[Dr. Smith]

I usually don't think of this as terribly creative, as much of what I do is adapting original artwork by others into embroidry designs. I guess there's some creativity in choosing colors & fabrics, modifying the art, and some of the other fidgeting (compromises) so it digitizes properly/well (better); I just don't usually think of it that way.

This one is different; there was no suitable original art, so I had to start from scratch.

I have a technical background, so many of my quilt & embroidery designs can get... technical. I have a tendancy to push the sewing machine (and design software) to—and beyond—its limits. This doesn't always work out in practice, so I often have to go back and make compromises. This was one of those times.

I wanted something particular and as exact as I could make the software and machine do—the 4th Doctor's TARDIS. If that last phrase lost you, there's nothing wrong with you—it's Doctor Who nerd stuff.

The research was easy enough; every Doctor Who fan and his/her aunt Nelly has a website detailing every aspect of everything Whovian to the Nth degree (which relegates me to the status of rank amateur). Drawing it up in Corel was no problem; I've been drawing/working with technical drawings my whole life. Digitizing... is where the finessing came in. The digitizing software for our sewing machine can't do a fraction of what the stripped-down version of CorelDraw that comes with it can do. I had to redo the drawing a number of times because my accuracy and attention to detail were a bit too... ambitious.

The result was not what I envisioned, but the best I could push the machines to do, and better than any TARDIS embroidery designs I've seen so far. If I could afford a professional setup, I might be able to do better. The dimensions may not be perfect, but the proportions are as close as possible. As designed the embroidery is about 4 inches tall, but since it is drawn as a vector, it can be resized to (theoretically) any size.

The image was generated directly from the digitizing software; it looks much better (clearer) when seen embroidered, as do the colors.

Doc

[Lara]

wow, that's very clever especially as it's only 4 inches tall. I can only imagine how huge it is on the inside.
I really liked the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker. I think he was my favourite if one can have favourites. I probably watched more episodes from that period than the later ones.

Good job.

[Dr. Smith]

Originally Posted by Lara

I really liked the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker. I think he was my favourite if one can have favourites.

Of course one can—arguing about which/whose portrayals stick out in our minds as the definitive characterizations is half the fun!

Doctor Who—Tom Baker

James Bond—Sean Connery

The Lone Ranger—Clayton Moore

Lois Lane—Noel Neill

Miss Marple—Margaret Rutherford

Sherlock Holmes—Basil Rathbone

....

Doc

[Lara]

OK. So we must be a similar age.

Believe it or not they actually used to play re-runs of the Lone Ranger series when TV first came to Australia. (that and a whole lot of shows that wouldn't be shown in this day and age. )

I did like Noel Neill but also loved Margot Kidder.

There was a more modern Sherlock Holmes that I enjoyed. No idea who the actor was but it was UK made. I loved the detail in the sets.

I love Poirot for the same reason. I could watch Poirot over and over just for the sets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_in_Australia
Dr Who in Australia

[Dr. Smith]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_in_Australia
Dr Who in Australia

Wow, you've had better access to the series right from the get-go. We were introduced in the late 70s when our PBS (Public Broadcasting System) ran 3rd Doctor (Pertwee) in late afternoons—I believe a season/year after they had run in Britain, but I could be mistaken. We followed (as we could) from then until Peter Davison (couldn't get past his mis-casting; it was still too soon after his All Creatures/Tristan Farnon role, which was running concurrently here). Things were sporadic after that; they moved broadcast time to Fridays at 11pm. We got more serious again when they ran the series from the beginning (Hartnell & even the Peter Cushing movies), but that late Friday time slot was still difficult, and the begging... (PBS fundraising)

Oh, the begging... THE BEGGING...

Doc

[Living_Dazed]

That's great! I think it's creative. Your work looks really good. How London did it take?

My daughter is a superwholock. She fell in love with dr. Who while recovering from back surgery.

Jace