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18th Century Pinball
I finally finished my pinball!
After many, many hours of cross-stitching, my designs were finally done! Although it seems like it should be a simple thing, apparently I miscounted some rows on the bird design. That's why it's so oddly shaped on the left side. I attempted to eyeball an adjustment and that didn't go so well - whoops! It made very little difference in the end, though.
Cardboard helps the pinball retain its hemisphere shape. My ring measured about 2 1/4" in diameter, so I made these about 2" in diameter to account for the bulk of the aida cloth. Next time I'd make them a little smaller, perhaps 1 3/4".
I trimmed the aida cloth, leaving about 1/2"-3/4" for folding over. I ran a gathering stich at the edge of the designs, gathered as best I could (this part is very bulky), stuffed them with as much polyfill as they'd hold, jammed the cardboard on top, then stitched across the egdes until everything was firm and relatively flat. It sounds easy, but it was actually trickier than I expected. The polyfill wants to ooze out, the gathers have to be arranged just right or the design gets disorted, and anchoring that cardboard in takes a lot more thread than I thought.
I didn't take pics of the next step. I sewed the two halves together, making sure to keep any of the white aida cloth from showing. It looked really odd and lumpy at that point, and I worried that I'd spent a lot of time only to get a disappointing result. Too late to turn back though - I kept pushing on!
Here are my supplies for the chain and ring. I've been coveting the repro chain and ring from Colonial Williamsburg's Marketplace, but $225 is more than my wallet can handle. My knockoff came to about $30. The hook clasps, split rings, and chain came from JoAnn Fabrics and the ring came from eBay. It's a child-sized silver bangle bracelet.
This is before I wiped it down with a silver cloth. Getting it onto the sewed-together pinball was tricky, and I'm dreading the day I have to take it off for polishing again!
Once the ring was on, the whole thing really came together. Whew, all those hours of cross-stiching weren't a waste after all!
I used a split ring to connect the chain to the hook and ring. A split ring is just like a keychain ring that you'd thread your keys onto, but much smaller and made for jewelry purposes. I've had bad experiences in the past with a regular jump ring opening up with use or stress and dumping the item it's attached to. That will never happen with a split ring. From a distance they look like a two side-by-side jump rings, so I chose a double ring chain to keep the design consistent.
I was thrilled to find a large hook and eye set in the jewelry findings section. The hook side was the perfect size for looping over my petticoat waistband. It's possible this would never be seen, depending on how much your bodice overlaps your waistband, but small details are important to me. And it just so happens that the bottom part of the hook was visible when I wore it!
Here it is in action for the first time, at the DFWCG's Georgian Picnic!
After many, many hours of cross-stitching, my designs were finally done! Although it seems like it should be a simple thing, apparently I miscounted some rows on the bird design. That's why it's so oddly shaped on the left side. I attempted to eyeball an adjustment and that didn't go so well - whoops! It made very little difference in the end, though.
Cardboard helps the pinball retain its hemisphere shape. My ring measured about 2 1/4" in diameter, so I made these about 2" in diameter to account for the bulk of the aida cloth. Next time I'd make them a little smaller, perhaps 1 3/4".
I trimmed the aida cloth, leaving about 1/2"-3/4" for folding over. I ran a gathering stich at the edge of the designs, gathered as best I could (this part is very bulky), stuffed them with as much polyfill as they'd hold, jammed the cardboard on top, then stitched across the egdes until everything was firm and relatively flat. It sounds easy, but it was actually trickier than I expected. The polyfill wants to ooze out, the gathers have to be arranged just right or the design gets disorted, and anchoring that cardboard in takes a lot more thread than I thought.
I didn't take pics of the next step. I sewed the two halves together, making sure to keep any of the white aida cloth from showing. It looked really odd and lumpy at that point, and I worried that I'd spent a lot of time only to get a disappointing result. Too late to turn back though - I kept pushing on!
Here are my supplies for the chain and ring. I've been coveting the repro chain and ring from Colonial Williamsburg's Marketplace, but $225 is more than my wallet can handle. My knockoff came to about $30. The hook clasps, split rings, and chain came from JoAnn Fabrics and the ring came from eBay. It's a child-sized silver bangle bracelet.
This is before I wiped it down with a silver cloth. Getting it onto the sewed-together pinball was tricky, and I'm dreading the day I have to take it off for polishing again!
Once the ring was on, the whole thing really came together. Whew, all those hours of cross-stiching weren't a waste after all!
I used a split ring to connect the chain to the hook and ring. A split ring is just like a keychain ring that you'd thread your keys onto, but much smaller and made for jewelry purposes. I've had bad experiences in the past with a regular jump ring opening up with use or stress and dumping the item it's attached to. That will never happen with a split ring. From a distance they look like a two side-by-side jump rings, so I chose a double ring chain to keep the design consistent.
I was thrilled to find a large hook and eye set in the jewelry findings section. The hook side was the perfect size for looping over my petticoat waistband. It's possible this would never be seen, depending on how much your bodice overlaps your waistband, but small details are important to me. And it just so happens that the bottom part of the hook was visible when I wore it!
Here it is in action for the first time, at the DFWCG's Georgian Picnic!
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It really came out nicely. Does it work well as a pincushion?
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I was a kid the last time I did any cross stitching, so the time-sink aspect really took me by surprise! It hasn't deterred me though. I'm planning on starting the garter pattern you gave me this week, in fact. :)
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My estimate is about one square inch per hour on cross-stitch. It's just a rough estimate, but it's good for planning purposes.
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(and you looked so pretty at the picnic!)
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It's wonderful!
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Such tiny stitches---my stars!
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