Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Hello one and all,

Are you ready for Christmas?  I won't mention how many sleeps are left, because frankly I am in denial.  I still have so much to do and I even started early!

A quick post today to share a Christmas Stocking I made using Angel Tilda.

The photos do not do it justice - it really looks much nicer in real life.  Here is a close up of the lovely Tilda, stitched in counted cross stitch.

My Top Tip Tuesday tip is for turning your rubber stamps into counted cross stitch.  First, decide what fabric count to use and then download the appropriate graph paper from CyberStitchers here.  Their charts might not work in all browsers, so if it doesn't work try a different browser.  This is a fantastic free resource.  Next, stamp your image onto the graph paper.  Use a positioner for this step and try to line up as many outer edges with gridlines as possible.  This will simplify things when drawing the backstitching lines.  Colour your image in softly (so you can still see the lines), focusing on shading.  Draw in the lines for backstitching following as closely to the stamped lines as possible.  Decide on colours - using dark and light shades of the same family, select three to five colours to allow for blending.  I found it was best to use colours that are adjacent to each other on the manufacturer's colour charts as this allowed for smoother blending.  Assign symbols to your colours and draw them in following your shading as a guideline.  This part might require a little trial and error.  You are now ready to start stitching!

There are also online programs that allow you to upload a photo, such as a coloured stamped image and they will convert it into a chart for you.  Having looked at some of the charts on a few of those sites, I was not pleased with the end result, but it might be worth a try and could possibly be used as a starting point.  With some editing and fine tuning, it might look really nice.

As I have done all of the trial and error already for my version of Angel Tilda, I thought I would share my pattern with you!  I entered my chicken scratches into a program to make them more legible and took a photo of the screen.  You are free to take this pattern, but please do not publish it in any publication or post it anywhere on the internet.  This is for your personal use, and if you would like to share it with your readers, please direct them here.

symbol    DMC

 ª            930

l               931

µ            932

¼            3752

 ä            3753

!              945

"             951

J             3770

r              754

p             948

=             838

d              839

m             840

P             841

v              842

›            712

2             E3747

1                   E520

I do apologize, I will have to come back and add the backstitching colours later.  This chart is sized for 18 count fabric = same size as stamp.

Enjoy!

I would like to enter my stocking into the following challenges:

Magnolia Down Under - Christmas
Simon Says Stamp - Merry Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Christmas

Thanks so much for popping in and for taking the time to leave a comment - I will do my best to visit everyone over the holidays, but it might take me a little while.  A big thank you and welcome to my newest followers!

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season!  All the best to you in the new year!

Hugs, 

Dawn