Monday, 16 January 2023

A Tatty Friend - finished!

Morning all!

Not having any plans means that all year long I can delve into my my WIP boxes (yes, plural, I have three!) and pull out whatever I want.

First out was this little project, A Tatty Friend, which I started for Day 13 of Debbie's Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January February Challenge (i.e. a new start each day for two months) way back in 2015. I last worked on him in September that year, spending more than an hour backstitching around his head alone. It was the thought of many more hours of backstitching that kept him as a WIP for so long.



But I felt ready for him. Sort of. The backstitching was intense and, although I didn't follow it exactly, I could not do more than twenty or so minutes at a time; it was the type of backstitching that splits threads and overlaps itself in order to give that tatty look.

But small steps lead to big things, and after four more hours of backstitching, plus taking out some of the grass on the right so I could miss out an additional flower, and adding a few pink petit beads to the flower instead of french knots, here he is all finished; he only took me a day under eight years!!

A Tatty Friend (magazine project) by Dimensions (using DMC conversions)
Stitched on 16ct white with silver lurex aida
Started - 13th January 2015
Finished - 12th January 2023
Total stitching time - 14 hours 30 minutes


It feels really satisfying to have completed something started so long ago that I'm now itching to finish more WIPs. Watch this space for which one jumps out next!

Take care,
Rachel x

7 comments:

Clare-Aimetu said...

He's gorgeous, well done on a great finish. I've done a few Tatty Teds for our daughter and also have to stagger the back stitching.

Katie said...

I love your free to do whatever you want this year. I bet you will enjoy it a lot. I know I do. I just love this little teddy. So adorable. The backstitch was so worth it. So cute. Congrats!

Cathy said...

Congratulations on finishing a long time WIP. I don't like that type of backstitching either so it's always modified somewhat. I'm looking forward to what you choose to finish next.

Astrids dragon said...

Well, he aged well and looks fantastic! I know backstitching can be a pain, but so worth it in the end.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

He’s very cute! Well done on finishing an older WIP too. I d8d the DUCJC that year too.

Leonore Winterer said...

Great way to start of your stitching year! He's very cute. I stitched a couple of these teddies back in the day and well remember how intense the backstitching was.

Faith... said...

Glad you finished him! He is a cutie. I like the Tatty Bears but they do look like a lot of work with that backstitching.