…so let’s bring Santa out again. Santa has a great stitch on his hat, so any time is a good time to trot him out.
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The stitched sample is from one of my first Melissa Shirley Santa stand-ups, so there is a limited amount of exposed canvas. In addition, my thread descriptions are my best guesses, as I stitched this in the 90s.
The threads on the hat are Silk & Ivory (black lines*) Frosty Rays (yellow lines#), and Neon Rays (aqua lines**) on 13M. (* Confident guess, # 95% sure, ** hard to think of anything else it could be.)
This is a classic full-coverage stitch with many ways to make your own. I’m looking forward to using it on more clothing, such as pants, with a lighter group of threads, such as Vineyard Silk (black lines), a Kreinik metallic (aqua lines), and Flair (yellow lines). This will also make a very interesting pumpkin with silk floss (black lines), an overdyed Kreinik metallic (yellow lines), and a solid metallic to balance it out for the aqua lines, such as Silk Lame or Entice.w
Consider replacing the single tent stitches with seed beads for an even more glamorous version. Using three colors for each line will create a bold stitch that will stand out.
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As you are auditioning stitches (from any stitch source), count the number of canvas threads on the diagram that match your mesh size. And there you have what an inch of the stitch will look like. Evaluate that against the area where you plan to use the stitch and make your final decision. If you start integrating this step into your stitch selection process, you may be surprised at how many stitches you think are large are much smaller than you realize. (Or, in today’s case, the stitch is much larger than it looks.)
By (sometimes) including this step in my own process, I find I am now integrating much longer stitches than I ever thought I would. I used to think a stitch six rows long was super big. I have very much changed my tune, which has helped me expand my creativity, especially for large-space stitches.
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I hope you have the perfect spot for this stitch! Please enjoy! Have a wonderful #whimsicalwednesday!
A Note about Diagrams
I use color in diagrams to make them as clear as possible. The primary function of different colored lines is to illustrate a stitch sequence. For example, the layering of colors demonstrates you add them in that order. They can also provide ideas on integrating additional threads (one line for each color). Or, you can use the same thread for all color lines. That's where I encourage you to use your imagination for the space you are stitching!