Making an Iron-on Transfer of an Event in My Childhood

Making an Iron on Transfer


I turned my drawing over and laid a piece of tracing paper on top. I traced my drawing and then I went over my lines with a home-made ink:
1 heaping t. sugar
1 t. boiling water
1/4 t. liquid bluing

After the ink had dried I ironed the transfer onto a piece of bed sheet.

I then embroidered over my lines.
I washed out the bluing and ironed the embroidery.

When I was young I had long curly strawberry blond hair. My mom wasn't one to do a lot with my hair. In my pictures you will see I always have jagged crooked bangs cut with a dull pair of scissors.
Once at dinner I complained that my "hair hurt" because it was caught in my shirt. One day when my mom was out shopping my dad got it in his head that he would "fix" my hair by cutting it. The incident caused a big fight between my parents.
You can see I have a scar under my right eye. I got it after crashing into a set of stairs that went over the back fence in our yard. The previous owner put the fence in the wrong spot and my father wanted all the property due him and built stairs to go over the fence. During a race with the local neighbor boys I fell and hit the stairs. I had to get stitches. Although I cried initially I didn't cry for the stitches.
I have no arms in my portrait because I couldn't control much of what happened to me, my legs look shaky because the strength with which I could take myself into the world was pretty weak and often created negative results.
Although I look like a sad and tragic little being upon closer inspection you will see a golden bindi, and golden seed over my heart.
Even in the face of strange and unpleasant events God was with me. Sowing the seeds of faith and inspiring me.