May TIF done

Yes, yes, I know it's July, but I've finally gotten back to the May TIF, now that all the June graduation hoopla is over. The theme for May was "how you see yourself (as an artist)". Here I am on a needle - I feel like stitching is a wild ride; I fly with excitement, there are ups and downs and it's a magical journey. The wings are made from ribbon with burned edges. That was a challenge! It's hard to get the flame just close enough to seal the edge, but not so close that it melts the ribbon and changes its shape. I'm paranoid about fire, so I did it with the candle sitting in my kitchen sink. I really enjoyed felting the background, although I added some gold Angelina and I'm not sure I'd do that again. The Angelina had a lot of fly-away ends that got in the way of the embroidering. I'm pretty pleased with this, even though it's way late.
Happy Stitching,
~Lin Moon

Magical Transformation

Can you believe that THIS


can change to THIS?

A close-up....

Now that all the graduation hoopla is over with, this is what I've been working on. This is for Belle Armoire Magazine's "Petite Couture" challenge. It was to do haute couture on a small scale. There was an article about how freeing it is to make a dress that just gets sewn onto the doll body or mannequin, without having to worry about fasteners or getting it on the doll. My inspiration for this couture is Alphonse Mucha's Reverie. I altered Barbie's face, so it wasn't so perky and unnatural. Then I covered her head, arms and top torso with a cotton knit and gave her some hair. I really enjoyed making the costume, sewing on beads, sequins and ruffles. That's a giant hat hanging from her neck. I made my own version of the Reverie design for the inside of her hat and colored it with colored pencils. Then I scanned it into my computer and printed it out onto special fabric for use with your inkjet printer. I'd love to see it in their magazine, but if not, well OK.....