Festive Doodles SAL progress
I have really enjoyed stitching this over the past week and have managed to complete quite a surprising amount already! It’s really tricky to stop once you get going as all the little bits and bobs are so tempting. Here’s how I have got on so far…
There are just so many opportunities to play around with different stitches this would be the perfect practice piece for a beginner to start on.
Starting in the centre of a design is my preferred way, as it helps to create the right tension in the fabric as you progress outwards. The fabulous letters really needed to be dressed up a bit so I used a whipped back stitch. First, I back stitched the outlines in a gorgeous bright red – on some of the thicker parts of the letters I did a double back stitch (one on each side of the line). I then used a beautiful yellow to bring on to the surface and then whip through the back stitches to create the striped effect.
For the following little section, I used the following stitches…
Tree: Long stitch, cross stitch, satin stitch
Hearts: Fishbone stitch
Stocking: Trellis stitch, satin stitch, chain stitch for the bow
Zig zags: Fly stitch, French knots
Small star: straight stitch
If you take a look at the next section, it is really easy to see what stitches I used and they are all very basic. Back stitch, satin stitch, French knots and split stitch. Once again I whip back stitched the straight line as it makes the perfect candy cane effect.
The thread I chose to stitch with was Aurifil 12 wt, I had some I had not used yet and the colours were very shiny and perfect for a Christmas theme. This thread comes on a spool and is not stranded – it is equivalent in thickness to 2-3 strands of a 6 stranded thread. I usually use 1-2 strands for the majority of my stitching so this was a nice alternative however takes a bit of getting used to as it doesn’t allow you to be too detailed and can look quite chunky.
I really didn’t think it would be any good for the small letters in the wreath (shown below) but gave it a go and to be honest it was ok. It was never going to give the smooth detailed effect you can get with 1 strand but it fits with this design and still easy to read!
Keep sharing your progress in the FB group as its so great to share ideas and get some help along the way if needed. I will get on with some more stitching and come back with another update soon.
If you would like to stitch this design you can choose from one of these 2 options…
Festive Doodles PDF Template – please go to the shop here.
Pre Printed Fabric – please go to the shop here.
Happy Stitching
