When I reflected on the theme word Reflection (!), I
remembered two photos I had taken of granddaughter Lia (Lelia Jane) (now 15)
when she was three years old and taking ballet lessons. One was taken at home in front of her
mother’s standing mirror, and the other, at the barre in front of the mirror in
the ballet class.
I also recalled a type of embroidery using tiny mirrors I had seen on
garments, scarves, and home décor items from India. This embroidery is called Shisha embroidery,
and I found a wealth of instruction material on the Internet.
I ordered a package of small round mirrors from Amazon and
practiced the simplest of the many Shisha embroidery techniques until I had
mastered that one. This involves
stitching a framework of stitches (using six strands of embroidery floss) from
the top down and from side to side, all around the mirror, eight lines of
thread over the mirror’s surface. Then
you do what is basically a blanket stitch along the edge of the mirror, and
with each stitch, you catch a section of the framework threads and pull it
down. This is how the mirror is secured to whatever it is embellishing. (This is hard to explain using only words and
likely confusing to read, but many You Tube videos and blogs explain and
picture the technique clearly.)
For the quilt, I layered the pink fabric onto batting,
machine stitched a diagonal grid, and then glued the mirrors down to the
background with Allene’s glue. I then
did the Shisha stitches first, and then further embellished the little mirrors by
embroidering chain stitches around each one, using various shades of purple,
violet, and lavender.
Then I printed Lia’s photos onto Jacquard ink jet photo
fabric. These were fused onto the quilt with
Wonder Under and then machine blanket stitched around all edges. I bound the quilt with the same purple Kaffe
Fassett fabric that I used on the quilt’s back, purple to tie in with the
decorative chain stitches.
I adore this! Pretty little girl that I can see grandma in! Alice, I've always admired how you try new techniques and nothing is off limits! I wish to be more like that. The Indian mirrors are a great touch and all little girls like pink and purple. Maybe you can demo the mirror technique at our retreat.
ReplyDeleteI had thought of that Gail! Would be easy and portable. It is fun!!! There was a steep learning curve for me but finally I got the hang of it!!!
DeleteSuch sweet photographs. I love the use of mirrors. I have never heard about the Shisha technique. Cant wait to try it.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures of your Lia and so is the quilt!! The pink and purple say girl and ballet for sure. Love your Shisha embellished mirrors and I think you explained it very well. I had seen them on fabric before but didn't know there was a name for it. Again agree with Gail, you always try something new! Bravo!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful little girl! I love the pictures and the lovely work with the mirrors. I would like to learn about them also.
ReplyDeleteSweet, beautiful Lia reflected back to us in mirrors is the perfect reflection. Okay, leave it to you to try something completely different. So, you have to teach the rest of us the mirror technique. So creative!
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet quilt! Thanks for the explanation on how you attached the mirrors. That has always intrigued me, but not enough to look at how it is done. Thanks for that! Your color choices and the adorable photos really tell the story!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful way to reflect on that stage of her life through mirrors and accenting with mirrors! oh, yes, shisa stitches are now on my 'to try' list! I love the playfulness of this piece.
ReplyDeleteHow sweet! Love the shisha mirrors.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to try embroidering on Shisha mirrors - great job, adorable ballerina and quilt
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