Wrapping Up Sarcoph A. Gus

This week I worked on wrapping up Gus - literally. Not in the sense that I finished him although I am close. All of the beading is finally finished and although I enjoyed beading the different patterns and seeing how it all came together on the outer case, I'm not sorry to put down the beading needle for a while.

Amy gave us excellent directions for creating the stained, time-worn wrappings for Gus. Working with the muslin wraps was a fun, rainy afternoon activity this week. After tearing the muslin into strips, I sprinkled the strips with some strong coffee and let them dry.

Once they dried (which took no time at all), I sprayed them lightly with water and then sprinkled instant coffee over them and left them to dry again. I have to admit that at this point, I could foresee a trip to the fabric store to buy some more muslin. The very dark spots caused by the instant coffee had me worried.

But there was no need to worry! As the strips dried, the stains from the instant coffee granules faded nicely. This was the final product.

The stains on the muslin wraps perfectly match the thread colors that Amy chose for the stitched wraps. Gus is all wrapped up now in his stitched and muslin wraps. His outer sarcophagus case is complete with the addition of the crook and flail. Again, excellent directions from Amy on creating the tassel for the flail and the beaded crook.

There's not a lot of stitching left for Gus - just the geckos in the lower border and the remainder of the background. Can I finish him this week? We'll see!