almost there

my memory piece is reaching completion - at the moment a lot of the bits and pieces are pinned in place, i wanted to wait until they were all stitched before taking pictures but there are changes afoot on SEW and i wanted to post about it before that happens

i've backed it with reclaimed woollen blanket and rearranged the edging; top stitched and eyelets inserted, fringe on the bottom, sides folded, tucked and stitched, - i intend to hang it with electrical wire on something appropriate, and i might add something more to the bottom fringe?

it's been fun making the embellishments out of dad's stash of electronic components, general hardware and stuff - i'm especially pleased with the bow-tie made of film negative, i had to include a photographic reference so i followed the theme i had already started with the chain of electronic components and played with some strips of negative until inspiration struck - along the way i came up with a possible idea for a christmas card, i might use that sometime - i also wanted to include a bow-tie reference in addition to using deconstructed tie silk for the small weaves, so the film bow-tie hit the spot

the white thread across the middle is temporary, it obscures the copper ribbon and green wire detail which adds the hint of colour dad might have appreciated - below the bow is a patch of vest i found in the rag box, darning it took me back to the days when mum used to do this 

the rusty key patch is rust dying on a piece of silk organza (from patricia's wedding veil), the keys i used were from dad's hoard, i'll be using them again - he was possessive of his belongings and territory, even joint items like the car and house (not home!) were HIS, so keys were significant
the thread used for the 'kantha' stitching nearby was rust dyed too, but patchily to give stained, variegated stitches

the coins around the pocket edge were also fun to do, they were small change left over from dad's trips to austria, germany, india, mauritius and china - i started by putting them into knitted copper wire tubing, then stitched around them with coloured electrical wire to attach them, i used the rust dyed thread again for the running stitch circles - the knitted copper was overstretched on the largest coin so i repaired it with copper wire needle lace, it's very much in that boro man spirit!
the mauritius reference was a challenge too - i could have used a dodo motif but chose an outline of a map of the island, filled with running stitch using tea dyed thread - i also marked dad's place of birth with a piece of dismantled watch (centre right on the picture below) - he took great pleasure in repairing watches and clockwork mechanisms, he had seemingly endless patience with inanimate objects

the map just shows up if you are close enough, like dad's mauritius accent which was just there if you knew what to listen for

the dental reference is a bit gruesome but i couldn't resist - and i had to use some 'point de riz' (seed stitch) since plain boiled white rice was so central to his diet, he disliked "mucked up rice" more as he got older so i did some point de riz in tea dyed thread rather than pure white!

i've had fun with this, slipping in bits of dad and memories - it feels good to have created something which makes me smile about him - i hope he's happy now