Maneki-Neko for 2017 3rd Quarter Challenge Part 2
I never dreamed this project would take me almost two weeks to complete. But it is finished.
If you missed part one, you can read about it here:
It would seem adding the details to finish would be easy. Not!
I needle felted blue roving around the eyes. The gems underneath are actually blue, but because they were put over black it wasn’t obvious what color they were.
Then I spent time looking for a gold bell, but decided on using a wool ball instead. When I added the ribbon I made a slit on both sides of the arm to pull it thru.
The nose and mouth are also needle felted. But at one point, the nose fell off and had to be reattached.
I curled over the raised paw and secured it in order to show the paw and nails.
The nails proved to be a real challenge and after ripping them out at least a half dozen times, trying needle felting, then using floss and finally rayon thread.
I tried needle felting the arm in front and the tail in back to show the dimension, but it was negligible partly because of it being black. So, I stitched around them which helped.
Another challenge was the writing on the coin. I made a gold prefelt and copied the characters I had translated from an app for Good Health and confirmed with my daughter in law, Mari. I transferred the characters to a stabilizer.
I thought using the satin stitch on my Pfaff machine would work, but its not a straight satin stitch, but the stitches varied. So I decided to use a triple stitch which was fine until I reached curves. I ended up finishing by hand. I’m hoping I haven’t butchered the characters too much. After finishing the coin, I slip stitched it to the kitty.
The final addition were the whiskers. They are a little funky and I had to use a little GAC to give them a little stiffness.
Now its time to find her place facing East in hopes of bringing Good Heath to my household.
What challenges have you had lately?
23 thoughts on “Maneki-Neko for 2017 3rd Quarter Challenge Part 2”
Your Maneki-Neko is adorable, Marilyn! It came out really nice. As I’m writing this, my guest (a black cat that’s making herself at home in my studio) is washing herself in a manner that makes her look like your Maneki-Neko! A good sign for sure 🙂
Thanks Leonor! I’m glad the kitty approves, too. 🙂
You had to do lot of different techniques! It turned-out great, lovely. Nice toy for your grandchildren maybe? Do you mean good heath?? I suppose good health ??
Thanks Jifke! Yes, for good health. Definitely not a toy. Although they may enjoy looking at it.
Wow–that was a lot of work! Your Maneki-Neko turned out really well though–certainly worth all the effort. It reminds me of a doorstop that is filled with rice or beans as weights. 🙂 The letter stitching looks crazy hard though. I have an Elna quilting machine that has some programmed stitches, but I’ve never tried anything so complicated (and would probably just do hand embroidery if it were up to me–I think I would get too frustrated trying that kind of detail on a sewing machine). Where will this little guy live in your house?
Thanks Terri! It was a lot of work. I had enough needle pricks from the felting and embroidery and not much patience left to do all the lettering by hand. As it was, I had to finish it by hand. The Kitty is sitting in a kitchen window facing East.
Superb! What a lot of challenges with this piece – but what a lot of pride you must feel with the finished cat. It’s gorgeous.
Thanks Lyn! It is quite an accomplishment. I’m glad I saw it thru. I may have to fix those funky whiskers though. 😉
Thin craft wire?
You can use the wire like thread. Once the wire is through the eye of the needle, bend it back to keep it in place. When it’s been pulled through the felt you can snip the bent bit away, leaving straight-ish whiskers.
I had thought of wire, but didn’t have any thin gold hence the yellow thread. When I get to the craft store again I’ll pick some up. That’s a great suggestion and easy enough to do.
Your Maneki-Neko cat turned out so well! Oh, and what a lot of work, but persistence paid off. Now I am seeing those cats everywhere, most recently in the window of a local dry cleaner and more appropriately the new sushi cafe down the street. They are very popular symbols and I know you will treasure yours forever!
Thanks Cathy! It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. Kitty likes her new home in the window and I like looking at her. 🙂
Great job Marilyn! Lyn’s idea of wire for the whiskers is a good one. They do make a variety of colors of wire that you should be able to find at your local craft store.
This piece sounds like my challenge piece, very challenging 🙂
Thanks Ruth! Yes, this challenge definitely gave us both big challenges. I will pick up some wire next time I go to the store.
He turned out so well Marilyn. He looks so cheery I am sure he will bring you good health.
Thanks Ann! I hope so. 🙂
It turned out great, Marilyn! I have some thin wire like Lyn’s talking about, I think it came on a wine bottle, so keep an eye out, you might not actually have to pay for any!
Thanks Zed! I had all kinds of wire but nothing ine and gold. I’ll just have to find other uses for it.
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Thanks!
A real achievement – well done, it looks great!
Thanks Kim!