 20, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    I love my fish! Thanks again for stitching this for me. I can't wait to see my finished towel. : )

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