embroidered portraits

[for_esme]

okay, so... i am definitely new to embroidery, and this is probably a task that is beyond my reach for this christmas, but does anyone know a good way of going about making embroidered portraits? (or cross-stitched portraits?) i remember there was a thread awhile ago about someone asking for gift ideas... and a crafty lady suggested making a pillow embroidered with the gift-receiver's portrait. i am thinking of something similar, though maybe doing a portrait of her pet. i'm thinking there must be a way to scan a picture into my computer and then print it out as a graph... does anyone have more precise tips? thanks!!
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moderator queen

[felt]

I think that was me who suggested the pillow idea. :) I was gonna do it myself but ended up making a portrait blanket instead, kinda quilt-style.. Anyway, I'm not a seasoned embroiderer. So far I use Photoshop to translate images to graphs fit for cross-stitch (I don't do other types of embroidery). There are special cross-stitch software available, although can't advise of any as I'm on a Mac and most are only for PCs.

[for_esme]

thanks for the suggestions! maybe i will see if the library has any of those cd-roms... that would probably be my best bet since i'm new to this.
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moderator queen

[msfish]

i've never tried embroidery or cross stitch, but i've been doing large, andy warhol-inspired needlepoint portraits for the last year: in the absence of specific software, you can enlarge and heighten contrast on your chosen image at a copy or photo developing shop and then use a graphed transparency sheet as an overlay (my local needlepoint store has a set called "transgraph-x" that included sheets of ten different sizes and cost about $15 - a bit steep, but they're incredibly useful). depending on the size you choose (i do 18pt canvas with perle 5 cotton yarn), projects can take a long time - but they're a lot of fun!

[felt]

The transparency idea is great, I might just try it..!

[ursonate]

There's an artist, whose name I unfortunately don't remember, who does embroidered portaits that are quite painterly. You might be able to look her up in New American Paintings. It was a few issues ago. I tried using what I thought might be her technique when I did a portait of a friend's dog and it was quite the mess (for a little while, anyway).

[manukenkun]

A friend of mine has just done a cross stitch of John Peel (Radio dj that died recently) she took a very low-tech approach- using a photocopy taped to the tv screen over which she put graph paper the light from the tv shines through and you can mark off the squares on the grid. It actually turned out brilliantly!
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[hodge]

[meexie]

I use Photoshop to stylize photos into more stencily-looking images (like the Baby Bag posted on Craftster). You can trace the images onto fabric and then embroider - I've been thinking about doing it but the tracing paper I have smudges off easily and the lines get blurry.

[norbu]

Have you checked out http://www.sublimestitching.com for some cool embroidered portraits?
Just bought an embroidery kit by her published by Chronicles which has some funky patterns in it - I am a dabbler, I dabble in everything ;-)
Although it is knitting check out the Joey Ramone bag in the coolest book called 'Stitch'N'Bitch Nation' - think you can find a pic somewhere online though not sure where right at the moment*
Crafty Christmas Blessings
norbu

[aspiring]

There's a gorgeous embroidered portrait on Craftster of twin little girls, it was crafted by one of the twins as an adult. I'm in awe of it:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=1
4458.0

[ursonate]

Here is the artist I was thinking of, Cayce Zavaglia: http://tinyurl.com/6o2je