Not long ago, I was struck by unexpected inspiration: I needed to make a cross stitch piece featuring house hippos.
If you're a Canadian of a certain age, house hippos are a cultural touchstone; if you're not, you might be a little confused. House hippos were born in 1999:
En francais:
Cute, right? The lesson may not have stuck, but house hippos sure did. Without a house hippo pattern available (at least, not one I could find), I came up with my vision. Then I went looking for patterns to put together.
I didn't really record the details (sorry). I got a hoop that I thought would be a good size, grabbed the aida cloth that seemed like the right one, picked thread colours that seemed appropriate, and found patterns that worked with what I had.
The hippo took longer than I expected. It's a pretty simple design, but there's a surprising amount of detail in it.
The lettering really scared me; I was so worried about it being off center. It's not perfect, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
The red I used for "Caution!" caused me some consternation. I thought I already had the right shade on hand, but it turned out I didn't. It needed a special trip to the store to get the perfect shade of Canadian flag red (DMC 321), and it's not even showing up properly in the picture! This is what it really looks like (or as close as you can get on a screen):
And now for the real stress. The French writing.
The French lines involved longer words/phrases and several wide letters to try to fit in. Paranoid about running out of space, I narrowed the writing on "Attention!" I probably should've left it alone, but by the time I realized that, it was too late to change it.
My original plan was to put a maple leaf on either side of the hippo. Then I realized the French and English parts are equal-- it made no sense to have two large maple leaves and one small fleur de lys. As proud as I was of my freehand mini fleur de lys, it had to go.
For a second I thought about adding a tiny maple leaf to balance out the tiny fleur de lys, but I didn't want it getting too busy.
The final design! I'm happy with how it turned out, especially the fleur de lys, which not only ended up the right size, but is also a pretty good representation in both colour and style of Quebec's fleur de lys (my home province).
I also like to sign my needlepoints. It's always in a hidden spot, but I choose to believe some future needlework enthusiast will notice one of them and start an epic journey to find all the pieces of the mysterious "ASB."
This was actually my first time backing an embroidery hoop with felt. I used this video for the instructions. You can see in the picture above that my "fringe" of aida cloth looks messy and is also too wide. I ended up re-doing it, because it really shows through on the front.
I think that's better (at least there's less excess fabric). By the way, I know people pride themselves on the neatness of the backs of their embroidery pieces. That's great for them, but I can't be bothered. I do needlework to relax and for the love of creating-- I don't need the stress of making sure the back (that no one will see!) looks as good as the front.
I really enjoyed sewing the felt into place. I also enjoy sewing knit/crochet parts together too, which a lot of people seem to hate, so I think I just enjoy hand stitching. The felt isn't completely flat, because (despite my best efforts) it was a tiny bit too big. But it's not so bad that I needed to re-do it.
All done!
Now to get some mini hippos to leave around the house...
As a bonus, I had enough aida left to make a bookmark!
Anyone familiar with A Series of Unfortunate Events should recognize the quote :)
(Links take you to all available stores. Love Lies Bleeding and Bleeding Heart are also available in paperback.)
What projects are you working on lately? If you do needlepoint, do you care what the backs look like? Did you grow up with house hippos? Share in the comments...
I was going to post something craft related today, but looking through older photos, I found some I'd taken at a past Christian Dior exhibit. It's not exactly crafts, but these dresses are works of art.
Dior's "New Look" was all about femininity: full skirts and cinched waists (if I recall correctly, he tried to bring back corsets). I totally understand why women didn't want to go back to these kinds of restrictive styles after the general comfort and freedom of 1930s and 40s fashions, but a part of me also wishes I could've dressed like this (the part of me that forgets how much I prefer being comfortable).
I love these ribbon details. If my sewing skills get a little better, I'm tempted to add something like this to a skirt.
I also think gloves should make a comeback. In this post-covid world, it only makes sense.
The dress above looks like something from a fairytale, and the one below looks like something Marilyn Monroe might've worn...
I'm not usually one for beading on my clothes (maybe I should be?) but the beaded collar on this dress is just amazing. I don't think my photo does it justice.
Speaking of beads, these necklaces were also part of the exhibit...
The exhibit also highlighted some of Dior's perfume bottles, which he designed:
This dress was included at the start of the exhibit. I don't remember if it's a Dior, or if it was there to show some of his influences, but I love it, so I'm sharing.
What do you think of Dior's New Look? Which dress is your favourite? And who is your favourite designer of the past (I also love House of Worth and Callot Soeurs). Share in the comments...
With my limited time in Paris, I chose to forgo the Louvre in favour of the Musee d'Orsay. Why? One reason: the Van Gogh gallery. I love Van Gogh. I've driven ten hours in one day to see an exhibit of his work (totally worth it). I'm planning future trips around Van Gogh-related sites. So I knew as soon as I decided to go to Paris that my time would include a visit to the d'Orsay.
I didn't take any pictures of his paintings, though, because they need to be seen in person. They do not translate well in photographs. The colours don't show up properly. The magic gets lost. This might be true of all paintings, but I think it's especially true of Van Gogh. I would have had trouble getting decent pictures anyway because the gallery was swarmed, in part because every other person insisted on taking selfies with the works. Handy life hint: when you're in a crowded space with lots of people who want to see the thing you're standing in front of, have enough courtesy to move on instead of indulging your ego. Why, no, I'm not a fan of selfies. But that's a rant for another time.
If you've seen the Doctor Who episode "Vincent and the Doctor" (beautiful episode, by the way, but totally inaccurate...) you might think the Van Gogh gallery at the d'Orsay is a large, well-lit open space, with the paintings arranged logically for viewing purposes. It's not. It's narrow, dark, poorly organized, and horrible to navigate when crowded (which I assume is always). Big miss. But the paintings are amazing and make up for it.
I have to say that the d'Orsay, while featuring a stunning main hall, really suffers from poor design and organization. It needs more bathrooms, some water fountains, and a cafeteria, because there's no way I'm lining up for a bottle of water (they had three places to eat, of varying levels of size and swankiness and unvarying lineups). It would have been nice if the wifi network they offered to visitors actually existed. And it would have been even nicer if there was a clear path marked to the exit--I was starting to feel like a rat in a multi-level maze. Very frustrating experience. But the art is amazing, so at least they got the most important thing right. Despite my frustrations, I will go back to the Musee d'Orsay--in the off season.
If you're thinking of going (and you should), make sure you buy your ticket ahead of time in order to skip the line (here's a tip about that). Bring your own water/snacks. And please forget the selfies.
The first few photos were taken as I walked from the Musee de l'Orangerie to the Musee d'Orsay.
The Seine
The Statue of Liberty seemed a little out of place, until I remembered it came from France in the first place :)
The d'Orsay has a nice Art Nouveau collection
A combination hat/coat rack and umbrellas stand made by Adolphe Bergue c. 1880-90 for the actress Sarah Bernhardt
Emile Galle
Vase, Emile Galle, 1900
Not a great photo of an amazing piece of art. Saint Michel terrassant le dragon (Saint Michael slaying the dragon), Emmanuel Fremiet, 1897
I've seen pictures of this statue many times and always loved it but didn't realize it was at the d'Orsay. Happy surprise. I also never knew what it was called: La nature se devoilant a la science (Nature unveils to science) by Louis-Ernest Barrias, 1899. Beautiful piece.
Aurore by Denys Puech, 1900
La Danse Guerriere (The War Dance) by Victor Segoffin, 1903
There was a display of a series of amazing miniature set pieces made for operas. This one was made by Auguste Rube and Philippe Chaperon for an 1875 opera production of Hamlet
Just outside the museum are six bronze statues representing continents, originally made for the Exposition Universelle in 1878. Above is L'Europe by Alexandre Schoenewerk.
