Here is the finished stitched version of 'Polly the Parrot.' He is an African Grey, belongs to a friend of mine, and has endearing habits such as whistling the Avengers and nestling up on your lap.
But back to the stitchery.
Stitched area: 13.5cm x 13.5cms
Polly is a strange and eclectic mixture of techniques. The key feature, and the idea which inspired this embroidery in the first place, is that his feathers are constructed from paperclips. Each paperclip has been covered with detatched-buttonhole stitch and applied separately after the rest of the features were embroidered onto the background fabric. There we have it, my first piece that you'd have trouble getting through airport customs without setting the metal-detecting alarms off.
The rest of Polly has been worked as follows: beak in long-and-short stitch, the area around his eye in French knots, gradually merging into detatched chain-stitches as the 'feathers' begin. A variety of threads convey the different textures within the feathers: tiny stitches in stranded cotton and machine thread, larger ones in thick cotton perle and the fluffiest ones in DK knitting wool. 
Go and study a parrot, up close and 'for real', and it's amazing to see the detail in his feathers - how the rows overlap like roof shingles, how they gradually get larger in scale across the back of his head and down his neck. (This is the sort of thing I think about when an African Grey has nestled on my lap: how best to stitch it?)
Polly is a gift for a friend: however, I can do commissions if you now have an insatiable impulse to have your own version of your feathered friend worked in, um, paperclips...
And major gratitude goes out to everywhere who kindly featured this...
Wow! This is amazing and such a clever idea. It took me a while to notice that they were paperclips but my 9-year-old daughter spotted them straightaway.
ReplyDeleteThis is totally amazing! Gorgeous work.
ReplyDeleteExquisite embroidery, Polly is lovely. You must be very dexterous with your hands, I think I would find paper clips very fiddly.
ReplyDeleteAmazing idea, truly creative!!
ReplyDeleteWow! What more is there to say really! Totally awesome work. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing, and incredibly intricate piece of artwork. Gorgeous work! My family breeds a variety of exotic birds and my favorite is the African Grey, they have so much personality. Any idea how many hours went into the stitching? Just curious, I'm always curious about details like that :0) Congratulations on the Feeling Stitchy feature too!
ReplyDeleteThankyou - you know, I have absolutely no idea how long it took, it was a project very much picked up and put down again at odd moments.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, African Greys are beautiful birds - although the next parrot I've got planned is going to be brighter colours, to get something other than grey into the feathers. I'd love to see them up close!
How very clever, and quite gorgeous and textural as well -- what a lovely gift!! Thank you for sharing the "why" and "how" behind this piece.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your work - really impressed and the originalty is so refreshing to see. Personally, i can't wait to see what you do next.
ReplyDeletethis is stunning work indeed! I'm amazed with the details!
ReplyDeleteWow! You did a fantastic job on this! I adore Grey birds and have one that my daughter and I share. I used to breed these precious parrots and Sahara is the offspring of the pair I had. I would love to attempt a project like this! At first I thought the paperclips looked crocheted. And now I'm wondering if that would work too? I don't know, but I think a project like this is going on my need to try list! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh Wow, this is stunning, and a fantastic job of covering all those paperclips, that in itself would have take forever. My scouting name is Polly, after the pink crested galah of Australia, I might just have to try this technique myself. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteArlene
http://arlenes-crafts.blogspot.com.au/
Majorly cool! But I thinking how sore your fingers must have gotten doing DBS on all those sharp ended paperclips.
ReplyDeleteYour work in general is great :-) We sound like we have similar tastes - I'm a slightly pierced (lost most of them) and tatoo'ed ex-goth. Well, still goth. Sort of vintagey now, at 41. I dunno. I'm me.
I do 16th/17thC silk and goldwork, stumpwork and raised work - but all pretty traditional/true to historical. Your work is like a breath of fresh air!
This is outstanding - thank you for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! What great talent (and a great name ;-)). I pinned this great work for all to see.
ReplyDeleteA really innovative way of using of all things, paperclips!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! Thanks for inspiring the rest of us to look at the ordinary things around us and to conceive of new uses for them. A piece to treasure.
ReplyDeleteSo inventive to use the paper clips! Fantastic work!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely STUNNING. What an original and exciting concept.
ReplyDeleteI love the parrot EXQUISITE!
love n hugs bear xoxoxoxo
OUTSTANDING!! PUT IT IN A CONTEST. BLUE RIBBON FOR SURE!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is exquisite! Your skill in stitching is so enviable! What patience and sense of getting depth out of color is amazing. If only my work was a tenth as good.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work, your stiching is perfect...wow!
ReplyDeleteWow! This is incredible! Genius idea to use the paperclips, and your eye for detail is amazing.
ReplyDeletesublime quel genie pour faire cette merveille bisesssssssssssssss
ReplyDelete