cartoon giraffe

[xhouseatlantic]

Hi, I'm new here and although the general theme here is video games, I'm interested in doing a cross stitch piece of a cartoon giraffe for my friend. I'm very new to creating patterns (in this case this is my first one) and I would really like someone's input before I start working on this particular piece.



I found this picture and imported it to KG Chart and messed around with it a little.
I deleted some of the off-white around the outside of the giraffe because it wasn't necessary and looked silly but there are some of that color in the mouth area and underbelly. I feel like this pattern should be about 6 colors but it came up with 12 or so. I would just like to know how I narrow those colors down and how to clean up the border a little because it looks like there are other unnecessary colors.

giraffe.sth

cartoon giraffe

(10.81 KiB) Downloaded 473 times

Forgive me if the attachment doesn't work properly, this is literally my first post on this forum.


I'm just looking for some constructive criticism to help me make this look better. Tell me what I'm doing right/wrong. :/
I appreciate your time.

[xhouseatlantic]

This is then what I ended up with at the end of the night yesterday.

giraffe2.sth

(8.26 KiB) Downloaded 405 times

Better?

[blackmageheart]

I feel like this pattern should be about 6 colors but it came up with 12 or so. I would just like to know how I narrow those colors down and how to clean up the border a little because it looks like there are other unnecessary colors.

The unnecessary colours, as you put it, are a result of using a jpeg as your pattern. Jpegs are compressed images and so suffer a huge loss in definition - not generally ideal candidates for patterns but we can work on them, clean them up and so forth.

I see where you've changed stuff in the second pattern, but it still looks a little too blocky, not too giraffey, if you see what I mean.

In an attempt to help you out, I searched google for a better version of this image and only came back with a larger jpeg
So, I had a go at a pattern too - see what you think

Giraffe the 3rd.sth

(21.2 KiB) Downloaded 440 times

[xhouseatlantic]

Your version looks absolutely amazing! I understand that the picture I used wasn't a good candidate but I don't understand how/where you got a better version of that same picture. Also, did you edit the picture when you imported it or is that untouched?

Thank you for spending time helping me.

[blackmageheart]

Your version looks absolutely amazing! I understand that the picture I used wasn't a good candidate but I don't understand how/where you got a better version of that same picture. Also, did you edit the picture when you imported it or is that untouched?

I basically just went to google, typed in "cartoon giraffe" and had a look through the images, found a thumbnail and went to the site it came from, where I got a bigger version
The one I found was 300x300 px (yours was 105x105 px). I imported it into KGChart and reduced its size to 150x150. Being a jpeg it was still riddled with all the odd colours you get, so I set about cleaning it up, reducing the colours and changing the colours to more appropriate ones (using the original image as a sort of guide).

Thank you for spending time helping me.

No problem at all! ^^

[xhouseatlantic]

Well the colors look spectacular and I'm very happy with it. I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done.

Also, a bit off-topic, but (and I haven't been on the site too long) is this a rather slow-moving forum?

[blackmageheart]

It does have a relaxed pace, but I think that's mostly cos everyone's busy with crafting / real life lol

Looking forward to seeing the pics, good luck~

[xhouseatlantic]

So I finally finished the giraffe, felt like it took too long. But I'm really happy with it considering this is my first project in like six or seven years. My aunt taught me when I was ten or eleven and I gave up on it about a year or so later because there were never patterns that I was interested in doing. I think you can see I feel differently now.

I haven't gotten a frame for it yet because I'm sort of low on funds at the moment.
I also don't have a legit camera so these are from my camera phone.

Spoiler

Here's the back, does this look normal? I feel like I have bad thread management skills.

Spoiler

Not a very good close-up but you can kind of see the color detail.

Spoiler

Also, last question. What are the most important things to know about ironing a piece? I've barely any ironing experience but I assume I should probably put something like a pillow case in-between. Anything else I should know?

xhouse

[Lijnloos]

Ahw... it's so cute! I'd like to give this one a try some day...

[blackmageheart]

Wow, great job! It turned out quite well

I feel like I have bad thread management skills.

Tuck all the loose ends under some nearby stitches if you can and trim them down to tidy it up a little. I wouldn't worry about it too much unless you can see the loose threads from the right side of the piece. I have pretty bad thread management sometimes (I get lazy lol) but I usually don't mind unless it's obvious.

Not a very good close-up but you can kind of see the color detail.

Yes, I see - I'm pretty pleased with the real life colours!

Also, last question. What are the most important things to know about ironing a piece? I've barely any ironing experience but I assume I should probably put something like a pillow case in-between. Anything else I should know?

Always iron on the wrong side of the piece, ie the spaghetti side A medium kinda temperature should be enough but remember it is cotton so don't be afraid to give it a good press. Obviously don't leave the iron on it too long XD

Also, check these threads for more useful info on washing and ironing your cross stitch
Washing cross-stitch: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=340
Framing cross-stitch: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1489

Again, good job and I am glad I could help you out! ^^