Shisha mirrors and fabric painting

In one of the scrap bags I bought recently was a packet of shisha mirrors, so this morning I had a go at using them. There's a beautifully clear YouTube video explaining how to embroider around a mirror, attaching it to fabric, and I tried following that. (The link's here.) Only I went off-piste and did my own thing, which was why my first attempt wasn't good enough.

The mirror will fall out as the stitching's not wide enough to cover the mirror's edge. My second attempt was more free-styling, but actually it wasn't bad. The mirror's secure, which is the main thing. I'll try again as practise makes perfect, and see if I can't get a more professional finish.

Once that was done, I dug out the gell plate and acrylics. I'd a hankering to apply paint to fabric. This smaller piece was previously plain white cotton. (The photo's not great as it looks a dingy green when it's brighter in real life.) The other material I used was a slippery, shiny lining fabric, and I wasn't sure if the paint would adhere to it in the same way as the cotton. But it does.

I've stencilled on a base layer of colour, and will add printing stamps once the paint's completely dry. The idea is to produce something I can use to sew into, as part of this year's ambition to teach myself basic embroidery stitches.

This is an earlier example that I've began embroidering, but not finished yet.

Here are a few details from my initial attempts. (Again, the colours haven't photographed very well. It's actually a prettier pink than it appears.)

Metallic thread works nicely to add hints of sparkle. You might not see it, but I've used gold thread in the circles above.

Even if I don't end up with a piece of fabric I really love, it can always be incorporated into a pieced-together quilt backing. So I'll find a use for it one way or another.

P.S. (written later on) I tried again with the shisha mirrors. Had three attempts, unpicked them all. There was rolling of the eyes and sweary words muttered. Nevermind, I'll try again tomorrow.

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