Enlarge or reduce the bird pattern above to the desired size, to fit your canvas.
Transfer the pattern by placing the pattern underneath the canvas, and tracing just the shapes (not the directional lines) onto the canvas. Use a sharp pointed water soluable children's marker for this task. Blue would be a good color. It does not matter if the color runs, or what color is used...that will part of the upcoming fun!
Be sure your design is centered in the middle of your canvas piece.
You can also cut around the shapes with small scissors or an exacto knife to create a stencil to be placed on top of the canvas, and then trace around the resulting shapes.
Attach the canvas to stretcher bars ON TOP. Stitch the bird with the Flair, long stitches in the directions indicated for the long stitches. Stitch the beak like the illustration on the left, if you prefer... lay some horizontal long stitches first, which are then overlayed with small upright stitches the length of the beak.
The work surface is prepared by first laying down a plastic table cloth or even some plastic wrap. Next, put down a couple layers of paper toweling and place your piece, on the stretcher bars on top of the toweling. Using a cosmetic sponge, wet the entire piece, saturating the stitching and all of the surrounding canvas area to be painted.
I lay out my palate on the plate by squeezing a nickle sized dollop of each color in a circle with plenty of space in between. In the center, place a 50¢ sized dollop of textile medium, as you will be using it with the colored paints.
Now, mix a little textile medium into a color that you are going to be applying. You can mix your colors to create yellow green, turquoise, purple, etc. Don't be shy... you can create a rainbow with the colors! Add enough water so that the consistency is like thin cream. Apply the paint to the bird with your brush in long sweeping motions.
If you don't like what you have done, a little hint here: Use a paper towel to blot the Flair, and the color sucks back into the towel!
Also, be sure that the color is bleeding into your background canvas. You will also be painting that background with watered down color. I like to make sure there is intense color saturated around the object I am painting. The Flair thread allows for a bit of paint blending too... use a cotton swab to blend wet colors together... for instance on his lower body.
After you have painted the canvas to your liking, let it dry in the sun, or else blow dry it with a hair dryer. It must be perfectly dry before you can add additional stitching.
Tent stitch in the spaces within the bird's body as follows:
Throat: Kreinik 273
Chest: Kreinik 015
Wings and Tail: Kreinik 085
Attach the seed bead for an eye.
Add two tiny red stitches for feet with 2 ply red floss. See photo for placement.
The following is done AFTER all the background stitching has been completed - use 2 plies of the ThreadWorx Overdyed Floss 1044 to couch around the hummingbird's body. Refer to the photo for placement suggestion of colors, or use your own judgment. This step will sharpen and highlight the design motif and is the final stitching on the piece!