November's Canvas of the Month is from Melissa Shirley. It is a 4x5 inch design on 18 count canvas of a little Pilgrim girl carrying a pumpkin in a pie tin. It is part of a set of six Thanksgiving-themed designs which you can see on her What's New page right under the new Halloween designs.
This isn't the first time Melissa Shirley has designed a piece of a little girl carrying a pumpkin in a pie tin. One of her Victorian Halloween vintage postcard designs has some of the same elements.
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When I looked at this piece, it seemed to need a very traditional treatment. Thanksgiving is a holiday that celebrates family and the harvest and all the wonderful things in our lives we are grateful for. If that isn't tradition, I don't know what is! That doesn't mean this has to be a boring piece, though. I think the first thing I would do is find a darning stitch of an acorn shape to use in the background behind the little girl. If you can't find anything suitable, copy the row of acorns at the base of this design, then scatter them in the background in tent stitches using a slightly darker pumpkin color than the background paint. I would suggest finding a thread that matches the background color, then a slightly darker color. You can put the acorns in rows or just scatter them around. I'd scatter them myself. Once you have acorns, tent stitch the lighter pumpkin color.
Now move to the golden arch and tent stitch it with the correct color. If you can find a silk/wool blend to match the color, it would look lovely. The leaves need to be stitched in long and short stitch using the right colors. I would use silk flosses for them. Then stem stitch the stems of the leaves in whatever black DMC floss you have at hand.
Tent stitch the gray ground the little girl stands on, then do a single thin border row in the same pale pumpkin color you used for the background. Again, use tent stitches for this tiny border. If you are sick of tent, use tall and skinny cross stitches two threads high but only one thread wide.
For the acorn border base, use the darker orange thread from the leaves to tent stitch the dark orange background behind the acorns. Use a gold metallic in a tiny cross stitch over the dots between each acorn. Now stitch the dark brown tops of the acorns in cross stitches, using the same dark brown you chose for her dress (next section). The light part of the acorn proper should be stitched in your pale pumpkin background thread. Use one tent stitch for the acorn base and do long horizontal stitches for the acorn proper.
Tent stitch the little girl's brown gown in three shades of a thread that is not very shiny. Try using something like Petite Very Velvet or Vineyards Silk that will look like a glowing wool outfit. Her dress is not fancy but you do want texture and warmth there.
Tent stitch her hands and face and features, matching the colors to any silks you have. I love how silk gives skin a glow. Use the black DMC cotton floss from the leave stems for her eyelashes, using one ply to lay down little stitches to match the painting on the canvas.
Give her either French knot curls in wool or try using packed stem stitch if you prefer less curly hair. Use cotton or silk floss for the hair if you don't use wool.
Tent stitch the pumpkin pie tin in the same gray thread you used for the ground she stands on. You will also need to tent stitch the crimped edge in shades of yellow that you used for the leaves.
The pumpkin itself should be in three shades of silk floss, using slanted diagonal long stitches on the right and left side and then a straight horizontal stitch for the middle section. Top off the pumpkin with a stem done in stem stitch and make your leaf at the base using lazy daisy stitches done on top and/or beside each other. It's ok if the green paint underneath shows. That will give the base of the stem dimension.
Tent stitch the tiny black shoe (Petite Very Velvet in black or a wool thread that looks like felt when stitched), then use white silk for the little stocking and then the apron string that goes behind her back (also tent).
Now for the fun part - the cap, cape, cuffs and apron. For these you will need silk flosses in white and pale gray, and also need the silk flosses you used for the leaves. Start with the ribbon hem of her apron and using the shades of yellow, stitch the area with Interlocking Goblein. Compensate carefully at the top and bottom of the area as you don't want the band's top or bottom to be jagged.
Tent stitch the little bit of the apron below the yellow hem band, matching the white and gray shading with your silks.
Stitch the cuffs in the same Interlocking Goblein stitch. You may want to use an outline stitch for the gray area below the front cuff instead of trying to use Interlocking Goblein there also.
Use Interlocking Goblein stitch for the cap except for the ruffle around the edge. If you want you can substitute padded satin stitches instead of Interlocking Goblein but the shading will be harder if you do. However, you can always add a few gray stitches with a sharp needle on top of the padded satin stitches if you like. You can also put them on top of the Interlocking Goblein to show the shade lines of the cap if you prefer.
For the broad Pilgrim collar, do vertical long stitches at the top nearest the next. The next indented area should be done in horiontal long stitches. Then finish the broad bottom of the collar with Interlocking Goblein.
Now tent stitch the cap's ruffled edge with only 3-4 plies of your white silk. When you are finished, go back with 2-3 plies and do detached buttonhole right along the very edge, just covering those white tent stitches. That will give the cap a little eyelet-looking ruffle.
The final step is to stitch the apron above the yellow hem band. Use Interlocking Goblein again, although you may wish to once again add gray stem stitches among the very edge of the apron in front instead of switching colors.
If you really want something a bit fancier (although true Pilgrims would not wear fancy aprons), try Damask Stitch (from Stitches for Effect, page 27) to give the apron a bit of texture. If you use fewer plies, the gray shading will show through. If you completely cover in Damask Stitch, you will need to stitch the whole apron in white, then put in shade lines using your gray thread in stem stitches in the right places.
This will make a lovely Thanksgiving ornament for years to come, no matter how you stitch it.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
Archived Yahoo 360 postings at http://profiles.yahoo.com/chillyhollow
