Woodland Christmas kit - owl

This little guy was made using the designs and items from the free kit that came with Cross Stitcher October issue number 284. There are 5 designs, a deer, hedgehog, owl, badger and fox. The original design was for some felt Christmas decorations but I didn't really see the point I making them as I never put up a Christmas tree. Seemed pretty redundant.  Instead I decided to wing it and make some sewing accompaniments.  First off the bat is the owl design - made into a scissor fob.

I did the owl on one side as per the pattern, two threads over two. Then on the other side I made a itty bitty owl using one strand over one. He was a bit fiddly and I'm unsure if all my crosses ended up fully correct but in the end looked incredibly cute. 

At the bottom before I sewed it all up I should have made sure it was a little more pushed out. As it is one side looks a little squished. And it did have a tassel but I didn't like it so snipped it off. I used some random ribbon to embellish the top and glue along my rough stitching on the left side.  And all done. Next up I think a pin keep. 

[make it] timber Owl

Another timber quicky cross stitch done. The photo's don't do this guy justice at all. The pictures don't pick up the bead colours and the metallic thread won't photograph properly - you'll just have to believe me when I say it looks good.

Before I brought this kit I already know I wasn’t going to be using any of the provided charts - though I was tempted by the very cute apple. For another day I guess. Instead I wanted my owl to have owl-y eyes and a rainbow belly. So at the same time I grabbed the kit I also grabbed some DMC metallics.

I wasn't sure which colour I wanted for the eyes so I chose DMC gold E3821 and DMC copper E301 with the idea of making a final decision once I had a good look at some owl eyes. For the belly I picked the rainbow variegated metallic DMC thread E130.

Once I started stitching I basically made it up as I went along. This sort of worked and sort of didn't. I really love the eyes but the belly is only 'okay'.

The Eyes:
I ended up choosing to use both the E3821 gold and E301 copper the for the eyes. It seemed to match real owl eyes the best. Owls have the most amazing eyes.

I used 4 strands of gold and 2 strands of copper.

Once I had the 'iris' circle of the eyes completed I slid a black sequin into the centre of each eye to be the pupil and added a black bead in the centre to hold them in place. I'm very happy with the way they turned out.

The Body:
I started out with the rainbow thread thinking of doing a spiral/fractal thing. The number of holes and the way I started made the idea fall through. I should have just re-started and tried again I think. I would have been happier with the final outcome.  But I decided to move on ahead and slowly created a star.

I then surrounded the star with copper cross stitches.  Partially to fill in the blank areas but also to try and define the star better. The problem with the wooden cross stitch frames is that they're so dark the stitching tends to get lost and can be hard to see.

The star was still fairly lost even with the copper cross stitches so I decided to add some beads. I found a small container at a second hand shop with some clear/white slightly iridescent beads that I thought should do the job and stitched them on wherever seems to fit.

And done. One cute little owl with some seriously cool eyes.

Owl freebie kit

Another little freebie kit from Cross Stitcher completed. Lots a little finishes seem to be what I need at the moment. 

This one, the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good;
Soluble canvas :-)
I started a free kit ages ago for the Queens Jubilee (also from Cross Stitcher) but never finished it. Lost interest then lost the kit. So this was my first completed use of soluble canvas and all I can say is that I'm already planning to use it again designs picked and everything. Good stuff and it looks funky while melting. An added plus.

The bad;
The instructions for the blanket stitch to finish the kit were sadly lacking. Basically just said squash the wings in and blanket stitch around the design. Let me ask you, how the hell do you blanket stitch without an edge?

And while I do know how to blanket stitch - the one stitch other than cross I do know, their instruction if you didn't know was a little lacking. At the very least for people who cross stitch only they could include a little step diagram.

Also not mentioned was how many strands to use for the blanket stitch. I decided on 2 for that extra bit of strength.

The ugly;
A carry on from the limited instruction regarding the blanket stitch when I reached the wings and ribbon I was '???' In the end to make sure they were secure I stitched them in place then blanket stitched the blue edge on either side of the wings. It looked rough and messy but at least I know the wings are not going anywhere. The ribbon I don't mind but where the wings meet the body...blah.

*

I also added some brown blanket stitch on the edge of both wings just to make the a little more interesting.

No idea what I'm going to do with it now since anything attached to my keys needs to be significantly more robust than this little owl. Maybe a gift for someone who's a little less brutal to their stuffs?

The light's not the greatest but if I don't post it now who knows when I'd get around to it.

Hehe, I'm melting! Melting!