Onto the palm tree. Using short lengths of bright check wire (the same as for Mowgli’s hair), I added the trunk of the tree as a series of short sections: The zig-zag finish of the wire gives a nice rough effect to it which I like. I’ve also stitched through the design for the rest…
As it’s a bit complicated, I’ll be doing the central section a bit at a time, starting with the little figure of Mowgli, seated at the base of the tree. Here he is outlined in running stitches, ready to be stitched over: The figure is quite small and quite a fiddly shape, so I’ve decided…
The top section of the building is in two stages, but I forgot to take a photo of the first one – the outer edge in gold only – so here it is with both that and the inner detail couched with the same blue as the base: To finish it off, I added some…
The turrets on the top of the building are in two stages (or three, really, but the last one won’t happen until all the goldwork is done). The base of the turrets are in the same red as before, and here they are: The domes are in a new colour, a strong green, Madeira stranded…
The sides are in gold, without the colour, so I’m couching the gold thread with regular sewing thread, Gutermann no. 488: The outside of the sides: and the inside: It’s starting to get a bit of shape to it now.
Time for some goldwork. For the building motif that forms a frame for the main design in the centre, I’m couching imitation Japanese gold thread no. 8, using bright colours for the couching thread. Starting at the bottom, I’m using a nice bright blue – Madeira stranded cotton no. 1102 – for the couching: Here’s…
As promised, here’s a photo of the completed embroidery on the banner: You can probably spot the pins round the edge which means it’s being damp stretched and therefore I’ve started making it up, but I’ll describe that process properly once I’ve got a bit further.
The gold kid letters look fine by themselves, but I think they would look better more sharply delineated. To achieve this, I’ve outlined them in the same dark green passing thread I used for the spirals on the lower half of the trilithon. Close up on a pip, you may be able to see that…
With all the letters cut out, I can start attaching them to the fabric. If you can remember back at the start when I ironed the transfer onto the linen used to line the top fabric, the design came out back to front, such as the letters ‘OBOD’ (in a Gaelic font) here: I also…
A major landmark for the banner today, with the entire central design finished. Last time, I’d completed the goldwork detailing for one leg of the appliqué trilithon; here’s the other one: That shows the perspective effect much better, with everything coming from the centre of the circle. The detail on the top section completes it:…