Behind the Stitching: Barry Brooch Skull
Hello my stitching lovelies. We’re continuing our little video series adventure remaking my Barry (the Stumpwork Death’s Head Hawkmoth) as a brooch!
And I’m taking you behind the scene’s and in front of the hoop as I play with this fun little project and experiment with some modifications to my original design. We’ll also be road testing ‘Brooch Barry’ once he’s done so stay with me as I wing it into brooch making. Today – come finish the new skull design with me, for the first time, together! 🖤
Skullduggery
Barry has had a ‘facelift’ I’ve updated the skull design on his ‘ickle thorax.
Yes he’s getting a brand new skull — and this one’s a completely fresh design.
I’m right at the end of his little skull thorax now, just trimming down the last of the yellow tufty bits, so I thought I’d bring you in to watch it take shape on camera for the first time and find out what it takes to properly fluff turkeywork stitch.
It’s all turkey work — that lovely plush, carpet-like pile, and if you’ve ever had a go and ended up with a scruffy mess, this one’s for you. Turkey work is wonderfully forgivable, so a misbehaving scruffy mess usually doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. It just wants a bit of finessing with the needle to coax everything back where it should be. I’ll show you exactly how I do that — plus my very high-tech finishing tools (a lint roller and one hardcore toothbrush).
Both skull designs are specimin accurate to the real life moth whose markings vary wildly but i wanted a more traditional skull variant and i think it’s come out wonderfully morbid. I think we may have upped the creepyness level by about 62%.
Below are some examples of the wide range of markings you get on real death’s head hawkmoths. ⬇
As I want ‘new’ Barry to be really dark and moody I’ve used a darker thread color too – DMC 3371 for the dark brown to make the skull really stand out.
You’ll also get a first peek at the brooch body design I’ve been working on.
And yes, new Barry has met original Barry. They’ve had a moment. 🖤
Get Yo' Barry On
As promised in the video here is the link to my Barry making Masterclass, if you’re looking to stitch your own Barry my course will hand-hold you through the whole process (and if you get it now you get the Barry Brooch module free of charge when it’s finished) – Check out the Barry course.
And to get your free Bug Collectors Case PDF and stitch along videos – Check out the free Bug Case embroidery stitch along.
