making R2

What a doll, this R2. Are you kidding me with that smile? Looking back on 'making of' posts, I thought that it would be cool to really show the making of - a relative step-by-step of the process. Just add 1 million hours of stitching to this, and the process is complete!

I tape the sheets to a window for a light box.

I used to draw the patterns free-hand. After my first three pet portraits back in 2009, it became clear that the construction and embroidery took long enough. Adding the extra step of drawing the pattern by scratch only complicates the part of the process that is not visible. Sizing the photo in Gimp and tracing at a window saves about an hour.

The drawing always looks a little funny. Sometimes the edge of the fur is not captured properly in the trace, and the animal ends up looking a little gaunt. This can be easily corrected with long tufts of "fur" (thread), but it's easier to work with more fabric than less, of course.

The next photo shows what may seem like an obvious breakthrough, but took me 5 pet portraits to figure out:

Why am I tracing the photo? I can just cut it. And I can easily print a replica if I need to make different cuts. At this point, pattern creating takes 10 minutes. Significant improvement from 1.5 hours! Duh.

I will say, though - I am working on a portrait now from a medium-quality cell phone pic. The dog has dark hair, so the print is terrible. This piece required some hand drawing of the pattern. I don't mind having to do this every once in a while, but having a high-quality photo means that more time will be spent on capturing the pet's look with the embroidery - the best part!

Luckily for me, Skye is an extraordinary photographer. She always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Which means lots of adorable dog pics. In the picture above, the first layer of the ears is finished. More was added to the ears as I introduced creams and whites to the face.

This is the part of the process when I become obsessed. Once the portraits start to resemble their subjects, I struggle to put them down. I am so eager to see where the piece is going to take me. I'm often surprised by them. I set out to capture the subject, but I never know how I'm going to do it.

Sometimes the stitches are very expressive. Others are detailed and deliberate. Sometimes I weave three different stitch types into one, and other times I aim to perfect a particular one. Because I'm all over the place - they always surprise me.

I keep envelopes of thread scraps categorized  by color. When I have to sew a detail, like the tongue, I never cut a new piece of embroidery. I look to the scrap envelopes for a suitable color.

I was so happy with R2. I decided to use him as a model for a pin. Even before this picture was taken, I had added R2's neck. Because I try to keep all components of the piece modular, I was able to remove the neck in a few minutes, and add it back after I was finished with the photo shoot.

R2 ultimately became an ornament. I tend to recommend ornaments to people because they can be easily handled. I've seen people add small hooks to their bedside and hang the portrait year round, or place the ornament in a plant on the sill year round. That way, you can grab it every once in a while when you walk by. They feel great in the hand.