Wilde About Oscar

Does anyone besides my sister-in-law and I get the title of this post? It was starting to seem like that when I was working on this project because everyone that saw it in progress (i.e. co-workers on my lunch break) had no idea who Oscar was or why anyone would be Wilde about him.

This was a project of many firsts for me: first time making my own chart, first time charting a custom font, first time making a pillow, first time finishing a project for a deadline (barely).
The stitching is done on 14ct Fiddler's cloth Aida, completely in black (DMC 310). If I knew what I was doing when it came to blogging and crafting, I would know what kind of cording and backing fabric I used, but alas, I do not.

I do know that my lovely Nana Dana (yes, we have the same name) came to the rescue and whipped up the pillow part in less than an hour. I did at least help cut out the pieces, figure out the construction, and pin the cord. If I had allowed myself more time than two hours to make the pillow, I would have learned how to use the sewing machine myself. We'll save that adventure for another day.

Nana Dana hard at work

There are no up-close pictures of the pillow because I had to hand sew the opening at the bottom early this morning and I had no idea what I was doing and it came out a bit wonky. Also, I stabbed myself with a needle (since I was using an actual sewing needle and not the blunt tapestry needles I'm used to) so a teensy weensy bit of my blood is also on the bottom, should anyone need it for DNA analysis. I am very proud of the back of the stitching, though to be fair, it was a simple pattern with one color and thus pretty easy to keep neat.

Back view of stitching

One part of this project I found particularly interesting was charting a new font (i.e. a font that didn't come pre-packaged with my charting software, though it has a plethora). I did my best to make elements of the font consistent across all the letters, and though there are few issues, I think the overall product looks good.

Lesson learned: When doing cross stitch or other fine needlework, it is best to keep in mind that most people viewing the final product will not be viewing it from 6 inches away, so all those things that look like huge horrible mistakes to you are much less apparent than they seem.

Now I want to re-read The Importance of Being Earnest...