Shop stitching--RUSH job 17

I was hoping that my next post about the stocking would be a photograph of the completed stitching.  No such luck.  The past two weeks I've been working by myself on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Usually business is spotty during these two weeks.  That hasn't been the case this year.  A pleasant surprise!

On the cuff, I'm stitching the white area in nobuko using DMC perle #5.  I'm trying to stitch all of the white before I start stitching the name.  In the upper left you can see a loose thread.  In all the trips to and from the shop, I managed to get a smudge on the white.  In my laziness, I overstitched it.  It looked okay when I did that, but then I kept seeing a shadow of the smudge.  That's when I cut the stitches to pick out enough to end the strands.  Then I'll restitch the area.  I'm glad it wasn't basketweave because that would have been a real pain to fix and still have it look good.

Purse canvases

Remember that purse model that I got back from the finisher in October?  Last week I received a letter from Clara Wells, the designer, with the information that she is giving up selling needlepoint canvases because of the uncertainty of finding a suitable finisher.  She is also pursuing a master's degree.  I immediately inquired what purse canvases she still had in stock and received the following canvases.

These three designs are only 1-sided:

There are two-sides to the remaining designs.

Murphy's Law as applied to needlepoint shops says that once you stitch a model, the corresponding canvases will disappear from the marketplace.  My only consolation is that I had some warning.  I also have in stock about five of the original designs for this style purse.

New arrivals and a finish

This week some new canvases have been arriving.  Some of them were the last of previous orders and others were canvases included in special orders for customers that I added to defray the shipping costs.  I forgot and one artist charged me $11.00 for shipping three Christmas ornaments.  Say goodbye to that profit!

This Costa Rica round was a special order from Kathy Schenkel for a customer.  My customer was delighted with it!

 Last month when I placed an order for a customer for the small mermaid ornaments from Labors of Love, I added this stocking.  It arrived separately this week.  It isn't at all Christmas-y but I think she is gorgeous.

 And this is the last of my Dallas market order from Strictly Christmas.  It is one of their new designs.

 These are two of the set of three of nativity scenes from J. Mahaly.  Definitely crying for pattern stitches.

Before she left for the holidays, Macy finished this shop model designed by AT Designs.  I'm torn between begging my finisher to do it in a hurry in January or holding it for a more leisurely finish the end of April.  The more I think about it, the more I think I'll get ready for some begging!!

Shop stitching--RUSH job 16

Push came to shove this week and forced me to settle down and stitch Santa's mustache and eyebrows.  I did the mustache in long-short split stitch going horizontally.  The eyebrows were just long stitches.  Both were done in 3-ply kit kin (whisper).

Next I tackled the teddy bear.  I had been tossing a coin between doing him in basketweave or French knots.  The basketweave won and I am pleased with how he looks.  The fiber I used was alpaca 18.

The horn was another procrastination item.  I did it in Kreinik metallic.  I did the shading in  a brown gold metallic combination and it didn't show up enough against the ribbon on the blue package so I selected a darker version and overstitched that thin line of demarcation.  I also did the same thing on the lower hand piece of the horn.

When I grew up, I had 3 older brothers and one younger brother (and another 2 younger brothers and sisters--large family).  Anyway, I thought dolls were sissy and would only play with my brothers' toys.  On this stocking I thought the doll's face was hideous and kept avoiding it.  It was the absolute last thing I stitched.  I'm not pleased with my new version of the doll's face, but I like it better than the bug-eyed original (sorry, Rebecca!).  I changed the gold trim on the dress to hot pink metallic.  The dress was stitched in two shades of DMC perle #5 in the basketweave stitch.  The doll's hair is watercolors done in a bullion stitch.

All that remains is the top portion of the stocking that contains the name.  Time's a'wasting!!

Shop Stitching--RUSH job 15

I've been stitching like crazy since Christmas is approaching so quickly.

I finished the wheels and trim on the carriage.  Next, I managed to finish the stitching on Santa's sack.
Whew!

I enjoyed stitching the doll house.  Especially fun was the woven stitch I did in impressions for the basement facade of the house.  The doors are metallic Kreinik in basketweave.  The wreaths are French knots in a combination of green impressions and gold Kreinik.  The windows on the top story are black perle cotton in cashmere stitch.  The first floor windows are diagonal mosaic.

Only today did I realize that I stitched the clapboard siding going the wrong way--it is vertical and it should have been horizontal.  My next thought was:  "too late for herpicide".  That means no way will I pick it out and restitch.  For those who wonder, herpicide was a quack medicine in the early 1900's that supposedly cured baldness.  By the time people thought to use it, it was too late.  Especially considering that it was worthless.

Shop stitching--RUSH job 14

The flooring of the stocking was painted in varying widths of board, some as wide as 6 stitches.  I felt that would put too many long stitches at the bottom of the stocking where they would be vulnerable to snagging.  So in an executive decision, I decided to do slanted gobelin over 3 threads using impressions.  Now the boards look a tad skinny, but I feel they are safer for the life of the stocking.  This photograph shows the original painting.

Here you can see how the stitching turned out.

I stitched the candy canes in a gobelin over 2 threads using Kreinik metallic.  I took a second shot at the dots on the sparkly green package, this time selected DMC perle #5 for the French knots.  Much more in proportion to the package.  I've also been pecking away at Santa's sack.  It seems to go on forever!

Shop stitching, RUSH job 13 (& 5th blogaversary!)

After stitching on this stocking for months, I'm beginning to regret labeling this project as a RUSH job.

I stitched the white on the baby carriage in the Byzantine mosaic using white DMC perle #5.  I also started Santa's bag using red DMC perle #5 in the diagonal mosaic stitch.  The lapis (what other stone is blue?) beads were stitched in basketweave using Kreinik braid #12.  The gold beads are Smyrna crosses, again in Kreinik braid #12.  Time is getting short, so I'm going to have to bring out my turbo needles to get this finished in time.

I had published this entry when I had an odd feeling about when I started blogging.  In going back through the posts, I discovered that my first entry was December 9, 2010.  So this is my 5th blogaversary.  I don't know which impresses me more--600 posts or 5 years of persistence.

Needlepoint pockets on tote bags

This past week has been spent sewing canvases on two Dash and Albert tote bags to make pockets.  The totes are wonderful for carrying a variety of things.  The bottom is leather-lined for durability.  My hands, and especially my finger tips, are full of needle holes.  Even using a thimble, the totes are so unwieldy that it is difficult to get a grip while having the pocket (needlepoint) pinned in place.  Bless needlepoint for only utilizing blunt needles!

There are two lucky people who are going to receive one of these as a present.

This is Needle Nicely's 600th blog entry.  Whew!

Tiny scissors and some old friends restocked

This week Needle Nicely received two shipments of scissors.  One was some old friends that we restocked.  These are produced by Solingen in Germany and have wonderfully sharp points.  Another brand name shown is Wasa.

In actuality, these are all the same size.  I had to make the top photograph larger because the scissor image blurred if it were smaller.

Price-wise, these Super-Snips are at the other end of the spectrum.  They come in the 3 colors shown  with an attached cap for the blades.  I meant to measure these, but forgot.  They are about 2 1/2 inches long.They would make great stocking stuffers.