A one-sided personality

The verdict is in: Emily is destined to be a one-sided angel!

You may recall I'd noticed a significant discrepancy in the shape of Emily's wings front-to-back when I finished stitching the wings on the front. I overlaid tracing paper on the full front image and transferred the outline, then flipped the tracing paper over and placed it on top of the painted back. Not surprisingly. the outline was way out of whack.

Could I have "fixed" the back, redrawing the outline so that both front and back were in alignment when the finisher seamed them together? Maybe. But the painted outline of the front side was too indecisive to use as a template--I'd need to stitch the entire front first, so I'd have a clear stitch-by-stitch outline to follow.

My time is at a premium right now, as I have a Needlepoint Now column due in a little over two weeks. So, in one of those "Life's too short" moments, I decided to stitch just the front of Emily and let the finisher back her with velveteen. A tree-topper angel will have to wait for another day!

With her face, arm and wings in place, I resumed stitching on her scarf, using Sheep's Silk "Winter Sky" in a diagonal oblong cross stitch over two threads. The left side of the canvas was worked from bottom right to top left, while the right side was stitched from top right to bottom left so the pattern of the variegated thread would be in opposite directions from one side to the other. With Kreinik #12 tapestry braid #2094HL, I added trim to the neckline in tent stitches and a belt in a slanted gobelin stitch.

If you compare this photo to the one in the previous post, you'll see that I'm changing some of the colors in Emily's wardrobe. I'll be blending her dress and apron colors with those of the scarf, so stay tuned!