Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The "New" Oliver Fabric Portrait


I skipped out on working out at the YMCA last night to work on this new fabric portrait. The Oliver needed an update. I don't have too many regrets so far!

At this point, he is not even fused yet, nor stitched. Still need to add the sparkle to his eyes. I was surprised that it only took about 90 minutes to cut out the layers. I was afraid it would take much longer ... Then again, remember this piece is only 8-1/2 x 11 inches. Who knows when I'll get it stitched? I was so excited with the way it came out so far, that I wanted to share. ;-)



Here it is in my sewing studio, which I have to walk by several times a day.
Pretty amazing from a distance, isn't it? It really looks like my kid coming out of the fabric!
That's the really neat thing about working on fabric portraits is that there is a point where they really start to come alive ...


This is the pattern I started with, edges outlined in red as directed by Maria Elkins (She does some amazing work!) in the Quilting Arts instructions for Beginning Portraits.

Tip : When she says cut all the fabrics the same 8-1/2x11 inches, do it! It makes placement of the layers so much easier! Everything lines up properly.


This is the picture I started with, minus the marker on his face.
Finding a suitable picture, and playing with the photo-editing software was probably the hardest part of this whole project. I used the free Paint.net program. Someday I'll break down and purchase PhotoShop Elements, but not yet ... That's the part that intimidated me the most. So a few weeks ago, I just decided to spend a Saturday morning playing with some of our photos. Some pictures worked out better than others ... It was worth the time to play and practice.

4 comments:

Karen M said...

Such a cutie, and you have captured him so well!

Karen S said...

This is great!

Maria said...

This is a terrific portrait! I bet it looks just like him. Isn't it fun when you can start see the portrait come alive? Thanks so much for sharing it!

Unknown said...

Hi, person ten years later. I have been trying to find that kind of photo effect for an hour with no luck. please tell me how to do that.