Tale of the Pesky Kimono

MAGIC project #2 is done, finished. No, I didn't stitch it in two different colorways, just playing with my photo software. It's been about 7 years since I first purchased this canvas. I had such high hopes in the beginning that it would stitch up quickly and that I would miraculously find just the right stitches and threads to use. Didn't happen that way. As a much less experienced stitcher 7 years ago I didn't know about the wonderful stitching support groups and lists and all the help available through them. Thinking it was a gorgeous canvas worthy of fine threads and stitches, and with Jo Ippolito's 300 stitches dictionary by my side, I thought I was prepared.

The real trouble began when I attempted to create a stitch guide; I had no experience and ultimately no business attempting this. I stitched and then frogged, stitched and frogged for months. I just do not have the talent nor experience to instinctively know what stitch best fits where. Frustration stitching this particularly problematic canvas caused me to put my needle down for about 3 years. Back then, back before discovering my needlework groups, I was still practicing the don't begin something new until you finish what you've started mantra. And I didn't want to work on the kimono so I ended up not working on anything. Big mistake rectified only after learning that it's natural to have any number of UFO's and WIPS in one's stash. That it's a normal part of being a stitcher. Thankfully I cast aside this notion of nothing new until old is finished.

Once the stitching was in, the poor kimono took a rest while I tried to figure out how to finish it to hang on a stand. I looked around on the Internet for help, but didn't find what I needed. The first thing I did was to cut away the canvas around the stitched design and basted on an interfacing for stabilization. Next I needed to find the right fabric for the back; naturally choosing a slick Asian fabric that frayed like crazy. The color and pattern were right, so what's a little fraying with everything else it had been through. The fabric was basted to the back of the canvas wrong sides facing inward. It was finally time to apply the velvet trim to the edges by hand leaving armhole openings. Voila! Done. Goodbye. Shoo! Actually I learned many valuable lessons stitching this kimono, that even though I was discouraged many times, I became a better stitcher because of it somehow. Becoming more aware of my limitations and levels of tolerance and patience, I now plan and proceed with my stitching projects differently than I did back then.