The other day we saw a big hare calmly sitting in the middle of the road just above our house, and while we waited for him to get out of the way I thought vaguely of how I'd make a design out of him. This is the result. At first I was just going to call it “Hare on the Road” but perhaps “Scruffy Hare” would be more appropriate, as he turned out to have a rather moth-eaten appearance. This was because the hare seemed to be demanding to be appliqueed in some kind of furry, unkempt fabric, so I dragged out my embellisher and some old knitting yarn and spent some time making a nice furry fabric. The result wasn’t exactly slick, but then it wasn’t supposed to be so I went ahead and used it for the hare’s body.
The Hare on the Road with the moth-eaten coat
Well, yes, it sort of works, and I don’t mind the moth-eaten appearance, but next time I think I might do it differently. The eye isn’t quite right, and the overstitching on the body needs changing, but as I keep saying you never know how these things are going to turn out until you try them.
Another technical note: I stitched this out in rather a hurry, and when I looked at it after it was done I was horrified to see that I’d been in such a rush that I’d actually forgotten to put any stabiliser under it, so the embroidery is just done straight onto the unstabilised fabric. But the fabric was quite heavy, and the painted background also added a bit of weight and density, which is probably why I got away with it. All the same I’m going to have to be more careful in future!
I love him!
Hi Mia, The fabric you created with your yarn and embellisher makes for a very realistic looking hare.As always your interpretation of the hare into embroidery is stunning against your hand painted fabric. I love the look that your hand created fabric gives to the look of the hare.
Hi Mia,
I’m looking to feature your beautiful work that was recently at the BSDB meeting on our site the Node, which is run by Development. I’ll leave my email with this comment: could you write to me at your convenience?
Thanks a lot, Aidan
Mia, I really like the fabric you created with the embellisher. The body is my favorite part of the piece, so I think the overstitching works.
Mia, don’t know what to say, but WOW! great job. I love your hare on the road. It all works and comes together as it should. Hope you are going to be showing him in your next show.
Mia, great job as always. I just want to reach out to pet him. I know that would never happen in real life, but yours looks so cuddly. Thanks.