THE EVOLUTION OF A SPECIAL NEEDLEPOINT PROJECT
I was looking for a wedding gift that would last a lifetime and wanted to make a gift that would show my love and support! I intended to personalize the colors, names, and dates so that the needlepoint would act as a memory of the new couple's special day. After stitching is completed is made into a framed picture, it will be a perfect memento. The image was painted on a larger canvas than usual, so that I could add their names and the date below the picture. This is where the original canvas can be seen: http://www.yarncrafters.com/product/?function=detail&id=798
Step 2 of the needlepoint wedding memento project: Pick out the threads to be
used in the colors of Jessy's choice. Step 3 was to get my canvas on a scroll
frame and organize my threads and begin stitching. The longest phase of the project: the stitching process.
I began working on the inner part of the background, using the diagonal mosaic
stitch, alternating with the detail stitching in the continental or basket-weave
stitches. Both tent stitches look the same but the continental is worked in back
and forth rows and the basket-weave is worked in diagonal rows. In larger areas,
it is more interesting and is less tedious to work in diagonal rows. My
background stitch is also worked in diagonal rows to make it more interesting to
work on.
Step 4: I’m getting closer to being finished, but haven’t laid out the lettering
yet, so I’ll have to take the canvas off the frame soon and do that. (Really
should have done it before I began stitching but I procrastinated !!!) Since I
am not a needlepoint painter, I played around on my computer with various type
fonts, spacing, and sizes and with my experimentation, came up with a paper copy
of my lettering, to trace onto the canvas. I will use a fabric paint pen in a
light color. (I could use any marker as long as it is permanent so it won’t come
off on my threads or my hands while I am working on the stitching). Then when
the lettering is done, I can begin stitching and fill in the background around
my personalization. I decided to make the outer background in a different stitch
than the inner part and chose another variety of the mosaic stitch, called the
mosaic checker stitch.
Getting excited now about being so close to the finish line and already thinking
of my next project....should it be knitting or needlepoint? Who can I make a
gift for that I haven’t already?
