Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, June 2010, FINITO!

Well, I feel it's finished!

The sides are hand-stitched together with a double layer of back and overcast stitch (using upholstery weight Gutermann thread), before the silk binding is stitched around the edges as the final touch.

I've used Hemp denim as the lining as its nice and durable and can withstand tea stains, etc! So here are the images....

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, June 2010, Stage 5 & 6

Ahhhhhh, finally I have been able to spend some really intensive 'quality time' on the cosy and we are now nearing the finish line, which will be later tonight!

So this is the Union Jack side of the cosy, with 1972 Mercedes chain stitched and satin stitched initials of the client's husband....


Then the HP sauce bottle and Bacon Buttie I applied as applique and embroidery above the car...I'm really chuffed with how the HP sauce bottle has turned out, I was really having difficulty finding a good way to do it without spending months hand embroidering all the details, so hopefully this is a successful and lively approach?!


And a close-up...


Now all I have to do is line, stitch and bind the edges of the cosy tonight and photograph it in the daylight tomorrow and show the client to make sure she's happy with the finished product.

I will update the images in the morning for your viewing pleasure!

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, March, Stage 4

After finishing all my work for Tiger & Peacock in North Fitzroy (Melbourne) a week and a half ago, I'm finally back onto this tea cosy commission and luckily the lovely client is very understanding and patient!

Today I finished the birds on this side of the cosy, ironed and photographed it to post here. Now I'm chain stitching the Mercedes car on the other side of the cosy and hope to get it all finished by Monday evening.



One very voluptuous embroidered peony...


Its very exciting getting close to finishing this cosy, I cannot wait to see how it looks once its all together!

Anatomy of a Tea Cosy commission, March, Stage 3

I've freehand machine embroidered the outline of the peony flower, slightly different from the one on the previous cosy because I really like the shapes of the petals.
Now I'm working on the hand embroidered 'colouring-in' bits before I embroider the three blue wrens and the client's initials so this side will be done and I can get onto the other side.



Close-up of the stitching...

News.......

I have some news....its quite BIG news for me too....
I found out a few weeks ago that I'm unexpectedly pregnant, which explains why I've had three months of feeling exhausted and sleeping all the time and nausea and particular cravings!!!
Its been a total shock, and yet I'm coming to terms with it all now and starting to feel excited about it now that the first three months are just over...

And anyway, I REALLY needed a huge break -after working for months and months every day & all day & usually most of the night too- an enforced break otherwise I was heading for a huge crash, emotional and physical, so I guess a pregnancy is the only thing that was going to stop me!

Out of my slower and calmer days I've managed to make a few things, not many, which is lovely really!
This tea cosy is inspired by one of my favourite French artists, Nathalie L'Ete book my parents brought back from Tokyo for me recently, called The A to Z of Nathalie L'Ete.

It will be on my Etsy store soon too.