Socks

For the June retreat, we were given a pair of socks.  These are to be decorated somehow, someway.  So I thought about it and thought about it.  I have a marbling kit that I tried to color them with.  This is what they looked like after about three tries at marbling.

They just look mottled.  But that is alright.  I just wanted them to look like water.  They sort of look like water.

  I think it is the material they are made of that made them not pick up the marbling as sharply as I wanted.

Then this was not enough.  What else can I do?  How can you embroider on a stretchy fabric with thread that doesn't stretch?  I thought I would add a fish.  But how?  My favorite fish that I've made is on Hampton Court by Jenny Adin Christie.  I could try and make the fish like it was made on Hampton Court.  I got the supplies.
I used leftover stuff from the kit to make another tail.

Then I got some muslin and made the body of the fish using felt and spangles and pearl purl.
I wasn't sure how to attach it to the sock.  I decided an oval shape would work.  So I cut out the fish, cut a piece of skirtex in an oval and gathered the muslin around the skirtex.  Hey, it looks like it could be a pin or a brooch.  Then I made a back for the pin to hide the messiness.  How to attach it to the sock?  If I used a pin back, the fish could be taken off and the sock would be usable, you could wash it.  The fish could also be a stand alone pin.  The fish has a fresh water pearl for an eye and Italian ribbon along the bottom.  I colored the muslin with some colored pencils.

Now I am making another fish for the other sock.  I'm going to use some different materials.  Maybe green beads instead of spangles and gold pearl purl instead of silver.  We'll see how it all plays out.
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