Design Challenge - Inspiration from a cake - Pt 2

Once the design has been drawn it's uploaded into the software where the magic begins and the illustration is converted into a program the machine will understand.

The design has been transferred to the embroidery machine and away it goes.

Can you tell what it is yet?

The completed design is then cut out and quickly compared with the original drawing.  There is a mistake on this one - the eagle eyed amongst you might spot it.

Here's a closer view.  Can you see the mistake?  The great thing is that this tester will hopefully highlight any blips which I can correct before signing off the design.

And once it's been cut out, it's ready to be stitched on to the sleepsuit and cotton hat.

I do hope this is inspiring you to have a go yourself.  Here's a reminder of the challenge and the link to enter.    Happy sketching!

               

www.cobwebknits.co.uk

Design Challenge - Inspiration from a cake!

My sister in law is one of the most creative people I know (and is married to one of the others!)

For her son's recent birthday she made not only this amazing birthday cake but also these absolutely fab cupcakes for everyone to take home at the end of the day.

I know Kim for her attention to detail but there can't honestly be many people who would go to the effort of making unique toppers for each one.  Just love them.

Anyway, it gave me another thought about where you might get some inspiration for your own design in our challenge.  Mine came from her cakes.

I took the basic idea and sketched out my own picture.  I've tried to keep the different parts of the image completely separate by drawing them in different and distinct colours.  This will help when it comes to transferring the image onto the software for embroidering.

You can either draw the different components on separate sheets of paper or do it as one image.

To find out how this turns out pop back later when I'll update the blog with the finished result.  And in the meantime, I hope this has given you food for thought and inspired you to have a go at our design challenge.  To see how to enter click here ....

www.cobwebknits.co.uk

Behind the Scenes - Design Challenge

If you're thinking of entering our design challenge, I thought it might help to show you how I go about creating one of my designs from concept through the finished garment.

First you need to come up with the design and draw it out.  I use simple broad strokes using a chubby felt pen such as a Sharpie (although, as you can see, mine are a cheap version - I get mine from Home Bargains for about a fifth of the price!)

I then scan it and open the image up in Photoshop where I can play around with the design to make sure it will transfer well to the software I use for embroidery.

Once I'm happy with the design, I load it onto the digitising software that goes with my embroidery machine and choose the colours I'm going to use for the different parts of the design.

It's then just a case of copying the file onto a stick and transferring it to my machine.  All that's left for me to do is to sit back and watch whilst the machine gets on with the hard work of stitching my design.

 Once completed, it's simply a case of cutting out the design to create my motif .....

... and stitching it on to whichever garment it's been made for, in this case a sleepsuit with matching cotton cap.

I hope this helps you to see the type of designs we're looking for in our challenge.  

Here's the link again to the website where you can see how to enter.  And remember ...

• Keep it simple - use broad single strokes.
• Keep to an outline and don't include shading and tonal changes.
• Try not to use too many colours - think cartoon!
• And don't forget, the design must be your own original work.

Closing date is 31st May 2014. And .... good luck.

www.cobwebknits.co.uk

(Not so) Trivial Pursuits ... Photography with Andrea Pittam

I'm always on the look out for a new interest, especially if it can help me with my business.

I used to love taking photographs and have never got over exchanging my K1000 for a digital camera.  I haven't really mastered using my fantastic new whizz bangy camera to its full potential.

So perhaps this might be the course for me and could be of interest to you too.  If you don't live in the Bournemouth area, Google 'photography courses for crafters' - I'm sure you'll find something locally.

      

Here's more about Andrea Pittam of Kiss the Frog x ...

As a photographer, artist and crafter it seemed a good idea to run a course for other artists and crafters who are looking for some direction and help with their product photography.

For small kitchen table businesses and independent artists and crafters, big budget product photography is simply not an option and this course will show you how you can get the best out of the camera you have to showcase your products.

all images (c) Kiss the Frog x

You will receive advice on how to plan and prepare for a photo shoot, using natural light to create beautiful images of your products. There will also be a practical section to the course so you will need to bring your camera and some of your products too.

You can find out more about Andrea's course here ...