Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Happy Witch

This is the second panel of 5 from Julie Mar & Friends, with the stitch guide by Patricia Dee.

Sometimes I am a stickler for mirror image stitches, i.e., one side has the stitch slanting in one direction, the opposite side slants in the opposite direction.  I loved Pat's choice of the Souffle stitch for the Happy Witch's cloak, but I wanted the left side to mirror the right.

Usually, you just need to turn a stitch diagram a 1/4 turn to get the mirror image.  You can see that this doesn't work with this stitch.  So here is Reverse Souffle, "for your alleged pleasantry" as one of my beloved high school English teacher used to say.  (She would introduce herself at the beginning of the year--"My name is Mrs. Null, it rhymes with dull."  She was anything but dull.)

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Count Dracula by Julie Mar

How handsome is this guy?  Widow's peak, bedroom eyes, cleft chin, and there's something about that smile....

This is one of 5 canvases in a series by Patricia Dee of Julie Mar Designs.  You can choose individual characters or, as I did, buy all 5 with the stitch guide and the ceramic painted knob.  They make up into a very cool lidded box for Halloween.

I tweaked the guide a bit to make it my own...and these are a few of my favorite things.  I found a great Mandarin floss color for his pasty face; the candle flame is a glowing Fyre Werks; the candle is stitched with a Renaissance thread and the dripping wax is made of French knots using an over-dyed Kreinik.

Next up--the Happy Witch.