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Thursday, April 28, 2016

From The Depths

As is usual with my bead cannibalism, I ran out of one bead for Cinderella. So I went by my LNS (yes the one I complain about) and while I was there picked up what I needed for Mediterranean Mermaid. It took 45 minutes to finish her off. Why did I put it off for so long?


She has so many beads! It's utterly ridiculous. I'd completely forgotten how blingy she is. I was continually catching the thread on the already stitched beads.

Here's a rather fuzzy shot of her tail.

This entire dark blue/green middle part of her tail is metallics and beads. There isn't a single DMC in here. It's so so shiny in person.

I know I made a few changes, but apparently didn't write anything down so I'm not sure exactly what they are. One thing I remember is that I used the same colour as the tiara for her shoulder strands. As charted, it called for something that wasn't used for anything else. Just those strands. And in the interest of frugality I decided that they could be silver like the tiara.

The freestanding beads that are close to her body are correctly placed. After that they're "approximate". I started from either end and by the time I got to the middle I was just eyeballing them to make sure the "bubbles" were in a smooth line. I had zero interest in counting that carefully, and I'm 100% confident in saying that I don't think anyone would be able to tell.

Because of all the beads it's actually a very 3d kind of finish. And because there's so little stitching, and all of it is in a thin line in the middle of the fabric, the whole thing is kind of heavy and floppy around a lot (and the fabric is a very drapey kind too).

I'd forgotten how much I loved this one. I'm so glad I managed to finish it off.


TitleMediterranean Mermaid
DesignerMirabilia
Start dateMay 7, 2015
Finish dateApr 28, 2016
Total time54.25 hours
Fabric32 ct summersky jobelan
FlossKreinik 001 instead of 019

19 comments:

Heather said...

Congratulations she's stunning!

Catherine said...

Very beautiful. Congratulations on the finish.

Rhona said...

Oh my goodness....so many beads! She is absolutely stunning! What a great finish....well done!

Angela said...

Congrats on the beautiful finish!

D1-D2 said...

This has just gone up on my list of Mirabilia I might list. You did an amazing job.

Minnie said...

She is gorgeous, you did a fantastic job with all of the beading.

Poppypatchwork said...

beautiful stitching and beading, lovely finish.

Justine said...

Beautiful finish! I've never really been drawn to stitch any of the mermaids, but she is really tempting! Congratulations on a great finish.

Cathy said...

She's absolutely gorgeous. I would have opted for frugality also.

valerie said...

Stunning! I just love her bling!

Mama Dog said...

Gorgeous finish, congratulations!

Le trame della Galaverna said...

Absolutely wonderful
Many compliments
I adore your mermaid
the execution is perfect
Ciao Giovanna

Rachel said...

She's absolutely beautiful. Congratulations on your finish. On a piece such as this you could probably alter the beading quite a lot and nobody would notice, not even after it had been pointed out! :)

Cindy's Stitching said...

Blu so pretty. It will look amazing finished.

Brigitte said...

A wonderful finish.

Von said...

Such a stunning finish! Congrats!

Aurelia Eglantine said...

Absolutely *amazing* finish!!! The Mirabilia designs I've most admired are the Mermaids, but this is the best version of one I've yet to see. All the beads add tons of sparkle, especially those three crystals at her shoulder, and the stream of "pearls" flowing from the amphora adds to the motion - it really looks like she's swimming :) Hope you can find a great frame for her!

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Congratulations on the happy dance, she is so beautiful. I love the trails of beaded bubbles. No-one would ever know they are not as charted, they look perfect.

Anonymous said...

absolutely stunning - well done!