sol y sombra

Project ABC: J is for Jewellery

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 06:27:00 +0000

Remember the beads?

Here they are in their new disguise as a bracelet:

It was originally two different stings of beads but I never wore any of it so

I undid it and kept it in my bead-box for future inspiration.

I used a wooden button from the haberdashery souk as a closer.

I like the blue string peeking through here and there.

My visit to a Bedouin weaver

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:23:00 +0000

It is a windswept Saturday morning. The Weather Bureau warned about cold winds blowing across the Gulf from the snow covered mountains of Iran. As the sand billows across the road and the driver clings to the wheel, I peer at the desolate and featureless desert landscape passing by the car window. “Who would want to live here?” I wonder.

I am on my way to Sila, a small village in the Northern part of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi; about 3 hours drive from the city and the last outpost before the border with Saudi Arabia. There is nothing here. Not even dunes. Just flat stretches of coarse, colourless sand as far as the eye can see.

I am accompanied by Leila Ben-Gacem, the project leader of the Sougha Project. We are on our way to visit Bhkita and Hamama, a Bedouin mother-and-daughter team who are part of Leila’s team of traditional weavers. They graciously opened their home to me to introduce me to the art of Sadou weaving.

Leila showing off one of Bhkita's bags

Sadou is a traditional Bedouin form of weaving. The women, working on ground looms, produce long narrow strips of patterned textile using yarn spun from camel and goat hair or sheep wool. These textile strips are then sewn together to make the walls of their traditional tents, camel bags and other utilitarian items.

Bhkita spinning yarn on a hand-held spindle

These days, however, things look a bit different. With the rapid economic development of the United Arab Emirates, the Bedouin’s nomadic lifestyle has all but disappeared. The government has built houses for the nomads and settled them in formal villages where they have learned to live with electricity and other modern conveniences. The children go to school and move on to careers in the city. It is a wonderful privilege and opportunity their parents never had, but it means ancient Bedouin traditions are fast dying out.

One of these traditions is Sadou weaving. A craft which were passed on from mother to daughter and which were done in communal settings where folklore and female wisdom could be passed down from one generation to the next. Now only the older women still know how to do it and their daughters are in general not interested.

A close-up of the tent-wall

Enters Leila and her Sougha Project. It is an initiative launched by the Khalifa Fund aimed at preserving local heritage by developing traditional artisans. The women are taught how to adapt their products to the current market and trained to create opportunities for themselves.

Leila is a petite Tunisian woman with short dark hair and a big smile. What she lacks in stature she more than makes up for in energy and enthusiasm. She lives for this project and these Bedouin women. I’ve met Leila last summer. She showed me the products for sale at their kiosk in Abu Dhabi, told me about the Sougha project and invited me to visit the Liwa Date Festival where I would see the ladies working.

I visited the date festival later in July 2011 where I observed some of the ladies do their telli embroidery (that’s a different story...) and weave palm fronds into baskets, mats and other household items. The weavers were displaying their wares but obviously not doing any weaving on the show. I bought a small woven carpet from Bhkita’s stall. Her work mesmerised me. It was obvious that here was a very talented woman. Her designs and quality of craftsmanship were a step above the rest. The language barrier (my Arabic is as limited as her English) meant that it was not possible to ask her about her work but I wanted to know more. Leila obliged and organised for me to visit her home. And here we are...

As we arrive at Bkhita’s house we are welcomed by her daughter Hamama and invited into a Bedouin tent erected right next to their brick and mortar house. The inside walls of the tent are made from traditional woven wall panels, the floor is covered in carpets. Big pillows are set around the edge of the tent as floor seating. A low wooden table is laid out with Arabic coffee, dates, fruit and pastries. The only reminder that we are in the 21^st century is the big TV screen against the one wall.

Enjoying coffee and treats with Bhkita and Hamama

As soon as we are seated on the carpet, Hamama serves us small cups of coffee and dates. It is obvious that both women are delighted to see Leila. They chatter non-stop updating Leila on all the latest gossip in town. Leila tells me they are very honoured to share their craft with me and I must please show the world the beautiful things they make. I am happy to oblige.

Admiring Bhkita's work

In between telling me about her children and grandchildren (Leila has to translate very fast, as Bhkita never stops talking!) Bhkita shows me some of her finished work. She uses the woven cloth to make bags in different sizes - from handbags, laptop bags, pencil cases, make-up bags and more – to coasters, table runners and other household goods. She not only weaves but also sews the bags all by herself. She buys camel leather from the tannery in Al Ain (another Khalifa Fund initiative), the cotton she uses for the lining as well as the thread and fasteners she buys in Abu Dhabi or Doha. She uses a modern, electricity-driven sewing machine.

A Sadou laptop bag

Bhkita’s age is a mystery but I guess her to be in her late sixties. She never went to school. Her childhood was spent roaming the desert with her family. According to her daughter she attended an ‘illiteracy eradication programme’ provided by the government. She can write her name and she ‘knows numbers’. But don’t be fooled – this is a very smart, intelligent woman. And immensely talented.

Bhkita's latest design. She is very proud of this one.

Can you see all the counting going on here?

The woven strips she makes as inserts to her leather bags are narrower than what she would normally make for a tent wall. The patterns are intricate and delicate. The colour combinations are inspirational. The quality of craftsmanship is exceptional. Bhkita is very proud of her work and her designs. She makes sure I notice that there are no flaws in the textile or pattern. She doesn’t make mistakes.

Bhkita has an amazing instinct for colour

When we had enough (too much) to eat and drink it was time for her to show me how she works. The ‘workshop’ is in the house. As we enter the front door, the floor loom is the first thing I see. It is set out on the carpet in the reception area of her house. In a traditional setting the loom would be made of split palm tree trunks held together with palm fibre twine. The single heddle would be held in place with wooden stakes. The ‘modern’ version I see in front of me is made of galvanised pipes held together with nylon rope. The piece of pipe holding the string heddles is kept in place with bricks.

Bhkita with her floor loom

I am not a weaver. When I look at woven textile I look at the colours, the patterns and the texture. I don’t pay much attention to the technicalities of the weaving process. The little bit that I do know about weaving is that the warp yarns are the strong ones which are strung across the loom and keep the textile intact but are usually not visible in the finished product. The weft yarns are softer, thicker and of different colours. They determine the design.

At work

I was therefore quite surprised when I realized that with the floor loom things work the other way around. The warp yarns, strung across the loom in a figure-eight, hold the pattern and the weft yarn provides the strength. Therefore the warp yarns are the coloured ones and are strung onto the loom in a predetermined order. The weaver has to work out the pattern before she sets up the loom. This sounds easy if you have a graph or a pattern to work from, but these women are illiterate. They don’t have paper patterns to work from. It’s all in their head. No wonder Bhkita ‘knows numbers’ – counting is what she does!

The warp yarns determine the pattern

Bhkita sits on top of the woven part of her textile, facing the heddles. Her hands seems to work effortlessly, but I soon realise weaving on a floor loom is a physical job. She has two sword beaters or el haifs (flat pieces of wood with pointed ends and bevelled edges) set into the warp yarns in different configurations, as determined by her pattern. By turning one of them on the side she opens up the shed and increases the tension at the same time. After she passed the shuttle or el masr (a stick on which the weft yarns has been wound) through, she beats the weft into place with a hook beater. In traditional times this used to be a gazelle horn but now it is an iron hook or a bent screw driver. Beating every row is very important to keep the textile tight and to ensure an even tension throughout.

The string heddles and the sword beaters

Bhkita enjoys demonstrating her work to me. Every now and then she makes sure that I understand everything, that I have good enough photos of every step and whether she can tell me anything more... And if I’m satisfied she carries on talking about her children and their families and about their winter camp-outs in the desert.

She tells me about harvesting desert truffles("faqah"). When the desert had good rains in December but stays dry during January, the Bedouins go truffle hunting in March. It’s a treasured delicacy, difficult to find but oh, so delicious to eat.

On our way back to the city I look at the desolate landscape with new eyes. It is still harsh and barren but now I see colour and pattern. And now I know who wants to live here - people who see beauty in the landscape; people who love their children and family. And people who can find truffles in the sand.

African details

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:51:00 +0000

We own a collection of African Artifacts which we collected while living in Uganda.

I spent the morning photographing the lot as I plan to compile a catalogue.

Here are some close-ups.

Playing with Colour

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:45:00 +0000

Just playing with a reflection...

Blog Award

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:54:00 +0000

My blog and crochet friend, Stel, awarded me the Versatile Blogger award.

How cool!

(check out Stel's great crochet FB-group)

Here's how it works:

Display the award on my blog - see sidebar

Thank the blogger who gave it to you - Thank you, Stel!

Mention 7 random things about yourself -

7 Random Things about Me:

(There are quite a few random things about me already listed on my ABOUT ME page,

so I tried to come up with new ones...)

My brain works in straight lines. All my designs are more modular than organic. I don't know if it is because of my architectural training, or if my architectural training was a result of my square brain...

Exercise does not come naturally to me. I have to force my self to do it. That is why I set myself targets like the Namaqualand Walk. It gives me a reason to train.

I like to read books (fiction and non-fiction) which are site-specific. The story or incident can only happen in that specific place. Like the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. That story is a Botswana story - it won't work anywhere else. Or The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is an Afghan story. The place becomes a character in the book. It defines the story.

I would love to be a full-time traveler. I read the blogs of people who travel around the world with their families in tow, doing location-independent work. I lie awake at night trying to figure out how we can do that. And I try to convince my two teenage boys that it would be a great adventure.

One day I am going to write a book about Aubergines (Eggplant). I think it is the most delicious thing. The smell. The colour. The shape. The shiny skin. The taste. It's awesome. You need all 5 your senses to appreciate it.

I am glad I wasn't born into an English Speaking home. Having a mother tongue other than English forces one to be bilingual. It opens up so much more opportunity to learn and experience. And I think being Afrikaans is great. Without that I would never have read Ettienne Van Heerden or Antjie Krog. I would never have listened to Laurika Rauch or Johannes Kerkorrel. I would have been a lesser human being.

I can't sing. I wish I could.

List the rules -

1. Add the award to your blog

2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.

3. Mention 7 random things about yourself.

4. List the rules.

5. Award to 15 bloggers.

6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog

Award 15 bloggers -

Karen Ruane

Alice Merlino

Corrine Bayraktaroglu

I only awarded 12...

Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog - done.

Marilyn Monroe and Chocolates

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:27:00 +0000

I'm working on a project which includes Marilyn Monroe and lots of chocolate wrappers.

But not the chocolates. Those are sitting in a big plastic container on my desk.

They bother my children.

The project also involves fabric. Lots of fabric.

I'll keep you posted...

Seam allowance

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:33:00 +0000

I am working on a project where it is crucial to keep the seam allowance to exactly 1cm.

The rubber band marks the 1cm line as well as act as a guide to keep the fabric straight.

So far so good...

Sorting Beads

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:37:00 +0000

I was trying to move one type of beads from my bead box to a separate little container. It is easy to get the bulk of the beads out but when it comes to the last few it is quite a pain.

I couldn't tilt the box because that would mess up all the surrounding beads. I am too impatient for tweezers, so I tried something else.

I took a drinking straw, covered the mouth piece with a piece of netting to prevent the beads from slipping down my throat.

I then sucked the beads up into the straw and blew them out again in the new container.

Easy-peasy.

A gift from Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:23:00 +0000

My dear friend Riana came back from her trip to Japan last week and brought me this great gift! She visited the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2012 and came back with loads of wonderful goodies (needle-craft related and otherwise) which we never see on this side of the world.

This is part of a piece of printed cotton. It has a border of beautiful Japanese ladies dressed in their traditional clothes and hairdo's. Isn't it gorgeous?

The fabric has a fine texture which makes it even more wonderful. I need to find something to make with it where I don't have to cut it - it is too pretty!

She also brought us some sweets from Tokyo.

Neither her nor us knows what it is as we can't read Japanese, but that won't stop us from eating it.

What a wonderful gift. Thanks again, Riana!

Project ABC: I is for India

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:11:00 +0000

So, I am a slow starter... It is already end of January and I am only now getting back on track with my Project ABC. For my India project I used some of the sisha-mirrors I bought years ago at the Haberdashery Souk. I have used some of them before but I still have a whole box full of them in the cupboard.

This is not a complete item, it is just a doodle. My self-imposed limit of 3 hours do not allow me to actually finish anything. (Did I mention I'm slow?) The blue circle filled with the green french knots is where one of the shisas fell out. I did not make the overlap big enough. But so you learn...

I still have enough sishas for a few more projects... or doodles...

Bastikya

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:17:00 +0000

Bastikya is one of my favourite parts of the city. Unfortunately it is on the opposite side of town from where I live and not somewhere I can just pop into whenever I feel like it. I have to have a reason to go there and plan a trip to that side of town. Usually I go there to show visitors around, but yesterday I went there on my own, and what a good morning that was!

The Majlis Gallery is one of the friendliest spaces in the Bastikya and it's always a pleasure to visit. Last year I attended an exhibition by Stephen Meakin and was really bowled over by the intricacy of his work and his attention to detail. He conducted a workshop back then which I really wanted to attend but couldn't, so when heard he's coming back to town for more workshops in March I had to book immediately.

After my visit to the gallery I popped over to the Dubai Litfest's beautiful new space just around the corner from the gallery to book my tickets for the upcoming Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. What a friendly space and people. It was a pleasure to visit them.

I concluded my outing with a coffee at the Basta Art Cafe. To sit in a traditional courtyard, under an indigenous tree, enjoying an Arabic coffee on a weekday morning is just about the best me-time there is.

With my culture-tank filled up, I am ready for the week.

Have a great one!

A quick recap of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:05:00 +0000

Before I get into 2012, let's have a quick look back over the past year to see what have been accomplished:

Tried black-work for the first time:

black work portrait

Started knitting again - first time since childhood:

knitted portrait

mystery knitted project - unfinished

Did only one crochet project (unfinished as yet):

babette

Made two tutorials:

templates

embroidery pattern

Made two quilts:

stash-buster 1

stash-buster 2

Traveled to three countries:

Kenya

South Africa

Oman

Started a few long term project (still going...):

Project ABC

Arabian inspired designs

And a few other odd things:

I revamped the blog and designed a logo

I visited a few souks

I have many plans for 2012, which include lots of stitching, monetizing and travel.

Now, lets get to work!

Dubai in Pictures: UAE's 40th anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:57:00 +0000

On the 2nd of December 2011 the United Arab Emirates celebrated it's 40th anniversary. This is the 8th year in a row we were here to celebrate with them, but this time it was different. We knew by now that Emirati people love to party on National Day and we suspected that the 40th year would be a big one, but it was way bigger than we anticipated! What a party!

The preparations started weeks before. The theme for the celebration was SPIRIT OF THE UNION - the official branding can be seen in the picture above. The seven founding sheikhs, leaders of the seven Emirates which came together on 2 December 1971 to form the United Arab Emirates were pictured in front of a UAE flag. The seven emirates are: Abi Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujeirah. Sheikh Zayad bin Sultan al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi were the driving force behind the unification and is still regarded as the Father of the Nation.

Shop window were made up in the national colours. Every possible product were displayed in these colours and the windows themselves were decorated.

Flags were everywhere. Houses, cars, lampposts, trees - nothing escaped a flag.

Memorabilia, decorations, souvenirs and everything else you can think of were for sale in the national colours. The children wore national colours to school, painted their faces, made up their class rooms and shared in the joy of the nation.

And the cars were something to behold! No costs were spared to 'pimp' your ride! The car pimping shops couldn't keep up!

The owner of this Smart car was so proud of his ride! When I asked him if I could photograph his car, he gave me a guided tour of all his pimps. It even has string lights in the national colours which lights up his car like a Christmas tree!

Even the Rolls Royce did not escape!

This is one of the courtesy vehicles from the Burj Al

Arab Hotel

The houses were covered in flags - some big enough to cover the whole house!

The flag below is a huge flag which hangs above Union House in Dubai, the place where the unification documents were signed 40 years ago.

In this time when the world looks on at the unrest in the Arab world, where it is obvious that many of the rulers in this part of the world are not doing what is best for their people and where people suffer at the hands of their rulers, it is a joy to see how the people of the United Arab Emirates love and adore their leaders. Sheikh Zayed is loved like a father by everybody in this country. The rulers of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum and his son, the crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum are loved and respected. Because they love and respect their people.

It was an honor to be part of these celebrations.

December happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:47:00 +0000

My work room is in it's Guest Room transformation at the moment, which means I have a great social life but very little work gets done around here! We had friends from Pretoria visiting us last week and we are expecting more friends from Nairobi to arrive this weekend.

By the time Christmas Day arrives they will all have left and we will spent Christmas very quietly at home as a family. No big family gatherings this year...

We even opted not to have a tree this year. We are not the traditional tree type of people and I try to do something different every year. Most of the time it does actually resemble a tree, but this time we are trying a fresh approach. What do you think?

I had my birthday this past weekend, squeezed in between the two groups of friends, and I had a wonderful day with my family at the Aprons and Hammers Restaurant last Friday. The weather is absolutely perfect this time of year so we really enjoyed our Al fresco seafood lunch.

Ever since I wrote this article about Mielie, I wanted to own a Mielie handbag. Unfortunately I live far away from the lovely Mielie people down in Cape Town, so I just kept on admiring their work from afar. Until last week. I attended a gathering of the South African Women's Association here in Dubai and there was a lady selling Mielie products! This bag had my name on it - I could not let it pass me by. So I bought myself a Mielie birthday gift. Isn't it gorgeous?

What does December look like where you are?

Why I love living in Dubai

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:45:00 +0000

Tonight we've been invited by our South African neighbours to a neighbourhood braai. We were six families living next to, or across the street from each other.

We don't always hang out together, and we are not all close friends, but we greet in the street, the children play together and we look out for each other.

We were two South African families, one German-Danish family, one Lebanese family,

Two Indian families and one South African/Scottish-Russian family.

Our children are all more or less the same age and had a blast running and playing together, all communicating in English.

We had Hommus, Tabouleh, cucumbers and fresh bread for starters.

We ate lamb, boerewors and chicken with potato salad and broccoli salad for mains,

and we had Black Forest Cake and vanilla ice cream for desert.

We had lots of red wine, we talked about music, movies, raising children, travelling, Christmas traditions and sport. We laughed a lot.

We never discussed politics or religion. We never talked about how we are different because there are too many ways in which we are the same.

We had a wonderful evening. At home.

How we use our staircase wall space

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:09:00 +0000

Last year during the summer holidays, I repainted parts of the house. The staircase ended up looking like this:

It is a rental house so we are not allowed to make any big changes and the Man Of The House does not want to spend money on some one else's property. It took a lot of convincing for me to repaint two rooms and a staircase...

We added four pin boards to the staircase wall. It is covered with an African print fabric in four different shades. The pin boards allow us to change the displays on the staircase without damaging the walls, and it prevents (some of) the finger marks which used to mark the walls. (My children and their friends are incapable of climbing stairs without running their dirty little hands along the entire length of the staircase wall.)

The board at the bottom of the stairs holds all the current evidence of our lives. Photos, pictures, projects, etc. It is visible from the front door and living room and is for things we want on public display.

The second one is the Family Board. Here we have pictures of cousins, grandparents and other family members from far away. In this way we can see them every morning and every evening to make sure we don't forget them.

The third board is the family office. Calenders, school notes, party invitations, important numbers, etc comes here. Now every morning on the way to breakfast we can make sure we know what the schedule is for the day. (In theory. We still forget things...)

The last board near the landing is the fun board. Interesting clippings, photos, sport awards, tickets for upcoming events and other inspirational things go here.

On the landing we have a white board on floor height. This is for the little ones to draw pictures and write letters to imaginary friends. There is a bucket full of whiteboard markets in all colours on the floor next to it.

Above that is a world map. For planning travels, seeing where all the other kids from International School comes from and for locating the places we see on the Travel Channel.

Also to remind us we are small and the world is big.

And wonderful.

Dubai in Pictures 21

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:17:00 +0000

Facebook is one of those great inventions which makes me wonder how we ever lived without it. And I don't mean playing Farmville (I can't stand FB games). I mean finding people you haven't seen for years.

I had coffee this morning with someone I went to primary school with. We last saw each other 32 years ago. We found each other on Facebook yesterday, realized we both live in Dubai, and we met at the Dubai Mall this morning for a catch-up. It was really special.

While we sat there enjoying the perfect weather after the hectic summer, we saw this team of window washers halfway up the Burj Khalifa.

Imagine it was your job to hang on the outside of the tallest building in the world everyday...

I would much rather sit at the bottom with a cappuccino and enjoy the views. Like this reflection in the building across the lake from the Burj.

Arabic Cross Stitch Design

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:59:00 +0000

I am in the process of designing a few Arab inspired cross stitch patterns.

Here's the first one:

How the colours were added:

Any constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Project ABC: H is for Hand

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:52:00 +0000

This is my daughters hand at 2 months old. I took a photo way back then with the idea of turning it into an embroidery, but never got around to it. Fortunately this project now gave me time and permission to do it.

Here's that same hand three years later...

and here's the original (blurry) picture:

I used the same method as described in this tutorial to make the pattern

I think it turned out really sweet .... x

Project ABC: G is for Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:37:00 +0000

I have mentioned before (here, here and here) that one of the few drawbacks of being an expat is that we have to say goodbye too often. People come and go. Friends become family - we laugh and cry together, celebrate together, take care of each others children and love each other like family. And then they leave for the next part of their journey through life. And you know sometime in the future it will be your turn to move on... But while we were together we made each other's life better, and we will stay in contact via the internet and the odd holiday - just like normal family.

This time we made a memory album of our friends' 8 years in Dubai. All the friends shared photos, stories, recipes and jokes. I used Riot Photo Books's software to create an 80-page hardcover coffee table book to give to them as a farewell gift.

It was such an honor to make the book. To be trusted with other peoples memories is a responsibility I did not take lightly. I think the book turned out great and will give our friends many hours of reminiscence in the years to come.

The book is called 'Brandhout'. It is an Afrikaans word meaning 'Fire wood'. Our friend Christo always says that the things we do today, the experiences we have when we are young, becomes fire wood for when we are old. When we do not have the physical strength anymore to go places, we can think back to our younger years to keep the mental fires burning. Hopefully this book will keep the fire going for a while...

Christo, Kine and Josh, we will miss you...

Update:

All wrapped up in brown paper, with one UAE-flag ribbon and one SA-flag ribbon, ready to be given....

Tutorial: Turning a photo into an embroidery pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:13:00 +0000

Here is how I turned a photo into a pattern:

Pick a photo of your choice.

School photos work very well as the lighting is good and the face is usually without shadows

Use any photo editing software of your choice. There are lots of free software available online. I use Picnik. Use the posterize function to get this effect. Play around with the colours until you are happy. I settled on 10 colours.

Save the posterized picture and go to the Pencil Sketch function. Without any further editing I got this result. Play around until you are happy with the amount of lines and the clarity of the picture.

You can use the picture as is, or further simplify it by hand. I printed the previous picture and traced it against the window (you can use a light table if you are more sophisticated than me!). Here you can make it as simple or as complicated as you wish.

I scanned this version into my computer and printed it on to a wash-away stabilizer.

And Voila! A perfect embroidery pattern.

A friendly request:

This is a picture of my son. I used it to demonstrate the process.

Please feel free to link to this tutorial, but please do not re-post this whole post with pictures to your blog. If you need one picture to illustrate the post, use one of the sketches.

Thank you.

Project ABC: F is for Face

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 09:40:00 +0000

I have done several projects before where I used my youngest son's face for the design.

(Have a look here, here and here)

This time it was the turn of my eldest son to lend his picture to a project.

I've always wanted to try freehand machine embroidery but always put it off because I thought I didn't have the right machine for it.

Today I just gave it a go. This is the result.

I used a variegated thread on a fine polka dot fabric.

It is not perfect but it is a start....

Dubai in Pictures 20

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:56:00 +0000

Winter in the UAE is tourist season.

I went to the beach this morning for the first time in a few months

and I saw all the rubbish bins along the beach front had a make-over.

They are all dressed up in pretty flowery dresses.

Roses, Irises, Hyacinths. All flowers which doesn't naturally occur in the desert.

Now, dear Tourist, please use them.

Project ABC: E is for Elephant

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 08:19:00 +0000

The Princess loves elephants. It started when we went elephant riding in Thailand, and she got to hug and kiss an elephant. It was reinforced when we went elephant riding in Nepal and she got to feed an elephant.

For this exercise the Princess and I took all her elephants outside into the garden for a play date.

The red and stripey Ugandan Elephants were swinging from the tree branches

while the Thai Silk Elephant was looking down from the bougainvillea,

and Grandma's hand knitted Mother and Baby elephants where hiding in the pot plants.

Only to come back for a hug from the Princess.

The Pink Rubber Elephant were hiding in the grasses,

only to be discovered by the Green Plastic Elephant!

The wooden Sri Lankan Elephants were hard at work in the woodpile, pushing logs as they were trained to do.

While the black Sri Lankan Elephant, was to grand to do any work and just struck a pose on the pedestal.

And best of all, the pink Princess Elephant was dancing around the garden, keeping everyone entertained.

Project ABC: D is for Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Ansie) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Although I love doing needlework, I don't really make clothes, so this "D is for Dress" challenge prompted me to make, well, a dress.

This dress has been in my cupboard for ages. I bought it years ago at the Owino Market in Kampala when we still lived in Uganda. It is one of those dresses where you like the dress, you just don't like yourself in the dress, so it just stayed in my cupboard without being worn.

Now, after a few hours of cutting and sewing it looks like this:

Perfect for the princess: