Step Two: Stand the Cat Up UPDATED

One of the very interesting things about this series of ornaments is how the designer uses the same stitch turned at a different angle to indicate different sections of the pet guardian angel's robes. This photo shows how the oriental stitch on the jacket is turned two different ways to show the parts of the jacket. No matter what angel you are stitching, study the photos and diagrams carefully to see whether your angel stands on its head, feet or side when you stitch each section.

You can see in the photo above that the cat has to be turned to stand on its hem to stitch the two parts of the robe. The skirt is done with three different types of threads in three steps--trellis outline, fill in the edges of the center with thread #2, fill the middles with thread #3 to make the shapes inside. This brings up a dilemma--how do you decide what threads to substitute for the originals if you plan to change things?

The original model which you've already seen was stitched with DMC #8 perle cotton, DMC floss, Kreink's B lager Braid #8 and #16, DMC Medici and Paternayan wool. The jacket was done with two colors of floss and two colors of #8 Kreinik. I decided to use Petite Very Velvet and beads instead. Beads can always substitute for one metallic stitch and I wanted a plush jacket. The fur on the jacket was originally the Paternayan, so I found 2 skeins of Felicty's Gardern in colors that matched my red and blue Petite Very Velvet. Felicity's Garden is a silk/wool blend and a lovely substitute for Paternayan if you don't need something that wears like iron. The wings were in perle cotton as was the skirt except for the Kreinik metallic #16 braid in gold and silver for the decorative shapes. I'll skip over the wings for now to talk about them in detail later. Looking at the skirt, I saw that it had three steps: framework in #8 perle cotton, outline around center diamond in floss, and centers in gold or silver. I kept the centers in the same thread and size but used red Frosty Rays and blue Soft Sheen Fyre Werks to do the shading inside the diamonds. The diamond trellis framework was stitched using the Petite Very Velvet used in the jacket.

I chose threads that could do the stitch ok (don't try to do a Rhodes Heart, for example, in 17 strands of floss, it's too hard!) and that would tie the design together. (Use the same thread for the jacket and robe-Petite Very Velvet-and use the same red for the fur trim as in the jacket and robe.)

It's trial and error but if you test stitch and experiment a bit, you'll be surprised and pleased at how much fun it is to put your own threads and color choices into a design.

UPDATE: Beth wanted to know where I used the Felicity's Garden and where I used the Petite Very Velvet since she was a bit confused. Blogspot hasn't allowed me to respond to Comments for two days now so I'll update this entry in case other folks are also confused. Beth, I used the red and the blue Petite Very Velvet for the cat's jacket and long skirt. The red and the blue Felicity's Garden will be used for the fur trim on the jacket and on the wings. It's not visible in any photos yet, so stay tuned.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow