FLYING FISH (WAP #18; Istanbul)

When I approached my Art Project this week, I did so with a less than joyful attitude! Let's just say Mrs Grumpy was the persona in residence at that time!  It was a later than anticipated start, so I was already on 'the back foot' time-wise. Would it have been better to cancel the plan & start afresh another day?
No. I don't think so.  From experience, I know that once I get going on a project my mood usually changes.  Besides that, another day is just as likely to feel time-short as this day! There was only one thing to do...get on with it!

The interior of the Hagia Sophia of Istanbul is aglow with the colour gold.  It is also decorated with a plethora of pattern!
Instead of using my time to carefully reintroduce myself to each pattern I'd photographed,  I instantly settled on one I'd tried to sketch whilst there.

I think of this as the 'Flying Fish' pattern, because that is  how my brain interprets what I see!

Because it is a repeat/mirror image pattern, I used my handy view finder tool (ie; 2 strips of card!!) to highlight a single corner of the pattern.

Knowing that I wanted my finished sample to be A4 size, I could have just got a piece of printer paper & folded it into quarters.  Instead, I measured a quarter & drew it as a template on to some thicker cartridge paper.  This is because I wasn't going to use the time to do my small sketchy drawings, but was going to draw & erase & redraw...possibly multiple times...directly onto the template. I wanted a stronger paper to cope with all that working.

You'd think that it would be easy to basically copy a design, but this was more than copying. I needed to adjust it from a square format to a rectangle & also needed to think about what was possible or not, with contemporary reverse applique.  In the process, I was taking a very close look at the design...I was reading it!

Eventually I settled on something I was happy with & went for a shuffle through my fabrics.  Remarkably, this was the quickest part of the whole process, which is unusual for me!! ;-)

There were two layers of stitching, not that you could tell from the top!

It was more apparent from the bottom!!  Oh dear...the other thing that was more apparent was that some of my lines weren't straight! Time to engage the mantra "this is just an exercise''!
Nevertheless, it was a value trick to remember...look at the underside before proceeding!!!

It was time for the cutting back to begin.

This was after the first layer was cut back & I felt that I was off to a very good start.

Instead of doing just the second layer, I chose to cut multiple layers at once to speed progress up a little.  This is a dangerous choice.  Not only does it require another level of concentration (ie; MORE!), but it is also VERY easy to cut more than what one intends!!!

Nevertheless, I was happy with the outcome.
It just needed some tweeking to give it more oomph, & I felt sure that embroidery would be the appropriate embellishment.

This is the end result & I am very happy with it, even if I was caught a bit short with the patterned fabric!
I'm glad that I  stuck with the discipline of doing my WAP today, but I'm also glad I listened to my inner self & altered my usual working pattern to take the time restraints into consideration. All in all, a good day in the workroom...and a MUCH better mood by the end of it! Phew!