OhSewCrafty Blog

• Pattern: by Mirabilia
• Fabric: 32 count opalescent belfast “Royal Shimmer” by Silkweaver (old)
• Size: 10.5″ x 17″
• Time to stitch: 11 months (~4 rotations)

My 7th Mirabilia finish and I am chuffed!  

The pattern is fine, no errata.  The wings are delicate and transparent like “real” fairy wings might be, but a real pain to stitch, with tons of blending filament and metallic braid.  She has a lot of backstitching, more than other Mira’s I’ve done.  Also, I had to make a few substitutions for the backstitching, since some of the colors as charted did not show up on my fabric (the model was stitched on light grey and I used dark blue, obviously).  I used 2 different colors of green for the leaf vines.  The leaves closest to the light source (her wand) are lighter while the leaves further away are darker.  My vines coordinate.  As for the wand, I used Kreinik because it was pretty and popped against the fabric.  

And then the beads- there are so many beads.  Well over two thousand, I estimate.  I couldn’t fit them all, even though I used 32 count as charted.  I had to skip entire rows in a few spots.  In some areas, I attached the beads “freestyle” because it was nuts trying to cram them all in.  I’m kind of neutral on beading, and it became a chore after a while.  But of course I do love the end result.

The fabric is a mottled dark blue, opalescent belfast linen.  The idea was to simulate the night sky.  It was a challenge to stitch.  Dark opalescent fabrics are difficult to count, for me.  The sparkles are more prominent on dark fabrics and can obscure the threads.  Thankfully I was able to do most of the stitching under daylight.  And I really love how she looks on this fabric.  The colors pop and I think it does give a “night” effect.  This fabric is from my old Silkweaver fabric-of-the-month club stash, and it was one my favorites pieces.  In the end, I am completely satisified with this pattern-fabric match.

My next big Mirabilia will probably be Titania; I did a floss toss recently.  But I do currently have two patterns by Nora Corbett in my rotation (Siren & Shipwreck, Blitzen), so I will probably finish one of those first.

SAL via Crossed Stitches

1. Celtic Christmas- finished!
2. Midsummer Night Fairy- finished!
3. Blitzen- will work on at retreat this month
4. Siren- made some good progress in March, also taking to retreat
5. -10. No action yet, but give me time!  It’s only April.