My daughter was convinced this was her stolen shadow.
I do not do needlepoint very often because I have not stopped long enough or had enough money to attend the basic classes that can be found at many needlepoint shops across the United States. However, I found this canvas when my oldest daughter was only 5-years-old. It was in the craft bin at one of the thrift shops I loved to visit. Because I would sell the embroidery patterns I would find on Ebay, I snatched this one up. I did not sell this one because my daughter swore it was her with the crazy hair and tiny nose.</center
Hundreds of tiny French Knots to give the look of curls like what my daughter had when she was 5-years-old.
One day while I was bored and my daughter was continuing to convince me this was her, we made her shadow match the white image and, amazingly, it fit her face perfectly! We painted on the eye and designed the ear and was eventually packed away where it hid away until a few years ago. I decided at that time to do what I could so she could have it as she told me it was her's almost 27 years ago.
Beads, beads, and still more beads to help give this a bit of shiny sparkle.
This is one of those projects that you do because you know it will bring joy to another person. Because of this, I decided to use some of the nicer supplies to create a unique piece of art for my daughter. The canvas is from the mid 1980's and is a rather inexpensive piece; however, this was used so everyone could enjoy the craft. Normally needlepoint canvases run in the hundreds of US dollars. The floss I used was not your average DMC or Anchor you would use for counted cross stitch and normal embroidery, but something made out of silk or wool. I used Splendor thread on the background and the face and French Knots and back flowing hair because it had 12 strings of thread per each skein. For the middle hair, I wanted to have a bit of shine so I used Splendor with metallic flicks. Then the collar was created out of the crochet thread. The beads are Mill Hill seed beads. In total, the project cost me about $30 for everything except my time.
You can find out the difference needlepoint and counted cross stitch HERE
Whatever could this be?
Because it is the New Year and I am finally able to do embroidery again, I decided I was going to go back to the roots of our website. Once it was called Stitch'n Travel because I was doing embroidery and traveling to learn the many styles there are. Because we decided to go another route in our traveling, I am starting a new project to enable me to put my two hobbies together. But more on that next Monday!
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Interesting - how some projects stay with us and get completed one day, as if they had to wait for the right time.
They do have a Spirit of their own sometimes.
I really love this image, it is a beautiful piece. I love the design of the hair; the close up you gave really shows how much work was put into it. The added beads does give it that extra sparkle. It’s really amazing how many beautiful pieces of art that a needle can create! I can imagine how special this is for your daughter :)
Thanks for sharing ~
I wanted to give it to her over the holidays, but I ran out of the right floss. I thought I picked up the correct one, but no... haha.
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This is really cool. Can’t say I’ve ever looked this deeply into needlework before, but I like your project. How did your daughter react to receiving it, or has she not seen it yet?
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Unfortunately, she has not yet. I ran out of the correct floss to finish the French knots. I will be heading into town next payday and head directly to the needlepoint shop to grab some. Plus a few more supplies. I have a belt to start working on.
Ah cool. It't would be nice to hear back how she reacts. There's something really special about realizing your parent remembers something like that from your childhood. Though I'm sure parents remember Far more than we realize about our youths.
So very true. I will do an update once I finish it and let you know how she liked it.
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