KCW: PixCell Red Deer Pullover

If you're one of my half a dozen Facebook friends (who I love because my Facebook page is completely anonymous and I think it's sweet that they still want to "friend" me without knowing who I am), then you might have seen what I've been up to this week...

It all started with this inspiration:

PicCell Red Deer, 2012, Kohei NAWA

In one of my moments of madness I decided I could make a deer like that. I had my beading lesson on Tuesday, and I've been sewing on beads in every spare minute since.

Before I got started on the beading I made a pullover out of cream, merino fleece. The pattern is from Girl's Sassy Clothes by Yuki Araki. I made the short sleeved dress version way back here and I adore that dress although it's getting a bit small.

The pullover is size 100cm, and while it's the perfect fit for now I don't anticipate it being big enough next winter.  Mary at the beading shop had suggested I sew my beads onto fabric, then back it with Vilene fusible web and another piece of fabric so that the threads would be secure, and so that it could be taken off and sewn onto something else later on. Once A tried this sweater on I was glad of Mary's idea. 

These gorgeous round, brown buttons came from Buttonmania, which is another of the great shops in the Nicholas Building.

 

So with the sweater ready, I was beading away...

I started with the t-shirt transfer image, then sewed a single layer of small clear beads over the top.

 



On top of those went some medium sized clear and amber beads, then a few much bigger ones as well. Having started beading at my lesson in the city on Tuesday, I finished this evening. Not bad for a first timer!

There were a couple of really fortunate decisions along the way, more by luck than planning. Firstly, I was going to draw the outline of the deer only then bead over a darker brown fabric. The photo, however has given some much needed depth and reality and I'm so grateful to Mary for that suggestion. Also, had I used darker brown fabric as I'd originally intended, the space between the antlers would have looked terrible. Obvious now, but I hadn't thought of it, and only chose the cream so that the t-shirt transfer picture would show up well.

Then the terrifying task of trimming around the beaded fabric trying not to snip a thread and lose it all.

I cut around the beading before fusing it to the web, so that I could clearly see where the threads were on the back. Once it was cut out, I fused some fusible web to some more of the same cream cotton, then traced around the deer and cut out the same shape from the fused cotton.

.... then ironed the two layers together so that all those threads are safely enclosed.

Finally, to keep it neat I did a tiny blanket stitch around the perimeter. That's held the two layers together very nicely and has hidden a bit more of the cotton fabric from view. This was the second bit of good advice I got from Mary, Sure enough after all this work, I'm very fond of this deer, and I'm super happy with how transferable it will be.

Thank goodness for Le Tour being on TV as it's been a lot of late nights, but finally, I tacked the little deer onto the front of the pullover. No modelled photos tonight as it's way past everyone's bedtime, but if you'll forgive me a flash-lit photograph on the coathanger, taken after midnight, here's my final instalment for Kid's Clothes Week.

It's now on the floor at the foot of A's bed. I think she'll be pretty happy when she sees it!