Monday, May 25, 2009

anatomy embroidery!

i mentioned before that i was doing a swap on flickr, as part of the phat quarter group. the theme for the swap was "anatomy", and it had very loose guidelines, 2.5"x3.5" for an ATC, and up to about 5"x7" for everything else, 2D or 3D.

i was sending to jojobooster, who's in new zealand. i really like making swap packages reflect the recipient, it makes the end result more meaningful to me, so i messaged her and asked her a bunch of questions before i got started. that made it harder! i kept trying to think of things that would include her whole family, and fit with the anatomy theme, AND still be within the size guidelines!

eventually i gave up on the idea of trying to do a family tree style anatomy piece, and decided to go with something that reflected more of how she herself feels about her family. this was right around mother's day, which i'm sure influenced it!

i decided to do a piece that showed the anatomy of a pregnant woman. i google image searched and found an image that was detailed enough to make it worthwhile. i traced the image onto some light pink kona cotton using a washaway marker, and picked out 4 different shades of pink/burgundy to embroider with.

this was the end result - "the anatomy of motherhood"
anatomy of motherhood

i LOVE how it turned out!

after i finished the embroidery, i cut it to size and cut a piece of quilt batting that matched. i used sewtakeahike's awesome rose tutorial to create fabric roses in the corners, using strips of jersey knit that i cut from a piece i got at swap-o-rama-rama (that i still haven't made a skirt of, of course!) . i played around with them a bit first, and was very thankful that i did - my first attempts were not pretty at all! my biggest problem is that i'm a perfectionist, so i was all concentrating on perfect folds and stuff, and i kept ending up with square roses! eventually i started going with the flow a bit more, and they turned out really cute. i played around a bit with the measurements she gives. the big roses are 3/4", but i think the strip was shorter, and the small roses were 1/2" strips, and again shorter.

some more pics
IMG_0236
after rinsing, before pressing, obviously!

IMG_0524

closeups of the roses
IMG_0528
IMG_0550

IMG_0533

i backed the embroidery and batting with a bright pink kona, and wrote the title and date on the back. (i signed it too, but i've blurred that out...) i added a hanging sleeve at the top before i sewed the binding on, and then handstitched it and the binding down. did you notice that i bound it with one of my new batiks? i couldn't resist using it!

back
i didn't think to measure it before i sent it! i know it was larger than the size guidelines, but i forget by how much. i'll have to ask her to measure it for me!

back detail

jojobooster received it today, and thankfully, loves it! i was so worried about! after i sent it i started thinking what if she has infertility problems? what if her kids are adopted? i didn't ask! how painful it would be for her! i worried about the connotation of white with the pink colour scheme too, but at least she had a few pics up that showed me that wasn't a (visible) woman of colour! usually when i do swaps it's on craftster, or a personal swap with another blogger, so i can get more info about them! but it was okay, she loved it, alls well that ends well!

18 comments:

becka said...

Wow! I love it!

Angie said...

Amy! This is so beautiful! Seriously so beautious. You amaze me! When I become a midwife I want this! Seriously so awesome! I loveyou!!!!

amy dame said...

angie! the whole time i was embroidering it i kept thinking that i'd have to make you one too! i'll make you one to put up in your office. (do midwives have offices? i know some do!)

thank you so much!

amy dame said...

thanks becka!

Jo Ashcroft said...

Just wanted to say-

I don't just love this beautiful piece of gorgeousness, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

I am the luckiest swap recipient in the world ever! Everyone I have shown this to, and there are many, think it is amazing!

The subject is superb, the colours are fantastic and the stitchery is out of this world!

You have inspired me to work on a mini quilt for my mum ( though it has a twee teddy bear on it!).

So so glad to have made such a lovely friend as you.

Happy stitching. Can't wait for the next swap!

Jo xxx

Heather said...

You are really sooo creative. Too often many handmade items are so similar, but you really are unique.

Ellyn said...

I love this! saw it posted on another blog & thought it was fabulous!

undeadgoat said...

That's a beautiful design--wow!

Unknown said...

wow, that's awesome! i've always wanted to learn to embroider, but just haven't picked it up yet.

you are so multi-talented... wool work, vinyl, embroidery... what else do you do?

Louisa said...

fantastic - i love it - stitchery and NOT folksy.

Unknown said...

Wow, that's really awesome. I would have never thought of doing that. I will have to think of doing something like that one day, I would love to create something so beautiful.

Misty.Creek said...

Wow, how original and beautiful. I don't think the pink/red thread on white would indicate any ethnicity. We all have red blood and tissue, don't we? Beautiful and unique.

chrissyand said...

It's absolutely wonderful. Ahh, and the worries accompanying a gift. Well done just going for it!

Mary said...

This is amazing - it's so original and perfect in every way! You are really talented. Your blog is a joy to read!

ugli.tangelo.fruit at gmail dot com

sewtakeahike said...

Hi Amy! Thank-you so much for the comment and the link you left to this post on my blog! Your roses turned out fabulous! I really enjoy seeing what others have made with some of my tutorials, so I really appreciate you letting me know!

Brittany said...

This is awesome! I love how you say you are a perfectionist. I wish I were!

Jennie said...

I love that so hard!

TiLT said...

wow - that is amazing! It's inspoired me to go break out my old anatomy books...been thinking about embroidering "insides" but wasn't sure how it'd look...now I know -although my embroidery may not look as good :P

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