Illustration Stitch-A-Long : Step 1

A new year naturally means new projects and one of those projects for me is joining in the Illustration Stitch-A-Long (I’ve added the button to the side of my blog). I was a bit intimidated when the first illustrator was set as Edward Gorey. I adore his work and his rather dark, twisted sense of humor is awesome (hello, The Recently Deflowered Girl), but for embroidery purposes – eep!

I mean – that would be a ton of wee, little stitches to make and in black! My poor eyes and fingers just aren’t up to that task (seriously, with the cold weather and the slight nerve damage I have in my fingers it can be a bit difficult at times – not impossible, just hurty). The intimidation lasted for only a brief moment, however, because I remembered a favorite Gorey illustration of mine –

It’s one of his beloved ballerinas and it’s from a stamp (made by kidstamps until 2010, I believe). Gorey’s love of the ballet was well known and I think this particular ballerina is simply divine. I enhanced the image from above and darkened the lines to get it ready for transferring to fabric.

I think this will be a really great project and the final piece is going to be presented in a frame as a gift to a terrific gal I know who not only loves dance but is a wonderful dancer herself (and yes, you do know who you are *wink*). Now to choose the right fabric…

What new projects do you have going on?

Namaste ~ Ella