Fright Wig Finished, Claw Added

Here's a photo of the Trick or Treaters stocking from Squiggee with the fright wig all done and combed, and the claw hand added to the middle figure. The "hand" is just beading wire twisted to resemble a bony skeleton hand. One end was poked through the canvas and it was tied down on the back, then I used two small stitches to secure the fingers on the front. It took me a lot longer to explain how the wig and claw were done than to actually add them to the stocking!

In this photo I've added a row of orange beads to the top of the stocking. Squiggee herself showed the beads in a row along the bottom of the stocking top but due to the finishing I plan, I want them at the top.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

The Fright Wig

The photo on the left shows the fright wig underway. I happened to have two brands of fuzzy threads in my stash I thought might be perfect for the wig of the right hand trick or treater. One used to be called Viola when it was distributed by SharonG but I believe the new name is VaVoom. It's a soft hair-like thread that is very thin and delicate. In the photo below it is the purple thread in the plastic bag and in the stitched samples. It is distributed by dede Odgen now. The other is less soft and more plastic. It used to be called Charleston when the defunct Needle Necessities sold it. Now it is called The Legacy Collection and comes from ThreadWorX. It's the skein of green you see in the photo below.

Here's a link to information about VaVoom.

http://www.needleartworks.com/dsgnr/deo/deo9.htm

And here is one for The Legacy Collection. My skein of green is color #606 Kelly Green.
http://www.threadworx.com/product.php?catid=5&catName=The%20Legacy%20Collection

Even though the black VaVoom is soft like cashmere and looks like long hair and the green looks like a plastic feather boa, they are stitched the same way--in long stitches. The stitched sample you see uses dark purple VaVoom and fancy stitches to show what these threads can do. The stitching is by my dear friend Penny Evans who test drove Viola for me 4-5 years back. Thanks, Penny!

I decided to use the ThreadWorX green instead of the Viola purple since I thought the green would stand out against the purple background of the stocking and the purple robe next to it better. This thread comes in precut yard lengths, so I pulled one out carefully from the skein and cut it in half to have an easy-to-use 18 inch length. Then I used a number 18 needle so that there was plenty of room in the eye for the thread. My canvas is 14 count, by the way, so even the holes are large enough for this thread.

If you look at the top photo again, you'll see that I first stitched three straight lines spaced across the roughly fan shape of the wig. This divides the area into 4 pie-shaped wedges. Then I stitched straight stitches across one wedge at a time, working from left to right. You can work from right to left--this doesn't matter--but I think it helps to distribute the thread evenly to work a section at a time. You can work one half if you want, but I preferred to divide the wig into four areas.

The little plastic hairs that stick out of the central core (look at the green thread in the needle on the left side of the top photo) get mashed down in stitching. One you have totally finished the area in this thread, take your needle and gently stroke it a few times in the opposite direction you want the hairs to point. Then stroke it many times (gently!) in the direction the hairs should point. This gentle petting motion will pull the hairs out from under the long stitches and make it fuzzy.

I'll need to pet the hairs again occasionally as I add other attachments and do the finishing. They do get matted down or point the wrong way after handling. But you'll get the fright wig effect very quickly and easily using either of these threads.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Halloween Cuff Done

I managed to finish the cuff of the Trick or Treaters stocking last night. Note that I stitched a row of tent stitches all across the top in the colors of each stripe. That will help in finishing. There's a row of tent stitches all around the perimeter of the stocking as well.

Here's the stitch I used for the rows, courtesy of Carole Lake's Stitch of the Month series for ANG in 2002. It has many names but Carole calls it "braided knitting" so I will also. I find it makes a lovely narrow border as well as very nice stripes on the stocking's top edge.

http://www.needlepoint.org/StitchOfTheMonth/2002/Apr.php

I made sure I held the threads tight as I moved from one long narrow cross stitch to the next, particularly when I was doing the orange and orange/red stitches with the Panache. It's well behaved as nylon threads go but I was taking no chances.

If you look at the photo, you'll see I still need to stitch the lime green fright wig, do something for the claw hand of the middle figure (the painted version of which is covered by stitches now, so look at the model photo in the side column to see how it looked when Squiggee painted it), and attach the buttons that are the masks of the children.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Stripes for Halloween

These long cross stitches take longer to stitch and more thread than you would think, but I like the effect. The flat ribbon thread Soft Sheen Fyre Werks stands up to the red-orange and the orange Panache nylon perles well, better than I expected since one is a flat thread and the other two round perles. I also like the shiny stripes' contrast with the dull background stitches.

I'll try to finish tonight.

Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow

Margaret Speaks

Yesterday Margaret wrote:

"I am waiting to see how you stitch the top orange and purple stripes. Will it be a bulky overturned knitted sock top or a spangle dangle banner effect? Also how are you going to do the green wig? Surely a squiggly wiggly loose ended stitch is called for. I'm watching to see."

You know, deciding what goes on the stocking top is a very interesting point. I could make it wooly and ribbed like a real stocking or do something more decorative. As you can see above, I'm going for more decorative. I am doing long cross stitches for the striped top. You can't really see how it looks yet as I only have two finished and a third started. But I didn't have any of the right colors in a wool or wool/silk thread and I did have leftovers from Autumn Leaves in the orange and red-orange. The stocking is painted with hot pink, too but I don't have anything that color so I'm going red-orange instead. In other words, what I am doing is dictated by what's in my stash. I don't have easy shop access so very often I must use what I have.

Even if I did have the right wool colors, however, I probably would not have used them. The silk/wool Felicity's Garden is perfect for a muted background, but do I want a muted striped stocking top? I don't think so. I want that to be over-the-top!

I also finished the background and dotted orange beads all about it in a regular pattern. Hope you can see them. They show up well in person but not in photos.

Hopefully tomorrow you'll see more stripes and can judge how they look. As for the green fright wig, you'll just have to wait and see!


Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow