Perfecting Miko's Face

I know from comments and private emails I get that faces are harder than you would think for stitchers.  The traditional way to work a face in needlepoint is with tent stitches, although there are quite a few people who use brick stitches instead.  Either way works, but many folks report problems with the results.  Problems seem to fall into two groups:  the tent stitches themselves and the fine features such as eyes and mouth.

I don't have all the answers but I've probably made most of the possible mistakes in stitching faces over the years so I can tell you what I do to make sure my faces look as good as I can make them.  First of all, I use tent stitches, usually basketweave, for skin.  I use tent stitches and reverse tent (with an occasional cross stitch) for eyes and the mouth, and often use packed outline or stem stitch for eyebrows.  There are many stitches that work for faces, but these are my old standbys.  I stitch the skin with as perfect a basketweave stitch as I can muster and do features slowly and carefully, checking every 2-3 stitches to see if I need to pull out the stitches I've just done.  The expression can be radically changed by just one stitch.  Keep an eye on what you are creating so you can pull out anything that is giving your face an expression you don't want.

If your basketweave looks lumpy, with some stitches thicker than others despite your best efforts, that's usually a sign of too many plies in your needle.  Try removing a ply or two or if you are using something like perle cotton, try a smaller diameter thread.

If your face looks slightly muddy, as if the canvas is showing through the thread, you probably aren't using enough thread.  Add a ply or go up to a fatter diameter in your thread and see if that helps.

If you mix thread brands on your face (I used both Splendor silk floss and DMC cotton floss for Miko's skin tones) make sure that the threads are the same diameter.

If your basketweave has ridges, you probably have accidentally done two down (or up) rows together.  Basketweave is done on the diagonal, alternating a row up with a row down.  If you are interrupted and accidentally do two rows going in the same direction, you'll get a ridge.  Threadneedle Street has a nice discussion of basketweave on their website with diagrams that clearly show how NP canvas is woven. You can use the weave to make sure you always know whether you are on an up or down row by always doing the down rows on the "poles" and the up rows on the "steps".
http://www.threadneedlestreet.com/Basketweave.html

I hope all this helps the face challenged to create a face they are proud of.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Bargello Madness

Liz just showed off her latest piece, Miter Madness, on her blog. This is going to be a cyberclass for ANG's Cyberpointers chapter! In case you didn't know, Cyberpointers is the chapter for folks who can't get to local chapter meetings. Congratulations, Liz. This is a wonderful piece and folks are going to have great fun with it.  You can follow the link to find out more about the class and Cyberpointers.
http://lizartblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/mad-miters-finished.html




Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Now I Want To Go Back

Laura Perin's newest piece is a tribute to Hawaii.
http://two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/2011/09/aloha-stitchers.html

Now I want to go back to the Big Island!  It's one of the loveliest places on earth, from the grassy north highlands, to the rainforest east and the desert west.  The people are wonderful, the farmer's market orchids outstanding, the Japanese take out out of this world, and the coffee is exquisite.  The high volcano mountains literally take your breath away.  Laura's piece takes me back there to the cliffs of the Waipio Valley where the Poi King lived, to the black sand or khaki sand beaches, to the people who made our stay memorable.

I think I need to stitch this one day.

Errata:  Laura corrects the typo in the Watercolours this is based on.
http://two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/2011/09/whoops.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com