This adorable Mindy canvas is this month’s free stitch guide. The stitches are simple because the beading is the star. I used a different bead for every heart, but you could pick the color you like and use the same bead in all hearts that color.
When you are planning on stitching something in solid beading, as we did here, be very careful with the size of the beads. If you are stitching on 18-mesh canvas, you must use size 14 or petite seed beads to have beading that does not look crowded. If you use the more common size 11 beads the beading will bunch up and be crowded.
Materials
Mindy Mini canvas 1N
Threads:
- Caron Soie Cristal 221 bittersweet (red)
- Planet Earth 6-strand silk 1040 Sunburn (coral), 1017 Romance (pink), and 1195 Char (dark coral) PLEASE NOTE: the color numbers may have changed since I bought these threads, the number for sunburn did not match their website.
- Pepperpot Silk 020 Beet (burgundy)
- Glisten G02 (white)
- Soft Sheen Fyre Werks FT11 (black)
Beads:Sundance size 14 beads, 1 vial per color
Top row:
- burgundy: 367
- red: 11A
- white: 284
Middle row:
- white: 250
- pink: 418
- ruby: 299J
Bottom row:
- red: 140
- burgundy: 315
- white: 551
Stitching
Stitch the black and white grid in Tent Stitch using Glisten an Soft Sheen Fyre Werks. Stitch the white then the black.
Stitch the middle blocks on the top and bottom row and the end blocks in the middle row in Carolyn’s Small Stitch Variation, below, using the matching color of silk. For the stranded silks, use four strands.
Stitch the remaining blocks in Tiny Knitting, below, using the matching color of silk.
Embellishment
All the beading is done using a single strand of cotton floss in a color to match the beads. This is especially important for color 250 because it is clear and the color of your thread will show.
The beads are sewn on using Tent Stitch. This means the beads will slant in the same direction as Reverse Tent. If you want the stitches to slant like Tent, sew them on with Reverse Tent.
Tomorrow resumes my coverage of the new products in the needlepoint market.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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