autumntide

basic outline/pattern was drawn in procreate based off of ref pics in the game, and i did a rough color map to plan which sections were what color and where the transitions would be. i printed the outline onto water soluble stabilizer for a guide when embroidering. pieces were cut out and i did a simple running stitch to tack them onto the cloth. everything managed to fit in 3 8” hoops with some amount of tetrising.

interlude: shaping so much wire to match the wing outlines so they can somewhat stand freely

outline of the different sections was done with backstitch in the respective color and the wire was couched down (black thread in the middle is to mark the color transitions bc it was a little hard to see)

stabilizer was then washed away since i already had the outline down and i didn’t want to embroider through the paper. also no idea if i was doing it wrong or my stabilizer was old, but it didn’t wash away fully under the stitches so i had to spend a few hours removing shreds of paper with a pin and tweezers. fun times!

once everything is dry, whip stitch to cover the wire, and long and short stitch for everything else, 1 strand for the colors and 2 for the black. rinse and repeat for the rest of the wings

main body done, now cut everything out! wow that’s a lot of pieces..

+ the back, just for fun (the wire tails were kept long to put everything together.. we’ll come back to that)

the staff is made from felt. flower petals were made similar to the wings, with a wire slip outline so they could be shaped and curled like petals. buttonhole stitch this time to cover the wire, and whipped backstitch for the petal center. knots/thread tails at the petal base since they would be mostly covered. for the stem(?) part, it’s a triangular piece if felt rolled into a log, the free edge whip stitched in the back to hide the seam. the petals were attached to the inside at the top so when you roll it the wires are all hidden. i also some wire along the side for added sturdiness. sorry i don’t have a lot of pics of this i was too annoyed while making it lol

construction time! fabric over sturdy cardboard would be the background showing in the frame (no glass), and i punched a small hole in the cardboard somewhere around the middle to feed the wires through. the general plan: the center wing piece would form a hoop to slide the staff in, and all of the other wing wires would wrap around the hoop. the wire that made up the hoop would then feed through the hole in the cardboard and get sandwiched between the cardboard and the back of the frame so the whole thing can be supported. the result: this abomination 

but! everything ended up fitting and the staff is removable so success! some finishing touches:

green glass bead at the center of the staff petals, held in place by wire

smaller beads at the center of the wing piece to mimic the in game model

wire inside a piece green yarn to wrap around the staff

and that’s it! as a thanks for making it through this whole thing, have a secret 4th pic that i submitted but wasn’t included in the ffxiv single image compilation lol