Britto-style Cheaters Case for Mom - Part 1
After the success of the previous glasses case, I have decided to make one for Mom. She wears lots of cheaters in bright colors, and she likes the art of Romero Britto. This one will go well with her cool car, a candy-apple red Volkswagen Beetle.
The original photo, culled from several on the Internet:
The original photo, culled from several on the Internet:
You will notice that I am
old-school – I don’t have Photoshop and don’t feel the need to do so much
digitally in a case like this, where the design won’t be manipulated very much
anyway. This is just diving in and flying by the seat of my pants, which is how
I operate with most things. I love to plan, but that happens in my head and on
paper or in a Word document. The doing is mostly by hand. Here is the method I
followed.
First, I re-sized the image so the actual design would work out to the dimensions for a cheater case. This took into account that the sides of the tray are in the photo but not the design. I measured my own glasses, determined the size my case should be, guessed how much room the sides were taking in the picture, and came up with a number. Once it was printed out, I determined by rolling it over my small reading glasses that it should work. One of the reasons this image was chosen, other than a good mix of simplicity and colors, was that the design proportions shouldn’t need much adjustment. Notice that the bottom is longer than the top, and a 90 degree rectangle was necessary. I turned the paper over and held it over a window, which the sun turned into a lightbox, and traced the thick dark lines with a Sharpie. I used a ruler first to make a rectangle around the design, extending some lines out so the dimensions were what I needed. Some design lines had to be extended a bit so they touched the edges. Then the smaller details were filled in with ball-point pen, and I used letter codes for the colors and scanned the image.
First, I re-sized the image so the actual design would work out to the dimensions for a cheater case. This took into account that the sides of the tray are in the photo but not the design. I measured my own glasses, determined the size my case should be, guessed how much room the sides were taking in the picture, and came up with a number. Once it was printed out, I determined by rolling it over my small reading glasses that it should work. One of the reasons this image was chosen, other than a good mix of simplicity and colors, was that the design proportions shouldn’t need much adjustment. Notice that the bottom is longer than the top, and a 90 degree rectangle was necessary. I turned the paper over and held it over a window, which the sun turned into a lightbox, and traced the thick dark lines with a Sharpie. I used a ruler first to make a rectangle around the design, extending some lines out so the dimensions were what I needed. Some design lines had to be extended a bit so they touched the edges. Then the smaller details were filled in with ball-point pen, and I used letter codes for the colors and scanned the image.
Of course, this is a mirror image, reversed from the
original, but I decided I liked that just fine. If I hadn’t, this would have
been a good time to reverse the image on the computer and print it out.
Then I sat and thought about how to render this particular design in felt appliqué, and maybe also beads. To do it all in appliqué would be difficult because there would be so many tiny pieces for the patterns and accents, especially since it would all have to fit together like a puzzle and I didn’t want too many layers of felt thickening the piece. Then I realized it would be easiest to do the main “field” pieces in felt and the smaller accents in seed beads. That would give a maximum height of two layers of felt, plus one of beads anywhere on the piece. In the end, here is my diagram key.
Seed Beads and Felt Colors:
Then I sat and thought about how to render this particular design in felt appliqué, and maybe also beads. To do it all in appliqué would be difficult because there would be so many tiny pieces for the patterns and accents, especially since it would all have to fit together like a puzzle and I didn’t want too many layers of felt thickening the piece. Then I realized it would be easiest to do the main “field” pieces in felt and the smaller accents in seed beads. That would give a maximum height of two layers of felt, plus one of beads anywhere on the piece. In the end, here is my diagram key.
Seed Beads and Felt Colors:
Bl = Blue beads over light blue or pink felt
Lines BB = Lines of Black Beads LtB = Light Blue felt MB = Medium Blue felt O = Orange beads over yellow felt OB = Fresh Green beads over dark green felt |
Ol = Olive felt
P = Pink [beads over pink] felt R = Red felt SQBB = Squiggles of Black beads Wh = White felt Y = Yellow felt |
Other Materials and Tools Needed:
Tracing paper 2 pieces
Sharpie, black, medium point
Appliqué scissors
Embroidery Scissors
Thin sewing thread, gray
Sewing needle, small, for tacking
Embroidery needle, such as #20 Chenille, for whip and blanket stitching
Beading needle, for embroidering beads
Crystal Fireline or similar beading thread
Bead Buddy or similar board for laying out felt pieces and beads
The plan:
1) Make a couple of tracings of the diagram onto tracing paper (one is a backup). I don’t want to mark the felt with a pen or chalk, because it would be difficult to rub out, and rubbing or wetting may damage or discolor the felt.
2) Cut a single piece of black felt for the base, making it 1/8” larger heightwise, and 1/4” larger lengthwise.
3) Using one of the tracing paper diagrams, cut inside the lines, trimming the extra paper where the black lines are. Use these pieces to help cut out the field colors in felt, tacking the paper down with thin cotton sewing thread in a color not used in the design (so it can be seen and removed later). All the parts separated by black lines will be “field” pieces, to be cut and appliquéd. All the beaded accents should be worked on top of a felt color so they are not darkened by the black showing through. That means cutting one light blue heart, and 2 red ones, one of which will be cut in half, three and a half pink ones, and half a yellow one (or three pinks and one yellow, to make it easier on myself). The flowers on the red heart will have to be cut out as well, and they will be of yellow felt, as will all the parts for orange beading. Blue beading will have light blue felt underneath it, except on the big heart, which will be over pink felt. Also, I may just not use pink beads at all – they aren’t really necessary…
4) Looking at the original diagram, place all the field pieces on the black felt background. This should leave thick black lines showing between them. Tack the pieces to the base, and trim them as needed to refine the lines.
5) Using doubled button and craft thread in black, appliqué the felt pieces to the black base using a whipstitch, being careful not to catch the paper in the whipstitches. Remove the tacking stitches.
6) Embroider (using beaded backstitch) the outlines of the accents as shown on the tracing paper, then when all are done, carefully tear the paper and pull it away from the embroidery. This is a delicate operation – you don’t want to ruin your stitching. The best way for me is to use a needle to punch holes right near the beading on one side of a line, then pull the paper away from both sides of it slowly. Do this systematically until all the paper is gone.
7) Fill in the shapes with bead embroidery, following the original diagram, and using lines of beaded backstitch that follow the original outlines. Don’t try to squeeze too many beads into a spot in an effort to cover the felt completely – it is better to have a tiny gap than to warp the design.
8) Roll the piece lengthwise so the long edges meet, turn this on one edge (the edge you want to close) and trace the shape it makes with a pencil. It should look something like a teardrop. Cut a piece of black felt to fit this shape, and a piece of any of the other colors just a bit smaller so there will be a black outline after the case is stitched.
9) Center the colored teardrop shape on the black one, and appliqué it like the others. Make a design for it, and bead that onto the colored part.
10) Using doubled button and craft thread in red, stitch the lengthwise edges together, then the teardrop shape into place, then the open edges of the other end so all edges are stitched and match. I like the idea of the whipstitching and blanket stitching being visible and obvious – they emphasize that this is a hand-made piece of textile art.
So that’s the plan. And I’ll start it this coming week, right after making a bracelet and comb for a good friend. Of course, I will upload pics here as soon as it's done. It will take some time, but I love having a portable stitching project to work on at home. J
Update:
See the finished project here.
Tracing paper 2 pieces
Sharpie, black, medium point
Appliqué scissors
Embroidery Scissors
Thin sewing thread, gray
Sewing needle, small, for tacking
Embroidery needle, such as #20 Chenille, for whip and blanket stitching
Beading needle, for embroidering beads
Crystal Fireline or similar beading thread
Bead Buddy or similar board for laying out felt pieces and beads
The plan:
1) Make a couple of tracings of the diagram onto tracing paper (one is a backup). I don’t want to mark the felt with a pen or chalk, because it would be difficult to rub out, and rubbing or wetting may damage or discolor the felt.
2) Cut a single piece of black felt for the base, making it 1/8” larger heightwise, and 1/4” larger lengthwise.
3) Using one of the tracing paper diagrams, cut inside the lines, trimming the extra paper where the black lines are. Use these pieces to help cut out the field colors in felt, tacking the paper down with thin cotton sewing thread in a color not used in the design (so it can be seen and removed later). All the parts separated by black lines will be “field” pieces, to be cut and appliquéd. All the beaded accents should be worked on top of a felt color so they are not darkened by the black showing through. That means cutting one light blue heart, and 2 red ones, one of which will be cut in half, three and a half pink ones, and half a yellow one (or three pinks and one yellow, to make it easier on myself). The flowers on the red heart will have to be cut out as well, and they will be of yellow felt, as will all the parts for orange beading. Blue beading will have light blue felt underneath it, except on the big heart, which will be over pink felt. Also, I may just not use pink beads at all – they aren’t really necessary…
4) Looking at the original diagram, place all the field pieces on the black felt background. This should leave thick black lines showing between them. Tack the pieces to the base, and trim them as needed to refine the lines.
5) Using doubled button and craft thread in black, appliqué the felt pieces to the black base using a whipstitch, being careful not to catch the paper in the whipstitches. Remove the tacking stitches.
6) Embroider (using beaded backstitch) the outlines of the accents as shown on the tracing paper, then when all are done, carefully tear the paper and pull it away from the embroidery. This is a delicate operation – you don’t want to ruin your stitching. The best way for me is to use a needle to punch holes right near the beading on one side of a line, then pull the paper away from both sides of it slowly. Do this systematically until all the paper is gone.
7) Fill in the shapes with bead embroidery, following the original diagram, and using lines of beaded backstitch that follow the original outlines. Don’t try to squeeze too many beads into a spot in an effort to cover the felt completely – it is better to have a tiny gap than to warp the design.
8) Roll the piece lengthwise so the long edges meet, turn this on one edge (the edge you want to close) and trace the shape it makes with a pencil. It should look something like a teardrop. Cut a piece of black felt to fit this shape, and a piece of any of the other colors just a bit smaller so there will be a black outline after the case is stitched.
9) Center the colored teardrop shape on the black one, and appliqué it like the others. Make a design for it, and bead that onto the colored part.
10) Using doubled button and craft thread in red, stitch the lengthwise edges together, then the teardrop shape into place, then the open edges of the other end so all edges are stitched and match. I like the idea of the whipstitching and blanket stitching being visible and obvious – they emphasize that this is a hand-made piece of textile art.
So that’s the plan. And I’ll start it this coming week, right after making a bracelet and comb for a good friend. Of course, I will upload pics here as soon as it's done. It will take some time, but I love having a portable stitching project to work on at home. J
Update:
See the finished project here.