embroidery for ducks

So in today’s post I update y’all on the progress of the waves! I am couching down lots of silver thread and will soon be overstitching splashes in various parts of the ocean. This work was inspired by the audiobook for Dorothy Sayer’s novel Unnatural Death – I really enjoy Lord Peter Wimsey’s detective skills. I think this dragon is going to require several more novels before I’m done. All these little curves take a lot of tiny work. The overall effect is going to be stunning though, see below! I couched more lines for the rest of the scales, too.

I also twisted up some special threads for the flames. They’re 2 or 3 strands of twisted silk wrapped around a half strand of silk to get a very dimensional twisted effect. It’ll be in various shades of red-orange blended into each other.

The crystal ball looked small and quick but it turned out to be a multi-stage process. All the talons were stitched first, then a foundation layer of flat silk in solid colors. Then all the boundaries and the flat silk had randomly placed accent/holding stitches added in tiny thread. I believe it’s supposed to have an additional spiral stitched on top, but it looks good now. So I’m still debating.

Here is is in the larger work!

Next week: Will the scales ever end? Seriously…

I added a second horn and a whole lot of scales and spikes. At the top right you can see that before stitching each scale or spike I have to outline first so the edges are padded and have a smooth curve. You can also see that I have an awful lot more scales to go.

And here is your closeup for a better view! Includes bonus ear-whisker.

This dragon has a gold tooth now. But only one! He’ll gum you to death.

Then I worked away on the waves at the bottom. They’re all in silver. I’m about to reach the splashes at the top now.

They all had to be carefully couched so they followed the swells and tapered off at the end. I knocked them out, though! Next week: Exhausted from all the swimming, I go work on stitching millions of scales.

What did I start next? A dragon! This one is also from Midori Matsushima. (I’ve been taking classes for it with Mary Alice at Bluebonnet Studio). It has a variety of multicolored metal threads and silks. I love all the whiskers and particularly the eyebrows.

The eyeballs are padded out enormously for a 3D effect (don’t worry, I’ll give him pupils eventually). Also padded is that giant horn at the back of his head. It has crinkly metal sparkle thread.

This guy is a lot of fun to work on, but good lord he has a lot of scales. Do you have any idea how many hours I’ve spent working on scales? I was very ambitious when I signed up for this! I’ve made a lot of progress since this picture, so there are many blog posts to come 🙂