Saturday, November 6, 2010

X-stitch Unicorn!

when i went to portland for the zine symposium at the end of august, i stayed with acquaintances who i didn't really know that well (even though they're awesome). it was a stressful and upsetting time for me, even though the symposium itself was awesome, and being able to stay in a safe place with fabulous people around helped a lot. i appreciated them letting me stay so much that i wanted to make them a thank you gift. they have a wall of unicorn pictures in their living room, and i thought something unicorn themed would be perfect.

the day after i got home from portland, i came across this cross stitch pattern book, copyright 1981, and i decided it was fate!

unicorn collection c1981
unicorn collection c1981 back

i chose the glasses case shown on the back cover, but i stitched it out much bigger. i used waste canvas on green cotton, and i think it was 10 count... the end piece was 6"x12", much bigger than a glasses case! i used all 6 strands of the embroidery floss, which i never do, but i wanted to ensure as much coverage over the green background as possible.

xstitch pansies

unicorn1

i added a bit of glitter in the outlines - silver metallic thread in the main outline, and gold metallic thread around the horn, and blue metallic thread for the eyes. i used one strand at a time, twisted in with the cotton floss.

unicorn close up

it ended up taking longer than i'd anticipated to stitch, and then i ran out of the grey i was using for the outline, and then it sat for ages waiting to be finished. i couldn't buy stretcher bars that were the right size, so i decided i'd cut my own, so then i needed to wait for a day when i actually felt up to hauling the skil saw outside and cutting them that was also a day when it wasn't raining. and then when i went to assemble them, i was out of staples, so i had to go to the hardware store. and then after i'd assembled the frame, it still took me forever to cut a piece of batting and wrap it around the frame. i just had too many projects on the go, and no definite deadline, so finishing this kept getting pushed to the back of the line.

but it's done! and it's fabulous!

unicorn

unicorn side

3 comments:

AlwaysInspired said...

I love this! Such a great addition to your wall. I wish I was more patient and would take the time to do x stitch!

amy dame said...

thanks always! it does look great on my wall, doesn't it? there's no way i'm making another one though!

i don't do as much cross stitch as embroidery, because yeah, it is slower, and i hate the counting, but it's fun to do for the occasional project. i'd really like to start doing petit point, but it still requires counting, and even though you don't x back over the stitch, it's so tiny that that it still takes forever!

trudys_person said...

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one still doing cross-stitch! I still find it very relaxing ... and it is generally more portable than quilting. I just finished a little project, and now I have no fabric to start new one - must scout a new source ...

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