I'm Working It Out! - Sewed Wall Picture

So I have this project... (surprise!)

And I'm stuck a little in the middle... (surprised?)

So I'm starting a re-occuring titled post (which is the wrong way to describe it, but the right way is not coming to me). 

I'm Working It Out!

I can't remember where I got the idea for this, but I wanted a way of putting a picture on the wall without actually having a picture on the wall - I'm cheap and big prints are pricey (and then you add frames and mats.  It's too much for me).  So I thought instead of doing almost a coloring book version of a picture of me and my husband dancing at our reception - meaning just black outlines, a little shading - no color or details.  And it would be on fabric because I have way more fabric than paper.

Now to get it sized big enough to put on the wall - I zoomed in on the picture in iPhoto and traced the outlines on paper and taped all the papers together. Slightly awkward but effective.

As you can see, it's 3 pages high by 2 wide, so about 33"x17".  I kind of love it.

Here's the original picture (cropped to about the same dimensions).  It was a little blurry, but I loved the light coming from behind us.  It really helped in the tracing phase.  

Side Note - I love my dress that my sister and I made together.  She did all the hard stuff as she's a professional.  Check her blog out - it's awesome.

Here it is on the wall, around where I'd put the finished product.  (I love my ties and hexagons!)  I didn't take the pictures for the intention of blogging, so quality is lacking and apologies are extended.

The next issue was how to create the image on fabric.  I traced it onto the fabric I want (a beige/cream with a little shiny diamond pattern (I think it's diamonds - I'm in another city, so I can't check))

{Haha, I had double parentheses - I feel like I'm writing math problems and you have to make sure that you match all the brackets or all the calculations will blow up in your face.}

Moving on...

I thought about drawing it on, but I thought 'It's on fabric, it should be sewed'.  I tried just sewing the lines but I was having issues with tension and it kept pulling noticeably.  So I think I might be hand sewing the lines on.  Then again, it'll take longer - maybe I'll fiddle with tension a little longer, it may save time overall.  

But I'm kind of really excited about this one.  It's a secret surprise for the husband, but he doesn't even know my blog address (unless he randomly does and in that case, surprise!!!) so hopefully the secret's safe.  I'm hoping to definitely get it done for our year anniversary (that's in 2 months.  Should be no problem, but you never know).

See you soon!

(hopefully with some finished stuff!)