I think I might take a shot at some embroidery patches.
I haven't found a lot of Tourettes things I like, and humor is my coping mechanism. I'm wanting to do some stuff that isn't making Coprolalia the butt of the joke, or just some cleaner humor.
Nothing against Coprolalia of course, I just wouldn't feel comfortable wearing something like "what do we want? A cure for Tourettes! When do we want it? Cunt!" to like pick up my niece from the bus stop or when going to work.
I'm thinking some things like
"Programed by Bethesda"
"Just a glitch"
"A little ticced off"
Just as a little awareness thing without catering to the stereotypes, and maybe making it more available for younger people or people whose environment isn't okay with vulgarity.
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Had this idea in Nov 2022, and finally started it in Sept this year. I got side tracked by some other projects (Halloween costume, published a book), but finally finished it. Realized I forgot his scar as I was taking the finished pic tho 😭. Anyways, I tested out some new stitches and techniques, so of which I love and some not so much. Gapping is worst than I thought and my attempt at perspective is off, but over all I'm really proud. This was the first person I've ever embroidered.
Of course I've used backstitch and surface satin stitch for the majority, but I added in French knots for the buttons, blanket stitch for the horn details, and a take on short and long in 2 tones for the hair. Everything was done with 1-3 strands.
Some details didn't come out the way I wanted, but I learned a lot and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Progress pics/some up close details below-
I had a better ear details but ended up sewing over it and putting a new one on top. Struggled with gapping since I was using a LOT of gray/blonde on my white stabilizer which is washed off here.
The hands TERRIFIED me, and I'm not too happy with my encroaching satin stitch on Ith, but that's okay.
I used 2 colors for the hair and really like the effect it had. Also hard to notice in the completed piece but I tried to do shadows with like a darker yellow on the side of the shirt. WI also tried to give the buttons on coat some perspective of like closer and farther by using 4 strands on 1 side and 3 strands on the other but I probably wouldn't do that again lol😅
Progress pics kinda look better about gapping lol, also the hands and face scared me so much I left them for last.
Since I talked about some negative stuff yesterday, I'll be trying to keep today lighter but still informative!
Today I'll be talking about tic prevention and ways I use to ease the affect of my tics.
⚠️ Everyone with TS and tic disorders is different, this is just my personal experiences
Number 1 tic prevention in my case is headphones! Since my tics can be triggered by sudden loud noises, headphones are my go-to, particularly in storms. I also have a go-to tic soothing Playlist on my Spotify. If I'm already twitchy, or it's storming I'll usually be found with my headphones.
Fidgets is another big thing for prevention, but also mitigation. Early in my diagnosis I discovered rubber ducks were a really good fidget for myself and carried one in my pocket most of the first year after my diagnosis. I also wear necklaces that I can fidget with. I don't use ducks as often now, but I still always have something to fidget with. If I start ticcing some fidget can keep my hands busy, and if my "bad ones" tic hits I have soft fidgets to squeeze so I'm less likely to hurt myself.
Also there are some youtubers/streamers whose vibes can help me calm down, or I've watched their content enough that it's become comfort content. Some notable names here would be Arcolf, MontyGlu, Distortion Devil, MatPat, Loey Lane, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, Ze Frank, and Dingo Doodles.
So I don't have a service animal, but one of my cats and one of my mom's dogs have kind of trained themselves to help me with tics. If they are around when I start ticcing they'll try to come to me so I can pet them and get myself calm. My cat actually knows the phrase "nap time" because if I come home in a fit I'll tell her it's nap time, so she'll run to my room and wait for me. Then she lays on top of me and purrs until I'm done ticcing, then she lays next to me to cuddle until I fall asleep. ❤️
Engaging in embroidery can also help soothe or prevent tics, as it keeps my hands busy and my mind focused. Sometimes drawing or writing helps too, but one of my tics is specifically "throw pen", but I have yet to throw a needle. I'm also better at embroidery than drawing so it makes me happier. (Putting trashcatsews in the tags on this post so you can check out some of my creations if you'd like)
My mom's favorite way to help with my tics is kind of funny, because its purely distraction. The easiest way she does this is "here hold this" followed by handing me a random object. It's not foolproof and sometimes I just throw what she hands me but it works often enough that she still does it.
That's all of my main prevention and mitigation tactics, but I'm sure I'm forgetting some. As always thank you for reading, and my asks are open if you have any questions or curiosities 😊
So this one took most of May and late June 2023 to complete, and is of course my Unexpectables piece. I'm really proud of how this one turned out, especially being the first big project after a long break.
In this piece, I experimented with using colors for light dynamics, strand count, and using couching stitch for lettering. The close up on Lys shows the coloring the best, with 2 shades of white and 2 shades of gray. The center line of Lys' mask is 6 strands, and the smaller detail lines are done with 4 and 3 strands. Lys' mask was filled with a 2 strand encroaching satin stitch. The aspects' center lines were all done with 4 strands, and the detail lines are 2 strand. The fill on the aspects is a single strand surface satin stitch. I made an attempt of a 12 strand line for Lys' name by double folding the 6 strand floss, but I don't think it translated well. The aspects names are done in 6 strands, all names used 2 strands for the actual couching bits. The line work is all back stitch. All black was done with an 8 weight perle thread which I like for outlining but think is too textured for filling, but I was out of all other black lol. I also attempted to match the name color to the blue that would be on Lys' dice, but unfortunately can't afford said dice atm so I was going off of photos and a blue and white teacup I have, but I think it works pretty well.
I struggled quite a bit with drawing the pattern for this one, probably taking about 2 weeks to get it to a point I liked, and even then I went back and redrew a few of the aspects a few times as well. Tio and Kai were probably the hardest after Lys, as I struggled to imagine them from a head on view. Lys kept looking off to the point I would almost complete the outline, then pull all the stitches in frustration. Eventually I realized why, the official art for Lys is asymmetric, so in trying to make him symmetric it looked wrong. Also occurs to me that my Twitter post with this one may have had a tone problem, as I was kind of sleep deprived when I wrote it 😅. I love Lys' design, which is why it looked so wrong when I tried so hard for symmetry.
I thought about adding Kyr, but was out of my outlining thread. Maybe I'll add him and any other aspects we meet later on, or maybe they will get their own piece🤔.
I already posted this one to Twitter but I was able to include a lot more info and new pictures here, so I am going to tag this one. If that is not okay, just lmk and I can take the tags off 😊
So this was my first ever embroidery and the idea that started it all, completed sometime around Aug 2022. While I didn't know the terms at the time, it was done with backstitch and satin stitch. I took this photo before washing the pattern off, so you can see where I wanted to add some turtleducks as well but they were very small and thus very intimidating.
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This one was completed towards the end of Aug 2022, and once again was back stitch and surface satin (these are my default tbh, I'm still learning others 😅). Turtleducks are probably one of my favorite ATLA animals, as they combine 2 of my real life favorites. Also I know they are shown as brown ducklings in the show, but yellow ducklings are my absolute favorites 😍 🥰. Again took the photo before I washed the pattern off so please ignore where the color is leeching, that came off in the wash later 😅
Early December 2022 completion, I ended up rushing this one a bit too much, and am not too happy with the final piece, but that's okay. This one was made into a pillow as a gift, with favorite pokemon and favorite colors in the heart. I also didn't have quite the right colors for Vulpix, and the eyes came out much lighter than intended as well.
Don't mind the pattern lines or the needle minders hiding a name, but here is gift 2 of 4 for this year 😅. 1 got canceled and 2 are going to be late but that's okay lol.
Back stitch for outline and mouth, satin for nose and eyes, then short and long for the rest. I'm getting more used to the long and short, but it definitely still needs work 😅. Got a little rushed and I think I panicked a bit around the nose, so if I took my time it would probably have been better. The head ended up a bit funky too, but that was a pattern transfer error i didn't notice until too late.
