TRY, TRY AGAIN

Okay.....call me stubborn!!  The resist dyed wool felt pieces I created are simply too precious to discard without a bigger effort....

 So......I decided what the heck.  It couldn't get any worse....let's see what I can do to save it. After digging through my Fiber Junkie experiment bin, I came up with a piece of handmade silk paper that I vaguely remembered.  (See photo below of a similar piece).


A narrow tree trunk was cut and pinned to the fabric.  Next, overlaying tracing paper above the trunk, I drew palm fronds.  I'd already examined my stash of beads and knew there were a very limited number of small bugle beads (the appropriate color) to work with.  I'm hoping at this point that it won't look too skimpy.


With the paper pinned to the fabric, the outline of the shapes were machine stitched following the lines using a constracting thread color. This will be a guide for the beading and will be removed.  However, I really like the fuchsia thread color and if I'd have had the beads, I'd have stitched the fronds using that bright color. 


While at the machine, the tree trunk was also stitched in place and center veins were also added to the fronds.

 Sample of silk paper.  Click here to see how this was made.

Here's a view of what I've done so far.  I have a tiny amount of beads left and hope to add another small tree element.....  Our shopping options are very limited here and at best I'd have to travel 45 mins. one way to Asheville in the hopes of finding a similar bead.  

Maybe that just makes me more creative.....I'll have to figure out a way to add more design elements with what I have on hand.

Detail