Chapter 10 finishing

 Arranging the eye pieces (above) and the eyes stitched in place

 The beak stitched in place

 and a close-up

 and the mane curled and twisted

What to use for the pole was a bit of a headache because I don't have access to a lathe  so I used a paintbrush handle, sanded off he varnish and painted it with Acrylic paint.

 I sketched ideas for decoration of the pole

 As the pole is tapered the beads had to be made in situ.  The dark pink bead neatens the tassel and is made with double sided tape to hold everything securly in place.

 Sticky backed Velcro at the top of the pole attaches it to the back of the mask

 The finished piece!!!!!!!

 I wouldn't say that this is the best ever, but I am quite pleased with the finished piece.  

   

 There has been so much to learn, try out and experiment with in this Module and I think I had some inspired ideas too. There were so much stitching, I had to get the maachine serviced and keep oiling it!!

I loved makng the backgrounds, edgings. braids and fringes but the tiny tassels were the best part.  This technique was new to me so I enjoyed experimenting with threads and various sizes of frame.

I am much happier with drawing and designing in general now but I found the distorting of shapes difficult.  I  need to remind myself to "think outside the box" at times.  I think my free stitching technique has improved and I don't think of using a frame for smaller pieces.    I have always collected materials and worked samples before starting a piece of work but this Module has taught me how to use  research and sketching to develop a design.  I have lots of ideas for future projects, thanks to chapter 8.