Thread Drawing - Wading Bird

Today I just couldn't bring myself to toss a remnant of painter's drop cloth so I thought It might be a good pallet on which to practice some improvisational, free motion thread drawing.  Since the remnant was long and narrow, whatever I drew seemed to beg to be elongated.  What better than a long legged wading bird?  This is what emerged.

Here are a few close-ups to show the stitching.

Even though I used two layers of stabilizer under the canvas, the dense, free motion thread drawing tended to make fabric outside of the edges of the bird image become somewhat "rumpled".  To salvage the thread drawing, I cut around it and then zigzag stitched it onto another canvas remnant.  That did the trick.  Because canvas tends to fray terribly, I applied a thin layer of Weldbond glue around the edges and spread it thinly with a soft bristle paint brush.  The glue dries clear and is no problem to stitch through. 

And, once again, here is the finished bird.  I used a silver Sharpie pen to color in the bill.  When completed, I hemmed both the top and bottom edges and left the ends open so that those spaces would accept a small dowel rod.  In my stash of laces and pipings, etc., I found a length of braided cotton cording that seemed to work perfectly for hanging.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2017.  All rights reserved