Saturday, February 14, 2015

Palma and the Easter Bunny

Lani's Easter Collage

Palma is stitching another collage from Lani which you see above (it's new from last fall so it's not on Lani's website yet). This is the Easter Collage. Isn't it pretty?! 

You haven't heard the best part yet.  Palma is going to blog-stitch it so that you will have the complete guide to use yourself!  Palma doesn't have a blog of her own so she's going to send me the steps as she works this piece.  Eventually I will put them all in one article on the CH Stitch Guides Blog but for now, here is the first section, the central bunny.  



Bunny in the Middle
No drooling on the keyboard!  Want to know how Palma stitched this?  This is her guide for this section:




Grass
Painters Thread 108, 4 strands
#12 Kreinik braid 015
Grass 4 stitch from Stitch Landscapes book (diagrammed above)
Big “X” with Painters Thread and middle diagonal stitch with Kreinik


Background
House of Embroidery #5 Perle 28A – Acqua
Easter Eggs stitch from Julia Snyder’s Darn Fillings book, page 55 (diagrammed above)


Columns
Oriental Linen 057
Soie D’Alger 1826
Satin stitch with Oriental Linen
Van Dyke stitch with Soie D’Alger


Leaves
Boucle 213, 215
French Knots, follow color design


Flowers
The flowers, along with the whiskers on the bunny and the bow will be stitched as the collage comes to its finish. There will be a lot of manipulation of the canvas which will probably damage those so they will be stitched last.


Bunny – Inner Ears
Planet Earth Furr-Fuzz-Fur – Light, Medium and Dark Brown
Diagonal Split stitch following color design


Bunny – Chest
Angora RA03
Vertical Brick stitch over 4
Note – do not brush the fur yet (it is tempting, I know, but hold the desire for now)


Bunny - Top of ears

Angora RA06
Diagonal Split stitch over 4


Bunny – Eyes, Nose and Mouth
Felt
Pure and Simple 18, 19
Petite Very Velvet V669
Delica or Magnifica beads – white and black

For the eyes basketweave the beads following the color design.

For the nose – make a copy of the bunny face and cut the nose as your template. Cut one piece of felt in the same size as the nose. Then cut 2 more pieces, each one smaller than the first one. Pile them and tack them in place. Then cover the felt with Pure and Simple 19 with Satin stitch until completely covered.

For the mouth – Tent stitch with Pure and Simple 18 and Petite Very Velvet following color design



Bunny – Face
Before you start stitching the face mark the point of origin for the whiskers as you’re going to stitch over them. I got Perle cotton and just tied a string where they will originate. Do not tie them tightly as you will remove them when it comes to brushing time. More instructions on this later.

Angora RA01, RA04, RA05
Interlocking Gobelin over 3 following color design

Bunny – Paws

Angora RA01
Petite Very Velvet V204
Interlocking Gobelin with Angora
Upright Cross with Petite Very Velvet following color design


Bunny – Tail
Angora RA04, RA05
Nobuko stitch

Bow
Note: the final bow will be inserted when the canvas is completely stitched; however, it needs “shading” and shading we can do now.
Ribbon Floss Shimmer Blend 051
Satin Stich, some of them are going to be long, so lay them carefully. Work vertical stitches for the “back” of the bow and diagonal for the “front”.

Now that the bunny’s face is stitched we will need to do a small exercise. We need to “transfer” the markers for the whiskers to the back. Yes, yes, I know, I know, it is annoying but it couldn’t be done initially because the strands would be caught in the back as you stitched. So carefully remove the knots and replace them with new ones but this time keep the “tails” in the back. These points will be our guide when we insert the whiskers in the end (made with Moose mane).

Once the transfer is done, get the bunka brush. Do not use too much force since it is Angora and it fluffs quite easily. Play with the brush, try to follow the direction of the design, kind of curved for the cheeks, diagonally for the top of the ears, etc. Then get a soft toothbrush (yes, we are creative, aren’t we?) and comb the fur so it looks natural following the movement of the face and chest.

This is it for now. Deciding which area will come next. Hope you enjoy it. There will be moments when you feel you are going through a French Knot or fur overdose but don’t give up, it is fun and the result is really cute.

Thanks, Palma!  We can't wait for the next lesson!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 9, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Get Out the Iron

Sheena uses Gutermann's invisible thread for attaching beads and sequins and such but it is a pain to use.  Her "Hearts for February" blog entry explains how she managed to tame it.  There is much more in the article, including the Valentine's stitch diagrams for her band sampler.
http://www.sheenasstitches.com


Gutermann's makes all sorts of sewing machine threads.  Here is their Invisible monofilament thread.  It comes in light and dark.  I suspect most needlepointers would want the light but maybe it is worth investing in both shades.
http://www.joann.com/gutermann-invisible-thread-273-yards/prd37982.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright February 10, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.