More Big Cats

A couple of weeks ago I posted the picture of a tiger that was going to feature on a Big Cats panel that I was making as a commission. Here are two more of the cats, a cheetah and a leopard

 

The spotty cheetah

 

The spotty leopard

The most interesting problem that these cats presented was how to make the spots. It's not practical to make embroidered spots - there would be way too many jump stitches. So I just painted some fabric with the right kinds of spots (different for the cheetah and the leopard), used the fabric as applique, and stitched over it with a very light density of overstitching. Again, as with the tiger, there are no heavy satin stitch borders to these animals - it just wouldn't be appropriate. The overstitching does blur the underlying painted spots, but that just makes it look a little more natural. And if there are a few stray threads escaping the edges of the applique fabric, well, they are furry animals after all, so you expect a few loose hairs!!

 

Comments

[Hummelbrummel]

They are great!

[Gitta]

love them!

[Ramona]

Mia, you are very clever to paint the spots on the big cats. I don't think very many people would have thought of that. Most digitizers would have just dealt with the jump stitches. I love your cats. Thanks so much for sharing your work with us.

[shirley]

Nothing more to say Just love them

[Gail Beam]

Hi Mia, Love your new fun leopard and cheetah cats, and that you digitized them in realistic movement patterns. I will look forward to seeing the next group of big cats.

[Suzanne Rust]

These are both great, in different ways. I love the running cheetah - how did you come up with the legs' positions? Perfect! It looks fast, standing still. And the leopard is just calm, cool and collected, walking through her world. The spotting on both does look very natural - good thinking! You use painted fabrics with the embroidery unlike any I'd seen - backgrounds, accents, etc., and it's just wonderful!