Magnolia Mystery Outline Free Needlepoint Project

This week we will stitch the outline of each “pane” of glass in our project using your metallic thread.

Another name fot stained glass is leaded glass because the individual pieces of glass are held together by ribbons of metal, traditionally lead. The leads outlines each piece and creates the strong outline typically of this craft.

Because this is a needlepoint version of a stained glass pattern, you must stitch the outlines. The darker color and dull glow of the metallic thread looks like the lead in a stained glass window.

The key to creating this look is to be sure that all your lines are solid ones. This can only be done by matching the slant of your Tent Stitch to the slant of the line. You can see the difference in the picture below.

When the two directions match, as in the top diagram, the line is solid, no matter how irregular it might be. When the two directions do not match, the line becomes dotted. Since the outlines are an important design element in this project, they must be solid.

The only way to do this effectively is to change the slant. If the line is straight or slants up and to the right use TENT STITCH. If the line slants up and to the left use REVERSE TENT.

Do not stitch the outer line surrounding the design, it will be added later.

Click on the picture to get a bigger than life-size view of how I stitched the outline.

Come back next week for the next section of our project!