Yesterday, MNStitcher asked in the comments how to stitch something like the Nutcracker Santa in anything except all tent stitches. She is interested in the 18 inch size but doesn't want to have to basketweave everything except the main Santa. So I posted the photo again for us all to look at and to brainstorm about.
The first thing that occurred to me is that the tent stitch family is perfect for the tiny details, not the big stuff like Santa's robe. I am not sure I understood MNS to be planning to tent stitch Santa but I would save tent stitches for the tiny areas like the musical notes or the highlight in Santa's green eyes. Use the fancy stitches for the larger areas like the red robe, the purple underrobe, Santa's beard and fur trim, etc.
Usually the first thing I do when I pull a painted cavnas out of the pile to stitch it is make a color copy to use as reference later. Often I stitch right over something with a background stitch and have to top-stitch that area later. I use the color copy to know where I should put the little things back in. In this case, I'd probably use a fuzzy thread for Santa's fur trim and then put the musical notes on top of the fur collar later.
My next step is to look at the design and try to understand what the theme is. Sometimes that helps me choose threads and stitches. In this case, it looks like Santa has arrived to decorate a tree in a Nutcracker ballet theme as he carries candy canes and other sweets, ornaments and snowflakes, the nutcracker and the Clara doll with her toy nutcracker, and the Sugarplum Fairy doll ballerina, etc. The Mouse King and his minions are assisting Santa in my opinion.
Back to stitches. When I plan a canvas I look at the big areas first and decipher their shape. The plain areas of Santa's robe are the place for a very pretty decorative stitch. I might use Petite Very Velvet for the robe and the creases in his arms if I could match the colors. If the colors weren't available in that thread, I might use a pretty silk/wool thread like Vineyards Silk and choose a vertical pattern of some sort. Most of the plain red Santa's robe areas are vertical so you probably want a stitch that runs | | this way to make Santa taller.
I like interlocking Goblein and in this case, I might be tempted to use a red slightly darker than the red of the robe in only 1 ply so that a lot of the paint showed through. You could also alternate threads in the interlocking Goblein stitch, using a ply of silk and then a ply of thin red metallic like Accentuate to add even more texture. A lot of what you choose depends on what threads and colors you can get. There are a ton of choices available but no shop can carry them all so you have to be flexible. If you can't get Accentuate, try blending filamant or Bijoux or Sulky machine sewing thread from the fabric store, etc.
A darning pattern of snowflakes on the red robe would be gorgeous and go with the theme of the snowflake ornaments Santa holds but you will need to choose just the right shape to fit in small areas like the top of Santa's hat. I've found you can put darning patterns on top of a tent stitched area but it is sometimes hard to get the count right. If you want to try this, follow Joan Thommasson's lead--she uses fewer plies than usual for her base layer of tent stitches as that makes it easier to sew through them when you are putting the darning stitches on top.
I know I've been confusing but depending on the threads MNS can get, I might use a wool/silk blend in interlocking goblein stitch, or use a lighter coverage in silks and a metallic, or maybe just use a darning stitch, either right on top of the paint or on top of a layer of tent stitches. If you use a darning stitch, don't match the red of the paint exactly, You want the red on red to stand out.
I'd probably use a fuzzy thread for the fur trim on Santa's hat, collar, cuffs and the robe's bottom edge--Something like Alpaca which is very soft and which can be stitched in stem stitch to indicate the flow of real fur. I'd be tempted to mix in a strand of silver or white Accentuate in the needle occasionaly as well, just to go with the theme of the metallic in the red robe's darning stitches or light coverage interlocking goblein.
This is too big a canvas for me to tackle every item here, but the Mouse King and his minions would look great in a wool thread in a tiny stitch like tent stitches. Their tiny pink ears could be in a silk and their tails a couched or stem stitched line of the same thread as their bodies. I'd make their button eyes and noses out of a black metallic in satin stitch for the noses and a cross stitch (or a bead) for the eye. Beads work for simple eyes, but not Santa's eyes which are complex. Those need to be tent stitched carefully in the dark green color of the bag's shading or the darker part of the holly leaf on his hat.
Do the clock in couched and stem stitches for everything except the color face which needs to be tent stitches. You can go wild with the threads, though. Use a metallic thread to resemble wrought iron for the Roman numerals and a gold metallic for the center of the clock face. Be aware that diagonally to the lower right Santa holds an ornament in the same colors. Use the same metallics for both the ornament and the clock. This gives balance to the design.
Santa's face needs to be tent stitched very carefully in silks. Then do wisps of bangs and eyebrows again in stem stitches right on top of the face. This is when your color copy comes in handy so you know where to place the bangs and eyebrows. You can have a lot of fun with the beard. I love long and short stitches for these areas. I like to use a very thin thread like Burmilana that looks wooly but which can be layered using several shades. Be creative picking the colors. Toss in a little blue-ish gray as well as while and light and dark gray. Since I probably am putting metallic in among the fur trim I won't add it to Santa's beard and hair but I have done this for Santas who don't have fur trim next to their faces.
Use beads or a very high shine metallic like Coronet Braid for the snowflakes and the buttons on Santa's coat. Also use beads and metallics for the trim on the large nutcracker. His sleeves might look very good in an interlocking stitch like Braided Knitting. I think I'd almost certainly use Petite Very Velvet for his uniform and hat. The fancy white front of his uniform could be done in random large and small cross stitches in something very shiny like FyreWerks. I think I'd look for a spiky synthetic for his hair like Charleston. His face and mouth need to be tent stitched but his mustache and eyebrows can be stem stitches right on top of the tent.
The bag of sweets will be fun to do. Use a matte thread like another wool/silk blend for the bag and use a stitch that is more __ horizontal to emphasize the shape. Couch the new Kreinik 3/8 inch braided metallic trim over the bag for the tasseled cord. The sweets and cakes should be in things like cotton floss topped with Flair. I think I'd couch two Kreinik metallics for the spiral sucker. Mix the matte thread with the shiny to make icing. If you can find a button to use as the cupcake cherry, that would look good. Otherwise, use padded satin stitch in Flair for the cherry.
The purple blue under robe that you see should be in a dense silk/wool blend, probably in a totally different pattern than the red robe. If I went with light coverage darning stitches for the red robe, I would look for a diamond shapped pattern here I think.
The Mouse King and the two dolls are wonderful. I'd use tent stitches for most of their bodies but give them packed stem stitch hair, a metallic crown in stem stitch topped with beads, a ruffed Flair ballerina skirt, etc. You might be able to use French knots on the ballerina's crown.
Use a nice suede looking thread for Santa's gloves and use tent stitches. This is an area where you want plain so the fancy things he holds stand out.
To summarize, I'd use a lot of tent and stem stitches and quite a bit of couching and beads on this design, with some darning stitches. The threads you choose are going to give you texture, especially in the small areas. So it won't look like this is an all-tent stitch piece, but you are going to need to have to use a lot of tent to get the details. Trust me, you will be having so much fun with the fancy threads and metallics and beads that you won't feel like you sat down and tent stitched an 18 inch Santa from top to bottom!
I could go on and on but I'm running short of time. If anyone has other ideas, please add them to the Comments. This will really help MNS decide if she can choose the 18 inch version of this design and still have the variety she wants in the threads and stitches.
If you want to see another Amanda Lawford Santa being stitched, visit Summer's blog where she is working the Royal Santa. He's gorgeous and will give anyone tackling a large Santa great ideas! Here are the blog entries so far--
http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/11/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-1.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/11/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-2.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/12/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-3.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2008/12/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-4.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/01/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-5.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/01/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-6.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/02/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-7.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/02/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-8.html
http://www.summerlouise.com/2009/02/royal-santa-by-amanda-lawford-9.html
Summer's not posted progress in a while, but school's out and like most moms with kids underfoot in the summer, she won't be stitching a lot until the fall.
Jane/Chilly Hollow
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
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