HOME | DD

Anony-mouse-cat [2018-08-05 04:34:09 +0000 UTC]

I hate it so much sometimes when someone starts to perceive your opinion as so high that their own skill becomes valueless. It's one of the most painful, most frustrating things to figure out how to cope with another's opinion when it's a good opinion that they've turned into a weapon against themselves.

Thank you for sharing this, and take care of yourself too.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Sapphiet [2018-06-19 21:13:29 +0000 UTC]

I can sympathise with that when it comes to sewing

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SillyTillyStudios [2018-05-30 22:42:35 +0000 UTC]

What an inspirational description. Thank you

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Mattsma [2018-05-28 15:37:55 +0000 UTC]

I tell people that all of the time even though I am one of those who prides themselves on their backsides.........but that was how I was taught and instructed by stitchers far wiser than myself.  You are an excellent stitcher regardless of your backside!  The contests we have on stitchingpirates are front side only which really does make it easier for our stitchers to focus on what counts.........that pretty front side

I hope that the person who feels they can no longer work on their HAED can re-group and pick it back up.  It's the joy of stitching which is the real point and if a particular designer does something a particular way and you like it, there's no shame in that.  Each stitcher has their own "thing"!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Narmita08 [2018-05-28 08:57:06 +0000 UTC]

Wonderful post!

I'm still at a stage where I usually don't worry about the tidyness of the backside. Part of that is due to a lot of my works (specially smaller ones) end up being as cards (back is hidden), to be framed by myself (again back hidden), sewn onto something or two parts get sewn together (biscornu, keyfob,...). The only type of project where I do bother about it are bookmarks. Hidden backside or not, it's always a headach for me to keep it tidy.

Now, I have to admit, I really like seeing the backsides of finished projects. They're kind of the 'hidden art' of what the stitcher did. A hidden creativity so to say. They might even show different figures or motives (e.g. your backside of the Long Eared Owl looks like a butterfly or moth to me). I'll never get tired of seeing these little art pieces, too

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Fusainne [2018-05-28 07:53:32 +0000 UTC]

Well, the framer lady is not wrong - it does take skill to have a clean back. It's just a skill almost completely unrelated to those required to have a pretty front

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Hand-Sam-Art [2018-05-28 07:21:05 +0000 UTC]

Behind the masterpieces are headaches ... which hopefully the final result makes it all worthwhile.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Saraeustace91 [2018-05-27 23:53:56 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful ❤️

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Phenometron [2018-05-27 22:08:03 +0000 UTC]

Excellent work, yo!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

NevaSirenda [2018-05-27 21:54:54 +0000 UTC]

Very true, Pinky! It took me YEARS of experimenting and teaching from others to get to a point where my stitching and designing was considered "Industry Standard". And as long as I'm not stitching a photography sample for a magazine, I still don't. If these are the kinds of patterns you love and you love the way they look when they're done, that is your style and nobody has the right to argue with that. Your taste and your preferences are yours and you should stand by them. You do you. That's what life is about.

However.

Having gone back and read your comments about HAED, I have to say that their process -- which seems to be the process of a LOT of people selling patterns on the internet -- is something that irks the hell out of me as a professional designer. What they are doing is taking a piece of artwork, scanning it into the design program, and letting the computer do all the work. All they do is scale it to fit (and sometimes not even that.)

THAT IS NOT DESIGNING.

That is how you end up with 150 floss colors when you only need 20, because the computer sees transitional colors that aren't really there. That is how you end up with a half-unreadable chart because you're not choosing your symbols to reflect the value of the colors. That is how you end up stitching over one fabric thread on 32-count linen, not intentionally or with purpose in mind, but because you haven't bothered to scale the art correctly. That is pure damn laziness.

And yet many people consider it the mark of an expert stitcher to be able to stitch these patterns. Well, you DO have to be really damn good as a stitcher to make sense out of them, so I will grant you that. But as Thelonious Monk once said, "Being complicated is easy. What's hard is being simple - as simple as Bach."

Now, for them to charge $150 for a custom pattern is reasonable. In fact, it is below the average for what a professional designer gets selling to a commercial publisher. BUT. What I earn per design as a professional designer is for 10-20 hours of choosing floss colors one by one under a color-neutral light, against the fabric they will be stitched on, to make sure everything balances, choosing symbols so that the chart will look enough like the finished piece so the stitcher will always know where she is, and placing each stitch one by one to make the design fit the desired size and look as smooth and ideal and, in the case of an adaptation, as close to the original artwork as possible. To charge $150 for five minute's worth of scanning something and letting the computer do all the work and pretending you did it yourself is highway robbery. And it annoys the hell out of me.

All you guys out there -- you keep doing you, whatever you is, because you love it and you are proud of it. And I'll keep doing me because I love what I do and I am proud of it. This is my artistic medium, as much as oil paint or watercolor or digital painting is for other people. And every design I make will always, ALWAYS be an original.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

blackhavikgraphics [2018-05-27 21:46:53 +0000 UTC]

i do graph blankets in crochet. it depends on the pattern itself when i start/make it if i'm going to wind up having to back it with fleece to hide the 'tails'. you're not alone! i did a blanket for a friends son, and because hes still an infant i backed it with fleece. not having to worry about ends coming loose or coming through the stitches, much less the stitches coming loose on the front is a huge relief. i'd rather the backing be an absolute MESS vs having to worry if my front stitches are going to come out in the wash or while it's being used. you're not alone, no fiber artist is. we all make a mess, but its our craft. it matters more about the fully finished product than the back of it to me. if my back is a wreck of ends, and my front is pristine and clean and you can see the design perfectly, that's where you've done your craft properly. backing is exactly that, backing. who turns over a cross stitch in a frame to see what a mess of ends and tails the back is? rarely anyone. so why is your beading or my crochet any different? we love our craft, we put countless hours of effort to build our craft and be productive with it. if someone criticises your backs, thats on them. theres a reason for backs on fiber crafts. so we dont have to waste more by cutting and tying. it makes it easier to carry sometimes across the back, and it saves time as well when you're on a crunch.

your work is beautiful, and i personally am jealous that i can't do beading like yours (mostly due to my arthritis in my hands and wrists), but know your work is appreciated, regardless of what the backside looks like

👍: 0 ⏩: 1