Before we talk about the backgrounds for the Pet Guardian Angels, I need to tell everyone who is stitching a pet for the ANG Auction that I've emailed all the instructions out. If you signed up with me to stitch one of these and you haven't gotten your emailed instructions yet, email me at chilly hollowat hotmaildotcom and we'll try again.
Now for the background. The original model photo you saw yesterday has a blue Medici wool tent stitched background, as do all the original Kandace Merric angels. That's what she specified in the instructions. Of course DMC has discontinued Medici so I had to come up with a substitute background thread that would tie all the various angels together. I choose DMC ecru --either floss or perle cotton-- in tent stitches. (Some folks will use another thread that matches the DMC Ecru color and that's ok. We just need the right color and tent stitches to make all the angels a set.) If you are curious about DMC ecru, head over to this blog to see a photo of a skein. It just so happens that Laura Perin is using DMC ecru perle in her latest design. Check out the ecru skein in the middle of the photo. You can even read "ecru" on the label. This looks like the #5 perle. I have a ball of #8 perle cotton in DMC's ecru that I'm going to use since I have six angels and six backgrounds to stitch.
In the photo above you see I've substituted Petite Very Velvet in red and blue for the red and black threads in the original instructions. I also used beads on the jacket instead of metallic threads. You can also see the cat's head already stitched using a fuzzy black thread (Sorry, I don't know the name but it feels like Cashmere) and you see I tent stitched an outline in my ecru tent stitches about 1/2 inch from the angel outline and started filling in with basketweave.
The tent stitches were a mistake. I should not have done anything more except do an outline around the angel for now. If you tent stitch the background first, you may need to rip out if you need to take the stitches for the jacket one thread further across the line you drew for it. I've decided to tell folks not to do the background until last EXCEPT when you are using a fuzzy thread. See the cat's head? The black fuzzies from the head and paw started getting in the ecru tent stitches as I did the background around the head. If you are using a fuzzy dark thread anywhere on your angel, you should do the tent stitches around that area first so that the fuzzies won't stick in your ecru tent stitches. The head and paw are the most likely places folks will want a fuzzy thread, particularly for the dog and cat angels, and that area is less likely to need a stitch that goes over the line that separates the background from the angel itself.
What do you do if you did the background first and your ecru tent stitches have black fuzzies from the angel's head like me? In that case, cut a 3-4 inch length of metallic thread and put it in your needle. Figure out where a black fuzzy thread is stuck in the ecru tent stitches and run the metallic thread through that hole from front to back. Because there is no knot in the end of the metallic thread, it'll go right though the hole and the metallic thread will catch any fuzzy thread and pull it to the back. Be a little careful to not use too fat a metallic thread. You want it to go through a hole already full of ecru thread without damage to the ecru thread.
I also used a length of pink hair tape (the kind you get at the drugstore to tape curls in shape) to gently remove any fuzzies that were loose on top of the tent stitches. Pink hair tape doesn't have much sticky stuff so it won't disturb the ecru tent stitches but it will pick up any loose fuzzies.
If you are curious about pink hair tape, look at this website. It's the second picture from the top labeled "professional hair styling tape." Great stuff for your stitching toolbox!
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
1 comment:
Jane,
Thanks for the tip about using a metallic thread to get rid of fuzzies. I hadn't heard that one before. Now I just need to be able to remember it when I need it! :-)
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