
When I bought this KC Designs canvas, I thought it would have to be stitched in all Tent. However, with careful attention to stitch size, focal points, and balance, I’m packing lots of stitches into this small space. Let’s look at each of these and see what I’m doing.
Stitch Size
An important way to use texture and achieve a balanced finished piece is to use stitch size as a way to create perspective. This means stitches should get smaller and more open as the areas are farther from you.
In this piece, it’s most easily seen in the background of sky, sea, and sand. Because I wanted texture in the sand, I used my biggest stitch, Offset Mosaic, here. This pairs well with the other big stitch, Diagonal Gobelin, used for the fence.
The sky, which I stitched next, has Needlepoint Cross Stitch for the clouds (I wanted them raised and solid-looking). The sky is stitched in T Stitch, giving me a small open stitch.
My sea stitch had to be between the two in size. I first considered oblique stitches. I discarded them because the two colors would make them hard to stitch. I settled on Four-way Continental. It is a full-coverage stitch and is smaller than Mosaic. I also like the slightly choppy look it gives. That makes a nice contrast to the other smoother stitches in the piece/
Focal Points
There are two focal points in the piece: the tree and the bike. Being at the edge, the tree is the less important focal point. The two colors in the tree and the two colors of the garlands limit the stitch choices. The way I’ll accent this focal point is by using Micro-ice Chenille from Kreink for the red garland. It will be the last step in stitching the tree.
The bike will have more elaborate stitching. The bell is a Smyrna Cross. The wheel spokes will be Straight Stitches in a very thin metallic. The bow on the wreath will be a real bow. Other parts of the bike will be in Tent.
The embellishments in both areas will define the focal points.
Balance
Balance in needlepoint is not only having proportional stitches, although that’s one aspect, but also colors and threads. These three aspects need to have one that is most important, one that is only an accent, and one in the middle.
There are five threads used in the piece: Silk Lame, Micro-ice Chenille, metallic, Very Velvet, and Pepperpot Silk. The majority of the piece is stitched in Silk Lame and Pepperpot.
There are nine stitches: Tent, Offset Mosaic, Needlepoint Cross Stitch, T Stitch, Four-way Continental, Smyrna Cross, Diagonal Gobelin, and Couching. Most of these stitches are in the background, creating a sense of proportion and texture.
There are thirteen colors, fourteen if you count red as two colors because they are two different threads.
That puts color as the main aspect, threads as the accent, and stitches in the middle — a balanced piece.
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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