tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65968987915188362362024-03-08T06:13:00.255-08:00PW Ponders Pansy Project 2012DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596898791518836236.post-75270017286887505852012-10-07T11:03:00.000-07:002019-05-26T09:08:31.745-07:00September 14<span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday September 14 2012</span><br />
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Well I decided to do the three band ornament, sans tassel, and I smocked three of them. But then I began to have doubts. I really like the pattern but I'm beginning to suspect that the polyester crepe fabric is too soft to make maintain nice crisp pleats between the rows. Rather than make a decision I decided to forge on with getting the balls ready to smock. <br />
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I plan to make 17 smocked ornaments for Christmas gifts so I've decided to prepare that many before I decide. As of today I have 3 smocked and 10 ready to smock.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/259.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="pansy project" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/259.jpg" /></a>
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I have also made a decision about the ribbon. The burgundy Hug Snug samples I received confirmed that the one I have is Medoc. I also received a sample of Tropic Wine. It is quite a bit browner (something like DMC 902) but it works well behind the Medoc. I didn't receive any green Hug Snug samples that I liked better than the Dark Olive. (Which is something like DMC 3787.) In a perfect world I'd have found one more like the Moss coloured satin one but the Dark Olive will work well enough.<br />
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The lengths I plan to use are:<br />
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Medoc- 7 inches<br />
Tropic Wine- 6 1/2 inches<br />
Dark Olive- 4 1/4 inches<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/265-1.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/265-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday September 17</span><br />
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I now have 3 balls smocked and 14 ready to smock. I also have 2 "experiments" that I can fix up for our tree or, in a pinch, use as gift ornaments.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/286.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/286.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Friday September 21 2012</b><br />
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If I include the 2 experiments I now have 12 smocked and 7 ready to smock. I hope that the Tropic Wine ribbon is in my mailbox this morning. I'd like to make a few pansies before I smock the rest.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/288_zps0ffdc8ea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/288_zps0ffdc8ea.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/290_zps429c9797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/290_zps429c9797.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>P.S.</b> I was happy to find the Tropic Wine and Dark Olive ribbons in my mailbox this morning and I quickly set about pressing them. I was surprised to discover that there was only 26 feet (instead of 30 feet) of the Tropic Wine. Now I'm hesitating to start using it in case the seller won't be able to supply the missing 4 feet of ribbon. Without it I'll have to use 6 inches instead of 6 1/2 inches and I won't have enough left to make an ornament for our tree. I'm crossing my fingers for a positive response from the seller.<br />
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I guess until I know I best keep smocking.<br />
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<b>Thursday September 27 2012</b><br />
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I found out this week that there is a possibility that I'll have a visitor on Friday who can transport 3 of the ornaments, and save me some postage. So on Tuesday I made a quick trip to town to buy some gift wrapping supplies. I also finished smocking the 17th ball on Tuesday. (Whew!) <br />
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I spent a good chunk of Wednesday making and installing the pansies and leaves. It took much longer than expected, partially because just as I was finishing the 9th set of front petals I spilled Fray Stop on two of them. Despite my best effort to clean them they weren't salvageable. <br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/373.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/373.jpg" /></a> <br />
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So I had to make two more petals before I carried on. Eventually I had all the pansies, leaves and end caps done and I was ready to assemble the first gift ornament.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/310.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/310.jpg" /></a> <br />
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(The whole time I've been working on this project I had been pondering ways to evenly space the leaves around the top. I imagined using a small triangle, or a circle divided into three sections. When it came time to do it I realized that the smocking pattern has 27 diamonds at the top. All I had to do was to place a pin in every ninth diamond and then place the center line of each leaf along the pleats that run from the top of the diamond to the top of the ornament.)<br />
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I stuck the point of each leaf to the ball using a drop of FabricTac glue.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/318.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/318.jpg" /></a> <br />
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I used double sided tape to attach the green ribbon to the flat buttons. Two pins hold the button to the ball.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/320.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/320.jpg" /></a> <br />
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Each flower was centered between two leaves. They are stuck in place using a dot of FabricTac glue.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/323-1.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/323-1.jpg" /></a> <br />
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I gathered two layers of the light weight polyester crepe fabric over the 18 mm bead cap before I added the rayon thread. I applied a bit of FabricTac to the underside and then used a pearl head pin to stick it to the bottom of the ball.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/324.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/324.jpg" /></a> <br />
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I got about 2 1/2 of the gift ornaments assembled before I spilled the Fray Stop again. This time it was a brand new spool of thread that soaked it up. I put the Fray Stop in another room and decided to quit for the night. Frankly I was more than a little discouraged with both the process and the look of the ornaments. (I cheered up when I found an email from the person who sold me the Tropic Wine seam binding. She wrote to say that she'll send me another 10 yards!) <br />
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<b>Friday September 28th 2012</b><br />
<br />
This morning I finished the third ornament. <br />
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When it was done I decided to take some glamour photos before I wrapped them up. By the time I was finished the photo shoot I was feeling a lot better about the look of the ornaments. <br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/398-1.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/398-1.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/389.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/389.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/372.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/372.jpg" /></a> <br />
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Here they are with the other smocked balls.<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/365-1.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/365-1.jpg" /></a> <br />
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And then I had to quickly whip up some gift boxes. When I bought the blue card stock and white ribbon I pictured a snowflake sticker holding the ribbon to the box. However after looking in three stores I concluded that there probably won`t be any suitable snowflake stickers in my local shops until after Hallowe'en. So I purchased a piece of card stock with a snowflake design instead.<br />
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Here are the two boxes I made from the first sheet of card stock. The cut out snowflake seemed a bit flat so I added a little white button. <br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/377.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/377.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/380.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/380.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/384.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/384.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Thursday October 4th 2012</b><br />
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Three ornaments went on their merry way last weekend and I almost finished the rest of the ornaments this week. I now have 16 gift ornaments completed. When the Tropic Wine seam binding arrives I'll be able to make the back petals that I need to finish two more. (One additional gift ornament and one for our tree.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/419.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/419.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Friday October 5th 2012</b><br />
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No seam binding in the mailbox this morning so I guess I'll make some boxes this weekend. But first I thought I should take a progress photo against a background that provides better contrast.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1040434-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1040434-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<b>Thursday October 11th 2012</b><br />
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I'm sorry to say that my missing seam binding has not yet arrived. Since I couldn't finish the last two ornaments I got busy making more gift boxes instead. (I took some step by step photos for a future tutorial.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/518.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/518.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Sunday October 14th 2012</b><br />
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Here's hoping that the seam binding will be in my mailbox tomorrow. This morning I put away everything that I won't need to finish the last three ornaments. Many months of play left me with <b>many</b> bits and pieces and it took some time to find room for everything. Especially all of the new ribbon and experimental balls. <br />
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This afternoon I made a quick tutorial to explain how I make two gift boxes from a single piece of 12 x 12 inch card stock. You can click on the photo below if you would like to see the whole tutorial.<br />
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<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/p/i-made-these-boxes-using-12-x-12-card.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/scor.png" /></a><br />
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<b>Wednesday October 17th 2012</b><br />
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Guess what!<br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project+2012/532-1-2.jpg"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project+2012/532-1-2.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/521.png"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/521.png" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/522.png" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/522.png" width="565" /></a><br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/551-1.jpg"><img alt="551" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/551-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Thursday October 18th 2012</b><br />
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<a _blank="" href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/625-1.jpg"><img alt="625" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/625-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<i>(It is still too early to find snowflake stickers in the store so I printed some clip art flakes on photo paper. If I don't find stickers in November I'll stick these ones in place.)</i><br />
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<b>Friday October 19th</b><br />
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It has just occurred to me that my "how to" links are now buried on the back pages of this blog. I'll list them here. (And also on the right side of this page.)<br />
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Some general information about how I make my smocked ball ornaments.<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html">http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html</a><br />
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My smocked ball tutorial.<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2012/08/my-seemingly-seamless-smocked-ball.html">http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2012/08/my-seemingly-seamless-smocked-ball.html</a><br />
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Ribbon Pansy Tutorials<br />
<a href="http://nostalgicneedleart.blogspot.ca/2008/03/ribbon-pansies.html">http://nostalgicneedleart.blogspot.ca/2008/03/ribbon-pansies.html</a><br />
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<a href="http://creativeribbons.blogspot.ca/2007/10/wired-ribbon-pansytutorial.html">http://creativeribbons.blogspot.ca/2007/10/wired-ribbon-pansytutorial.html</a><br />
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Boxes from Cardstock tutorial<br />
<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/p/i-made-these-boxes-using-12-x-12-card.html">http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/p/i-made-these-boxes-using-12-x-12-card.html</a>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596898791518836236.post-37899538867580949892012-10-07T10:57:00.002-07:002017-07-16T07:29:45.648-07:00August 19<span style="font-weight: bold;">Sunday August 19 2012 </span><br />
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I'm waiting for the mail again. A very kind person, Maggi, has purchased some 2-1/4" balls for me and they are on the way. And a company that sells the Hug Snug ribbon is sending me some colour samples. (I'm not 100% convinced that "Medoc" I recieved is Hug Snug's darkest burgundy ribbon.) That meant that I had no excuse not to take the time to finally do a proper tutorial for my "seemingly seamless" smocked ball ornaments. I finished it today. If you'd like to visit it you can click on the picture below.<br />
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<a href="http://pinwheelponders2.blogspot.ca/2012/08/my-seemingly-seamless-smocked-ball.html" target="_blank"><img alt="864" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/864-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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And once that was done I thought I'd try my hand at making ruched ribbon rosettes. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/147.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
.<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br />
Click <a href="http://bessiemary.blogspot.ca/2010/03/bonnet-with-frills-upon-it-iv.html">here to see the blog where I found the tutorial</a>. The only change I made is that I used 8-1/2 inches of ribbon to make a rosette with 8 petals.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday August 24 2012 </span><br />
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While I was waiting for the balls and ribbon samples to arrive I decided to try the smocked pattern I used on the batiste ball on a larger ball. (I really do like look of the parallel pleats.) I no longer had any balls between 2 inches and 2-1/2 inches so I took apart an ornament I made in 2004. It used a 55 mm ball, which is my favourite size. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/173.jpg" /></a><br />
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I liked the size but I find the rayon threads look a bit untidy.<br />
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I also decided to make a new grid for making the gathering stitches on semi- transparent fabric. The interfacing one was less than ideal because the needle did snag on the interfacing and when it did I think it sometimes left ink coloured fibres on the fabric strip. I made a new grid by printing some of my grid paper and covering it with clear adhesive vinyl. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/P1040044-1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The instructions for making this grid are about halfway down the following blog page.<br />
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<a href="http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html">http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.ca/2009/02/some-thoughts-on-smocked-ornaments.html</a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday September 1 2012</span><br />
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With Christmas now less than 4 months away it is time to fish or cut bait.<br />
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I couldn't make any firm decisions on the ribbons because the envelope of samples I received this past Monday had the green but not the burgandy colours. However, I received the styrofoam balls that Maggi sent so there was no reason I couldn't choose the size of the ball and the pattern of the smocking. <br />
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I asked my "inhouse focus group" to choose between two smocking patterns. This one,<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030869.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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and the most recent one. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/173.jpg" /></a><br />
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Despite my hints that the first one was tidier and easier to stitch the vote was:<br />
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Most recent 3 band ornament - 2 votes<br />
Simpler ornament - 1 vote<br />
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So I decided to see if I could improve on the three band ornament. <br />
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I think the most untidy part of this pattern are the bracket-like stitches I make below the slanted stitches. The rayon thread is just too soft to make nice arcs. So I tried some bracket-free patterns, that still made parallel columns between the bands, but I couldn't find one that I liked. I tried using all DMC Perle thread, but it didn't have the sparkle of the rayon thread.<br />
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So I made a 2 1/4 inch (108 pleat) ball that used rayon for the slanted stitches and the stiffer Perle thread for the bracket stitches. In the photo below this ball is on the left and the 2 inch batiste ball with all rayon thread is on the right. Though it probably doesn't show on the photo the new ball with the combination of threads does look neater. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/251b.jpg" /></a><br />
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I just wish that it was the same size as the 55 mm ball. (Far right in the photo below.)<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/251.jpg" /></a><br />
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So after smocking 15 ornaments my choices are either the three band one on the left or the simpler one the right. The one on the right would be a lot faster because it is just six rows of slanted stitches. The one of the left has four rows of slanted stitches and four rows of bracket-like stitches. And the bracket-like stitches take more time because I have to try to keep the height of the arc the same size on each one. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/252.jpg" /></a><br />
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It is tempting to choose the easier project, perhaps because I have already smocked almost as many experiments as I plan to give as Christmas gifts!<br />
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By the way I used a vertical strip of fabric to make the most recent ornament, so that I could use the stronger straighter horizontal threads to make the tassel. The tassel was much easier to fray, because the removed threads never broke, and it isn't fuzzy like the previous tassels. <br />
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I've decided that I like the pansy capped ornaments better without a tassel so I won't be making any more tassels for this project. However should I wish to make a tasselled ball in the future I'll first check the vertical and horizontal threads to see which will be more suitable for a tassel. I'll make the ball by fraying the fabric before I gather the threads. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/228.jpg" /></a><br />
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And I'll gather the bottom of the ornament to the "just right" sized circle before I gather the top thread.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/ornaments/smocked/237.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596898791518836236.post-38129222754429776302012-10-07T10:54:00.004-07:002017-07-16T07:45:49.886-07:00August 6<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Monday August 6 2012</span><br />
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I ran out of balls and went shopping for more. I was disappointed that I couldn't find anything in between 2 inches and 2 1/2 inches. I guess I'll have to buy my balls from an online source. I bought some 2 inch to play with, not that I think that they will be a good size but because I will be able to do faster experiments on them. (Fewer rows and fewer pleats.)<br />
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As I was breezing through the craft aisles of the department store I was brought up short by ribbon that was exactly the colour I am looking for. It was 5/8 inch wide satin and I was fairly sure that it would be too heavy for my purposes, but I bought some to play with anyway. I made one pansy and pinned it to the antique white ball.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030885.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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The pansy turned out better than I expected. Maybe I should have picked up some green ribbon too. I have ordered some more red and green rayon ribbons but if they don't work out I might end up using the satin. (After mail ordering silk and rayon ribbon from 4 different places in North America!) <br />
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I decided that I would use some batiste to make a 2 inch ball with a tassel. (92 pleats.) <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030873.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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It was a very easy to stitch through but the batiste doesn't make nice crisp pleats like the polyester crepe does. If I use it again I'll make sure that I have more pleats per inch. Because I wanted a smoother look I choose not of make the fabric <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/5762623403_1da0efdd49.jpg">honeycomb</a> between the bands of smocking. The pairs of parallel pleats remind me of the grooves on <a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRbkUWgtVBijwtZhm9cpM-J_EWASxtwnSh61JnjDRWY4q0EMGCxoQ">a fluted column</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030874.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030877.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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So far I have not been satisfied with the pleats at the bottom of the balls made with tassels. The process of binding the threads together makes it challenging to keep the pleats straight and even.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030875.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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I capped the top of the ornament with a circle of gathered ribbon and a pearl bead.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030880.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030884.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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Though I thought that this size ball would be too small for the ribbon pansies I pinned a few on just to see. In this photo the flowers may seem to overpower the ball but in person the size works much better than I expected.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030890.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Thursday August 9 2012 </span><br />
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While I'm waiting for the <span style="font-style: italic;">next</span> ribbon order to arrive I decided to try my idea of using non woven interfacing to make my marking template. I cut a strip of heavy interfacing, taped it over my paper grid and drew the lines with a fine point Sharpie marker. (This is the same set up I used in 2004 when I drew pencil lines onto my brightly printed fabric.)<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="interfacing" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/interfacing.jpg" /></a><br />
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The marker lines were paler than the ones I had initially drawn on the vinyl adhesive, but the ones on the vinyl adhesive are gradually wearing off. In any case I could easily see the lines through the pale yellow light weight cotton fabric that I tried. So I basted them together and made a couple of gathering lines.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/918-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheeltwo/smocked/919b.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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As I expected the needle did tend to snag the interfacing so I had to take extra care to make sure that I didn't sew the interfacing to the fabric.<br />
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I decided that I wanted to give the tasseled ornament another try so I cut a wider strip of yellow fabric and made gathering lines. This time I frayed the fabric before I gathered the threads and I also fitted the gathered fabric to the ball in a different order. (I gathered the bottom thread first, then I gathered the second thread from the top and then I gathered all of the other threads.) <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/897.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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I'm much more satisfied with the bottom of this ornament.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/902.jpg" /></a><br />
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However, the unravelled cotton threads wanted to formed dreadlock-like clusters and it took a long time to tame them into a neat tassel, so I won't be repeating this exercise with this type of fabric. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="898" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/898-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Tuesday August 14 2012 </span><br />
<br />
I just made an interesting discovery. On my polyester crepe fabric the vertical threads, the ones parallel to the selvedge are fuzzier than the horizontal threads. In the photo below I pulled both of the threads between my fingernails. The horizontal one is on the left.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/977.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I frayed a two inch strip to make a small, but tidy, tassel.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/980.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Now I'd like to try making a smocked ball from a vertical strip of the crepe fabric and to see if the horizontal threads will make a tidier tassel. Right now I don't have a big enough piece of fabric to try this out. Which makes me wonder about the vertical threads on the cotton fabrics...<br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Thursday August 17 2012</span><br />
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My ribbon order arrived today. (Well actually this is Hug Snug rayon seam binding.) The good news is that I like the weight, width, drape and slight sparkle of this ribbon. And the green ribbon could work on this project. The disappointing news is that the ribbon I hoped would be dark burgandy is a lighter colour than the wine coloured rayon ribbon I already have. It is not as dark as the burgandy satin ribbon.<br />
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I decided that I should catalog the ribbon I have before it all gets muddled up in my mind. Let's see there's...<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/063b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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A) Hanah Silk bias cut 5/8 inch wide ribbon<br />
B) HDF 4mm and 13 mm wide silk ribbon<br />
C) Vintage rayon 1/2 inch and 9/16 inch wide ribbon <br />
D) Offray polyester 5/8 inch wide single sided satin ribbon and<br />
E/ Hug Snug 9/16 inch wide rayon seam binding<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/065.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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A) Hanah Silk - 1. Briar Rose 2. Overdyed Briar Rose 3. Sea Goddess <br />
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B) HDF Silk - 1. BeCherished 2. Steppes of Kail 3. Steppes of Alluvium <br />
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C) Vintage Rayon - 1. Basque Red 2. Posie 3. Moss Green/ Alp Green/ Mode Green<br />
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D) Offray Satin - 1. Burgandy 2. Moss<br />
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E) Hug Snug Seam Binding - 1. Medoc 2. Dark Olive Green<br />
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(All of the gold ribbon are HDF 3mm BeMaized or BeGuilted.)<br />
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And here is how the newest ribbon, the Hug Snug, worked up.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/054.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Now if the Hug Snug came in the same burgandy colour as the Offray satin I would be ready to roll!DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596898791518836236.post-14135539727906322902012-10-07T10:53:00.002-07:002017-07-15T12:20:30.329-07:00July13 <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Friday July 13 2012</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">In 2005, when I last made</span></span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14426014@N05/1667973814/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> a multitude of smocked balls</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">,</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"> smocked dots were not an option because they didn't show up well on the brightly printed fabric. Instead I used a soft pencil to draw the gathering lines on the back of fabric. Though this may sound very time consuming I was able to do it quite quickly by laying the fabric over a grid printed on paper. The grid showed on all sides of the fabric and I could line up my straight edge with the lines on the paper. I didn't want to do that this time because I didn't want to chance marking directly on white fabric. Not even with air erase or washable markers. Plus I thought I might be able to figure out something even faster. Previous to today I have tried two things.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">For the first ball I used the yellow smocking dots. They did not wash out.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Next I used my printer to print a 3/16" x 5/16" grid onto freezer paper and ironed that onto the front of the fabric. Because I could easily see the lines through the fabric I was able to make my gathering stitches. However, the stiffness of the paper made it quite awkward and by the time I got to the last rows the paper wasn't well adhered. (I gathered 25 lines so I could use it to make 2 ornaments.)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Today I tried a different method and it is the best so far. I placed clear adhesive vinyl (including the backing paper) over the grid printed on the freezer paper and used a fine point Sharpie marker to draw the grid onto the vinyl. Then I removed the backing paper and stuck the adhesive vinyl to the right side of my fabric. When I hold the fabric up to make the gathering lines I can easily see the lines and make my stitches. And it isn't as stiff as the freezer paper. We'll see how long it stays stuck but if it becomes too loose I can always baste the vinyl to the fabric. Hopefully I'll be able to use the same piece of adhesive vinyl to mark several pieces of fabric. (Experience tells me that when it almost completely loses its "stick" I won't have to draw the lines again because it will still stick it to another piece of vinyl.)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030727" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030727-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">If you would like to download the 3/16" x 5/16" graph paper, that I generated at incompetech.com, it is available from the following link. (When you print the paper make sure that the page scaling is set to "None".)</span></span> (When you print the paper make sure that the page scaling is set to "None".)<br /><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxmVqgHhGTaBQngwbzVBQnc4eUU/edit" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">3/16 inch x 5/16 inch graph paper.</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I taped together two pages of this paper to make a grid big enough for 27 rows of 114 pleats One could print more pages for large pieces of fabric.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">P.S. After I had stitched about 8 rows</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"> I felt that the vinyl was beginning to shift a little so I quickly basted around the edges. And that caused me to consider that one could draw the grid on stiff interfacing and baste it to the smocking fabric. I wonder if I could print the lines on interfacing using my printer. I wonder if the needle would be apt to snag the interfacing?</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I found it easiest to see the lines through the fabric when the fabric was between me and a bright window.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I also decided that from now on I'm only going to make the gathering stitches for one ball at a time. With the vinyl on the fabric it was a bit awkward to stitch the rows in the center of the fabric. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Monday July 16 2012</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">For my next ball I wanted to replicate the look of my half step double chevron ball by using a slanted stitch that zigzagged up and down between the top and bottom row. With 96 stitches I should have gone around the ball once and ended up where I began. When I ended up 4 pleats to the left of my starting point I knew that I had made a couple of errors. I </span>immediately<span style="font-size: 100%;"> decided that this was good luck because I knew that if I kept going I wouldn't be back at my starting point until I had filled in all of the zigzags. It would be similar to </span></span><a href="http://www.rap.ucar.edu/~djohnson/satellite/figures/geo_orbit1.gif" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">the orbit of some satellites.</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">To do this properly I should have started with 100 pleats but for this experiment I decided to keep fudging my way around the ball.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030731.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">As I was stitching this ball it occurred to me that the buttons, that I am using as temporary covers for the top and bottom of the balls, could work as a design element on just the right project. I envisioned ribbons or threads pulled through the button's holes to make a hanger and a tassel.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I put down my smocking and tried this on the ball that had the silver bead cap on the bottom. I inserted 4 ribbons between the prongs of the bead cap and bound them together just below the bead cap.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030734.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I had envisioned maybe using green silk ribbon, like the stems of the pansies, but I like the way the white tassel seems to flow from the fabric. I used thick polyester satin ribbon and I think the effect would be even more pronounced with a finer silk ribbon.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030733.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">When I finished the ornament I was working on I applied the same treatment to the buttons.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030737.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030741.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030738.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Then I removed the button and ribbon tassel and made a new one using the button and some fine crochet cotton. I didn't take the time to make a big fluffy tassel but it does give me a sense of what one might look like.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030748.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">My original plan was to use the white fabric to make covered buttons for the top and bottom of this ornament. But I may try some tassel options when the time comes.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">And what of my original experiment? Well, the slanted zigzags are much easier to stitch but not quite as neat as the double chevron pattern. If I use an "easy" thread I'll probably stick to the chevron pattern stitch. If I use something like the Pearlescent thread I may choose the easier slanted stitch pattern</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Tuesday July 17 2012</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The ball with the gold bead cap decided that it needed a ribbon tassel too.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030754b-1" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030754b-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030753.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030761.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Thursday July 19 2012</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Ever since I saw a photo of a smocked ornament that appeared to have a tassel made by unravelling the fabric at the bottom of the ornament I wanted to see if this could be done. For this first trial I used polyester lining, because it is woven with light weight threads. I thought that I might even be able to pull the threads through a wooden bead that I had on hand so I decided to smock this ornament with embroidery floss that matched the bead.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">As I unravelled the fabric I noted that it was much lighter than the unravelled fabric, but I doubted that it would fit through the bead. When I had the fabric unravelled right up to the base of the ornament I wrapped some thread around the loose end of the unravelled fabric and pushed it into the bead. With a bit of twisting I soon had the bead snug against the bottom of the ornament. (I wasn't sure that I could accomplish it a second time so I backed the bead off a bit, applied some glue to the unravelled threads and pushed the bead back up into place.)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030768.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I know in time this polyester fringe will become a tangled mess but I am happy the way it currently looks. I was less happy with the colour of the floss. It made it look like the ball was stuffed into mesh shopping bag. So I removed the yellow floss and redid the ornament with white Perle.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030780.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030782.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030777.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030788.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Thursday July 26 2012</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">My ribbon order arrived today. This ribbon is not silk. It is 1/2 inch wide rayon ribbon from The Ribbon Retreat. It is thicker and stiffer than the silk ribbon I have tried before but as soon as I opened the envelope I was convinced that I had finally found the colours I was looking for.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I made the first pansy, as planned, with the lighter ribbon (approx. DMC 335) petals in front of the darker (approx. DMC 325) petals. (Because of the stiffness of the ribbon I used 3 inch pieces of ribbon for the back petals and a 6 inch piece for the front petals.) I was disappointed when I tried it on a smocked ball because the flower was much more washed out than I had wanted. So I made a second pansy with the darker petals in the back and a third one with all dark petals. (In the first photo below the flower closest to the top is the light over dark pansy, the one on the right is the all dark pansy and the one on the left one is the dark over light pansy.)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030804-1" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030804-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030807" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030807-4.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030810-1" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030810-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The darker pansies are much closer to what I am aiming for but they make the leaves look too washed out. (On my monitor the leaves in the photo below are closest to their actual colour. In fact they are a bit paler and greyer, almost like DMC 524.)</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030806-1" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030806-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">As you can see by the above photo I tried a 5/8 inch covered button on this ornament. The thickness of the button makes it look clunky and I don't think I would like a smaller button any better.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I had a sample of a darker shade of green (approx. DMC 3345) and I made a leaf out of it. It is better but not quite right and I still prefer the more softly rounded leaf that I made from the bias cut ribbon. The blue green bias cut ribbon I have doesn't work with these new rayon ribbons but perhaps I'll find some bias cut in a more suitable colour.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030814-1" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030814-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I think that I will be able to work with this rayon ribbon and maybe I'll be able to make the flowers look a little more natural if I edge dye some of the ribbon.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">But in the meantime I thought I'd play with a few of the other sample ribbons...</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030836.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030840.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Monday July 30 2012</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I played with a couple of things over the weekend. I was reading up on rayon and I learned that it is prone to water spotting because of the dye and sizing. I decided to give some red ribbon a hot wash to remove the sizing. When it was dry I was happy to discover that the ribbon was noticeably softer and it seemed to be a slightly darker and less brown colour. I doubt that the colour difference will show up well on the following photo but in any case I used the freshly washed ribbon for the back petals of the flower that is laying on the work surface.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030832-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I also played with some new leaf shapes. The stiffer rayon ribbon doesn't work as well as the bias silk ribbon for the type of leaf I planned to use. No matter what I tried it became very pointed and stuck up in funny places. So I tried a leaf that is gathered in a circle at the end. For this ribbon it looks more pansy like than the other style of leaf.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">In making these leaves I discovered that the darker green ribbon is 9/16" wide while all the rest are 1/2" wide. It makes them look proportionally too big. I wonder if I can find the dark green in the narrower width. Though it would be even better if I could find the red ribbons in the wider width.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I also prepared another ball for smocking. This one uses an antique white fine polyester crepe. I really like the colour and has a nice shimmer to it so it would work really well with silk flowers. I'm not so sure it will work as well with the rayon flowers. And I can't decide what kind of thread I want to use for the smocking.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030834.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thursday Aug 2 2012</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">While I was dithering over what thread to use on the crepe covered ball I gathered another piece of fabric. This is a quite densely woven cream coloured cotton fabric with a design printed on it. The piece I had was not quite big enough to make an ornament and tassel but I decided to play with it anyway.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030853.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The only thread I had in a matching colour was a Coats & Clarke heavy duty thread. It is finer than DMC Perle#12, and it even seems to be finer than Finca Perle #16.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030852-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The cream coloured of the fabric worked well with the ribbon flowers and it even made the pale coloured leaves look good. The thicker stiffer fabric made for quite a big opening on the top of the ornament and a substantial tassel on the bottom. Though the fabric seemed to have a nice glint as I was smocking it, after the flowers were added the overall effect was more like unbleached cotton. This won't be the fabric I use for my gift ornaments.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030850-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I decided to smock the crepe covered ball with DMC Rayon thread. I had been avoiding using the rayon because it is a pain to cross stitch with but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use for smocking. It certainly is easier to use than the Pearlescent thread. And it adds a bit of shine to the ball.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030866.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030869.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I think this crepe and rayon thread combination is what I will choose for my gift ornaments. Because the fabric is polyester, and each woven thread is made of many fine strands, it won't be suitable for making a tassel. I could use some ribbon or thread to make a tassel, but it may be difficult to match the antique white colour. Therefore I'll likely use some kind of bead cap or covered button. Because I don't think I'll use any gold or silver on the flowers or smocking I would rather not use gold or silver bead caps. Experience has shown me that metal bead caps painted white don't look nearly as nice as the originals. For this experiment I covered a gold bead cap with some of the crepe fabric. The gold colour of the cap makes the fabric of the cap look a little darker than the fabric on the ball but I believe that the difference would disappear if I used two layers of fabric on the bead cap</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><br /><br /><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030859.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><br /><br /><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030860.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;" target="_blank"><br /><br /><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030864.jpg" width="565" /></a><br /><br />DGallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15964969538968181228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596898791518836236.post-69615834247528024782012-10-07T10:50:00.000-07:002017-07-16T07:57:57.767-07:00July 3<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Tuesday July 3rd 2012</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Well I decided that I shouldn't pursue this project until I got some other things done, because I knew that the other things would not get done while I was pursuing this project. Last week I finally allowed myself to order some more ribbon. Yesterday I decided to do a mock up using a smocked ball.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I used DMC Perle #12 to smock</span></span><a href="http://www.artsanddesigns.com/cgi-bin/makeGlossary.pl?category=embroidery&section=D#double-chevron-stitch" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;"> a full step double chevron pattern</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"> on white on white fabric gathered onto a 2 1/2 inch ball. To save the time of smocking 2 balls I added gold beads on one half and white on the other.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030674.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Despite the fact that I used the same size ball as before, the addition of the smocked fabric made the ball seem too large for the flowers.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030678.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030676.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I dug around a bit and was surprised to discover that I had some 6 cm balls, which are slightly smaller than the 2.5 inch balls. I removed the smocking from the larger ball and installed it on a smaller ball.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030685.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030682.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The size was better but the smocking and beads is a bit too busy. I'll give it another go after the new ribbon arrives. For the next mock up I think I'll use a simpler fabric and maybe just smock a narrower band around the center of the ornament.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Wednesday July 5 2012</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">My new silk ribbon arrived today. The colours are not quite what I hoped they would be. The HDF BeCherished is similar to DMC 917 and I was hoping for something more like DMC 3803. Maybe with some overdying and/ or edge dying I can make it more what I was looking for.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="692" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/692-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I chose this 13 mm woven edge ribbon because I wasn't happy with the way that the 5/8 inch bias cut ribbon I frayed on the edges. However I'm a bit worried about the fragility of this ribbon. Just poking the needle in to make the gathering stitches causes it to separate. I'll have to be very gentle with it.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030695" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030695-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">It is also makes very pouffy flowers and at first my flowers looked more like pompoms than pansies. I'll have to see if I can get flatter results, by making my ribbons shorter and maybe by making my stitches longer.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030693" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030693-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Monday July 9th 2012</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">On the weekend I made another smocked ball and played some more with my new ribbon.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I attempted to edge dye a length of ribbon and made another pansy with it. It didn't have the effect that I hoped it would have and it was fluffy enough to remind me that I wanted to try shorter lengths of ribbon. So I made a third pansy. For this one I used two 8 cm. long ribbons and one 18 cm long ribbon. It worked much better.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The photo below shows (left to right) the first flower, the edge dyed flower and the one made with the shorter pieces of ribbon.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030699" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030699-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I installed the three pansies on the new smocked ball.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I used DMC Pearlescent Effects thread to smock a</span></span><a href="http://www.artsanddesigns.com/cgi-bin/makeGlossary.pl?category=embroidery&section=D#double-chevron-stitch" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;"> half step double chevron pattern</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"> on this ball. I like the look of it but I'd prefer not to stitch multiple ornaments with a thread that drags through the fabric and requires a needle threader every time it slips out of the needle. Perhaps I should look for a fabric with a bit of sparkle and then I'll be able to use regular embroidery floss.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030705" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030705-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I also made two leaves out of the new ribbon I purchased. I like the colours more than I thought I would but I prefer the shape of the leaf I made from the 5/8 inch ribbon.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030715" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030715-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I had hoped that these hand dyed ribbons would have more colour variation than they do. Perhaps I should purchase a lighter hue of ribbon and use it for the front petals. (Which I would happily do if my StarTrek transporter would drop me somewhere where I could see the ribbon in person. Buying ribbon sight unseen is such a gamble.)</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="P1030703" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030703-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Tuesday July 10 2012</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I smocked another ball today using a full step </span></span><a href="http://www.artsanddesigns.com/images/glossary/embroidery/thumbs/smocking_crossed_diamond_stitch.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;">crossed diamond stitch pattern</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">. For this project I prefer the "embroidery on the surface" look of the previous ball to the more textured look of this one. However, it was a worthwhile experiment because I discovered that if I use a larger needle I don't need to use a needle threader and the pearlescent thread doesn't drag as much.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030716.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1030719-1.jpg" width="565" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596898791518836236.post-88904817566982665192012-10-07T10:48:00.001-07:002019-05-26T09:14:22.453-07:00April 27<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday April 27 2012</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">For almost two years I've been wanting to make smocked balls embellished with ribbon pansies. (See the ribbon pansy tutorials on the following pages.)</span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://nostalgicneedleart.blogspot.ca/2008/03/ribbon-pansies.html" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;">http://nostalgicneedleart.blogspot.ca/2008/03/ribbon-pansies.html</a><br />
<a href="http://creativeribbons.blogspot.ca/2007/10/wired-ribbon-pansytutorial.html" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;">http://creativeribbons.blogspot.ca/2007/10/wired-ribbon-pansytutorial.html</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">This month I finally found myself in a store that sold silk ribbon. They didn't have any ribbon in the colour range I was interested in so I bought the only one that seemed at all suitable for pansies. I was happy with the way the two yellow and magenta pansies turned out but the colour is not going to be suitable for the project I have in mind. (I think the colours in my mind are inspired by my mother's Old Country Roses china.) I overdyed the ribbon with some diluted red tole paint and made two more pansies. They are more like what I envisioned, but I'll keep looking and experimenting to see if I can come even closer.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/silkpan-1.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/silkpan-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">In the meantime ... I played with making some melted fabric flowers. I didn't have a lot of suitable (polyester) fabric on hand but I have to say that these little flowers are a bit addictive. If I can't get the silk ribbon pansies to work I just might use melted fabric flowers to embellish smocked balls instead.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/melt4.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/melt4.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tuesday May 1 2012</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Yesterday I decided that if I am going to order more ribbon to pursue this project I should do a quick mock up, especially since I suspected that the pansies made from the 5/8" ribbon would be too large for the for the 2.5" balls I want to use. (This Hanah silk ribbon also comes in 7/16".) So I over dyed one of the yellow and magenta pansies and made another leaf. This morning when I pinned the pansies and leaves to a ball and I was surprised to discover that the pansies are a good fit. I'm also very pleased with the overall look of this prototype because when I originally thought of putting pansies on a smocked ball I thought the "flower arranging" might be the most challenging part.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/p4.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/p4.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">(You don't want know how many times I've dug around in drawers and cupboards to find a suitable stand to steady a ball ornament while I photograph it. This morning it occurred to me that the silver ring I wear on my right pinky is all the stand that I have ever needed!)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/6a.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/6a.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The colours of the above photos, on my monitor, are fairly true to life. (The midtones of the flowers are similar to DMC 3801.) I wish I could say the same for the one below. Oh well, this one gives a good view of the "flower arrangement".</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/top-1.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="top" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/top-1.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">And I'm very happy with this third leaf. With the previous ones I stitched right to the edge of the fold and then found that the strain made the point fray. With this one I ended the seam a bit below the edge. It didn't fray and it is more rounded, like a real pansy leaf.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/p9.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/p9.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">I'm not sure how I'll finish the center of the pansies yet. The pin poked through the gold bead and black circle was good enough for the quick prototype but I'll probably use a loop or knot of yellow gold ribbon.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">The pansy on the left is the one that I over dyed. The pansy on the right is the first one I made by dying the ribbon before I constructed the pansy. I overworked the ribbon when I was removing the excess dye and the edges are very frayed. I won't make that mistake again. (I do prefer to dye the ribbon and not the finished pansy because if I stretch the ribbon when it is still wet it dries a bit narrower and because, when done gently, it makes the ribbon less apt to fray.)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/p99.jpg" style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 100%/normal "georgia" , serif;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/p99.jpg" width="565" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Originally I envisioned this project using white fabric with white smocking and either gold beads or thin green or gold ribbon woven into the smocking. Now I'm thinking that even that will be too busy so I'll probably try it first with pearl beads or white ribbon. I should play with that while I'm waiting to get some more ribbon. I'm not looking forward to marking and gathering the fabric but I've had some thoughts on how I might make the marking easier...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal;">Thursday May 3 2012</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">After unsuccessfully trying to correct the colour of the top view photo I played with the photo editor a bit.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/4tops.jpg/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/4tops.jpg" /></a><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Oh how I wish I wasn't shopping for ribbon online. What fun I could have if I was turned loose in a ribbon store! (Or even just a store with a great selection of fabric dye.)</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596898791518836236.post-66155510511944970702012-10-03T17:57:00.002-07:002019-05-26T09:15:57.699-07:00September 14<span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday September 14 2012</span><br />
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Well I decided to do the three band ornament, sans tassel, and I smocked three of them. But then I began to have doubts. I really like the pattern but I'm beginning to suspect that the fabric is too soft to make maintain nice crisp pleats between the rows. Rather than make a decision I decided to forge on with getting the balls ready to smock. <br />
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I'd like to make a minimum of 17 smocked ornaments for Christmas presents so I've decided to prepare that many before I decide. As of today I have 13 smocked or ready to smock.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/259.jpg" /></a> <br />
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I have managed to make a decision about the ribbon. The burgundy samples I got confirmed that the one I have is Medoc. I also received a sample of Tropic Wine. It is quite a bit browner (something like DMC 902) but it works well behind the Medoc. I didn't receive any Hug Snug green samples that I liked better than the Dark Olive. (Which is something like DMC 3787.) In a perfect world I'd have found one more like the Moss coloured satin one. But when it comes to craft supplies compromise is an ever present necessity.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/265-1.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday September 17</span><br />
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I now have 17 balls either smocked or ready to smock. Plus 2 "experiments" that I can keep for our tree or, in a pinch, use as gift ornaments.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/286.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Friday September 21 2012</b><br />
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If I include the 2 experiments I now have 12 smocked and 7 ready to smock. I hope that the Tropic Wine ribbon is in my mailbox this morning. I'd like to make a few pansies before I smock the rest.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/288_zps0ffdc8ea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/288_zps0ffdc8ea.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/290_zps429c9797.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/290_zps429c9797.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>P.S.</b> I was happy to find the Tropic Wine and Dark Olive ribbons in my mailbox this morning and quickly set about pressing them. I was surprised to discover that there was only 26 feet (instead of 30 feet) of the Tropic Wine. Now I'm hesitating to start using it in case the seller won't be able to supply the missing 4 feet of ribbon.I was hoping to use a bit more than 6 inches for the back petals but now unless I scrimp I won't have enough left to make an ornament for our tree. I'm crossing my fingers for a positive response from the seller.<br />
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I guess until I know I best keep smocking.<br />
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<b>Thursday September 27 2012</b><br />
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I found out this week that there is a possibility that I'll have a visitor on Friday who can transport 3 of the ornaments, and save me some postage. So on Tuesday I made a quick trip to town to buy some gift wrapping supplies. I also finished smocking the 17th ball on Tuesday. (Whew!) <br />
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I spent a good chunk of Wednesday making and installing the pansies and leaves. It took much longer than expected, partially because just as I was finishing the 9th set of front petals I spilled Fray Stop on two of them. Despite my best effort to clean them they weren't salvageable. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/373.jpg" /></a> <br />
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So I had to make two more petals before I carried on. Eventually I had all the pansies, leaves and end caps done and I was ready to assemble the first gift ornament.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/310.jpg" /></a> <br />
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(The whole time I've been working on this project I had been pondering ways to evenly space the leaves around the top. I imagined using a small triangle, or a circle divided into three sections. When it came time to do it I realized that the smocking pattern has 27 diamonds at the top. All I had to do was to place a pin in every ninth diamond and then place the center line of each leaf along the pleats that run from the top of the diamond to the top of the ornament.)<br />
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I stuck the point of each leaf to the ball using a drop of FabricTac glue.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/318.jpg" /></a> <br />
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I used double sided tape to attach the green ribbon to the flat buttons. Two pins hold the button to the ball.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/320.jpg" /></a> <br />
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Each flower was centered between two leaves. They are stuck in place using a dot of FabricTac glue.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/323-1.jpg" /></a> <br />
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I gathered two layers of the light weight polyester crepe fabric over the 18 mm bead cap before I added the rayon thread. I applied a bit of FabricTac to the underside and then used a pearl head pin to stick it to the bottom of the ball.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/324.jpg" /></a> <br />
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I got about 2 1/2 of the gift ornaments assembled before I spilled the Fray Stop again. This time it was a brand new spool of thread that soaked it up. I put the Fray Stop in another room and decided to quit for the night. Frankly I was more than a little discouraged with both the process and the look of the ornaments. (I cheered up when I found an email from the person who sold me the Tropic Wine seam binding. She wrote to say that she'll send me another 10 yards!) <br />
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In the morning I finished the third ornament. <br />
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When it was done I decided to take some glamour photos before I wrapped them up. By the time I was finished the photo shoot I was feeling a lot better about the look of the ornaments. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/398-1.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/389.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/372.jpg" /></a> <br />
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Here they are with the other smocked balls.<br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/358.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/365-1.jpg" /></a> <br />
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And then I had to quickly whip up some gift boxes. When I bought the blue card stock and white ribbon I pictured a snowflake sticker holding the ribbon to the box. However after looking in three stores I concluded that there probably won`t be any suitable snowflake stickers in my local shops until after Hallowe'en. So I purchased a piece of card stock with a snowflake design instead.<br />
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Here are the two boxes I made from the first sheet of card stock. The cut out snowflake seemed a bit flat so I added a little white button. <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/377.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/380.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/384.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Thursday October 4th 2012</b><br />
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Three ornaments went on their merry way last weekend and I almost finished the rest of the ornaments this week. I now have 16 gift ornaments completed. When the Tropic Wine seam binding arrives I'll be able to make the 4 back petals that I need to finish two more. (One additional gift ornament and one for our tree.)<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/419.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/419.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>Friday October 5th 2012</b><br />
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No seam binding in the mailbox this morning so I guess I'll make some boxes this weekend. But first I thought I'd take a progress photo against a background that provides a better contrast.<br />
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<a href="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1040434-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pinwheeltwo/pinwheel/project%202012/P1040434-1.jpg" width="565" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0