I stitched this up for a fellow craftster who’s always been very supportive, encouraging and generous with me just out of the blue. We’ve a bit of a running joke about how a meal or medicinal regimen can always be improved by a Bacon Upgrade. I’ve made a few different stitches using this 1996 Beatrix Potter toile, but this is my first time using the pigs… I was so excited when it occurred to me to use them to illustrate The Bacon Upgrade. Whee!
My goal was to make the left pig bland and plain-looking and then go crazy with his friend on the right… make him a real dandy (hence the title of the piece, “Bacon is dandy.”).
I saved the dandy for last as a reward for hours spent with dull colors.
I tried to make the walking stick look like wood grain by mixing floss.
I was thinking a little bit Prince, a little bit Austin Powers, a lot ridiculous so I just kept lavishing on details – luckily the funnest of them were also fast as I was anxious to get it done and shipped off to her.
From top to bottom:
The toupee is turkey stitch (cut). I was going for an obvious fake highlight look.
The collar is lots of French knots.
The chain is chain stitch (imagine that) with a single strand of metallic floss. Boy was I happy when the floss didn’t fight me. Buttons on French knots.
Fancy lace wrists are also turkey stitch (uncut) and were my first time using that stitch.
Also my first time using the seeding stitch, which I did over and over in 5 colors on his sack.
His shoes I just made up as I went along and I’m really pleased that they ended up looking so much like 18th-century men’s shoes.
I decided to name the poor chap, who is headed unknowingly into a make-over, "Porcius" because it’s from the Latin for pig and sounds highfalutin. I had an epiphany to make the words “bacon upgrade” bacon colored and am pleased with the result.
Since I wanted the pigs to stand out, I didn’t do much with the background, but I wanted to give the sign some words. I decided to go with the old tickle-toe rhyme about piggies going to market of staying home for that.
Finally, the back. I did the title in the bacon color combo because it makes me laugh.
I had meant to write “… Love, Tara” but I got jimmijigged and by the time I realized what I’d done I was past the point of no return mentally. Hopefully she’ll feel the love, anyway.
I used 1-3 strands of about 15 colors of DMC floss and the following stitches:
Running, satin, back, long and short, split, lazy daisy, French knots, chain, seeding, turkey, turkey (cut). It’s 8” x 8” (approx 20cm x 20cm ).
What this part of the toile looked like before I gave it the Bacon Upgrade.
Thanks for looking through all of these!
