How to Handle Outlines on Painted Canvas

Ever wanted to know how to handle black outlines on a painted canvas? Susan discusses several options in the Quail Run newsletter for July 2015.
http://www.quailrunneedlework.com/uploads/sites/1/newsletter-july2_28129.pdf

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 24, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Spray Starch Isn't Just for Wrinkles

I like to iron.  I have some lovely linens that I starch and iron before they go on the dining room table or before I use one as a pocket hanky on a suit.  I never would have thought to use starch this way, however!  I don't think needlepointers can use this tip, but so many of us do other forms of hand work that I had to write about this Mary Corbet article on how to best trace embroidery using spray starch.
http://www.needlenthread.com/2013/07/spray-starch-embroidery-design-transfer.html

By the way, I much prefer aerosol spray starch as you can add just a little bit where you need it.  The pumps add more starch than I usually want for the first ironing.  (Yes, I normally starch my linens, then iron them, then starch again and iron a second time.  You can file that under She Is Nuts.)

UPDATE:  Beth reminded me that a good way to get a lot of wrinkles out without too much starch is to put the damp item to be starched into the refrigerator for a while, the use a hot iron.  My mother used to put her damp tablecloth into the freezer for a little while before ironing it before a party, come to think about it.  Does anyone here until forty even OWN an iron, much less linens that need ironing?

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Tools for Tracing

Mary Corbet has discovered a terrific portable tracing light pad, perfect for her embroidery needs. Many of us won't be tracing onto embroidery fabric but I bet a few of us might find this very useful in our stitching. 
http://www.needlenthread.com/2013/07/lightpad-perfect-for-tracing-embroidery-patterns-onto-fabric.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Customizing Your Elephant UPDATED

I just noticed a fascinating class being offered at The Classic Stitch the end of July.   It is a line drawing of a fancy elephant that the teacher (Linda Coriossi) will help each class member customize to their own taste.   Everyone will pick the colors, the stitches and the embellishments that suit their personal style, guided by Linda to make it all painless and fun.  It sounds like a fascinating and different class.
http://www.theclassicstitch.com

The canvas is a Tapestry Fair design and Robin King worked on the guide so you know the stitch diagrams are going to be first rate.  I don't see the design on the Tapestry Fair website but they are well known for their classic elephant pieces.  Wish I was going to be there!

UPDATE:  Peggi from Tapestry Fair writes, "Hi Jane - This design isn't on the website, since it was done exclusively for Linda to use for classes. She taught this class in Phoenix at Family Arts, and it looked like a lot of fun for students who wanted a one of a kind canvas.'

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

How to Outline/How to Do Nobuko Stitch

Paula at BeStitched has produced two videos explaining various ways of outlining areas of a painted canvas to help emphasize or provide definition there.  Covered are wrapped backstitch and wrapped chain stitch, with demonstrations of each stitch and examples of what works on various canvases.  Kreinik's Hot Wire and DMC's memory thread are also mentioned.  The second video is almost a repeat of the first so you don't have to watch both.
http://bestitchedneedlepoint.com/news-and-updates/outlining-demonstration-videos-by-paula-schmidt/

They've also done a video demonstrating Nobuko Stitch with examples of how to use it best.
http://bestitchedneedlepoint.com/news-and-updates/nobuko-stitch-video/

Here's another take, with brighter colors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqsoO9oUyZs&feature=share

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

My Medieval Cat Outline

The first step for any pet guardian angel design is to transfer the design to your 18 count canvas. Above you see the outline of the Medieval Cat. I made a copy of the outline from my magazine, taped the sheet to a sunny window, making sure it was straight, then taped the bare naked canvas on top of the copy, again making sure the grain of the canvas was straight.

Sometimes you can line up the canvas so that a long straight edge of the design underneath falls right on the long line of canvas threads. In this case, I lined up the vertical drop of the skirt edge to a thread. You can't always do this, but if you can, line something up. Use a very thin pencil or marker. I used a blue Zig Memory System marker that is colorfast if you take the canvas swimming and that has archival quality ink that won't react chemically later when your canvas is in a museum.

HOWEVER, you will want a similar quality marker in gray or yellow or another very light color. I had to use blue to show up in photos on Blog and I'm having a heck of a time covering the line with my ecru background thread so you don't see blue. I'll tell you what to do if you have a similar problem later, but for now, avoid the issue by using a very light-colored marker.

Trace the outline on your canvas, going slowly and trying to draw on a thread of the canvas instead of a ditch. Be as careful as you can to be faithful to the design (I discovered later I'd drawn one area too thin for the threads that belonged there) but don't obsess over it. I'll tell you later what to do if you drew an area too small.

You may find you need to lift the canvas and peek at the design to see if you missed something, so using masking tape or painter's tape that doesn't stick forever to hold the canvas over the line drawing might be helpful. Once you are sure you have everything transferred, remove the canvas and line drawing from your window (or light box if you have one) and check area-by-area once again to see if you forgot an eye, a paw, a line to show a fold in the animal's face. Once you are happy, put the copy you traced from away. We'll cut out the shape from that sheet like paper dolls later in finishing.

Now get your canvas onto stretcher bars and away we'll go!

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