Monday, December 20, 2010

Decorating the tree


I began stitching the Nutcracker canvas with the little fellow's white uniform. His jacket was worked in mosaic stitch and his pants in a slanted gobelin stitch over two canvas threads, both using white Trio.

His face and hands were stitched in basketweave with DMC cotton floss, and his "chops" were worked in tent stitch, again with DMC floss.

On to the tree background! I was looking for a stitch that would resemble the needles on a tree without creating too high a profile. I turned to a stitch I've used quite a lot for stitching trees in the background of lighthouse canvases--diagonal upright oblong cross--using four plies of DMC floss #991. I'm using Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #002 to fill in the "garland" as I go along.

This little fellow is working up quickly and should be finished long before he makes a grand appearance on Christmas Eve!

4 comments:

Cool City Stitcher said...

This is one of my favorites. He looks so elegant, and I love your tree.

Anonymous said...

The tree is working particularly well. It's clearly there, but it's not drawing attention to itself.
I'd love to see these finished up and hanging up!

Possibilities, Etc. said...

He's lookin' good! I like the contrast of texture between his uniform and his skin. There are definitely fir tree needles in the background!

Anonymous said...

The perfect stitch for the tree! And the Nutcracker looks very fine in his white uniform. I'll look forward to seeing the finished ornament in a couple days.