Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Night Before, an Anne Stradal design

It has been a few weeks since I have posted anything on my blog, the reason being that I have not been feeling that well and have been taking things rather easy, which have given me the opportunity to do a lot of reading, something I love and usually am not able to find enough time for it.
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I have been able to do a little bit of stitching though and have been working on The Night Before which is the accompanying piece to The Day After that I have stitched not long ago.
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The photo below has been stitched by Anne Stradal herself and has been included with her permission.

[Designed and stitched by Anne Stradal of ABS Designs]
Below is a picture showing what I have done up to now.
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So far I have done a bit of the wallpaper, which I intend to do exactly as Anne did. I have done the flooring and the rug using the same color thread for the carpet (Rainbow Tweed RT55) and a DMC #5 perle for the flooring (mine is a shade lighter than Anne). The chair has been done in two shades of Velour Very Petite. I have stitched the table where the lamp is and the legs of the chair using the same DMC Perle #5 brown color.
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Now we are where things are getting a bit more complicated, at least for me :-) I wanted to change Mrs. Claus' dress, using the same color though as Anne did hers. At this point I am not sure if I like it or not. That is the reason I have not stitched yet her slippers as if I have to frog the dress, then I don't want to spoil the slippers. I was thinking of adding a little lace to the colar and bottom of her sleeves. Now, do I go for white or some pink color? I am still wondering what stitch I will be using for the apron and what color? Since she is not a maid, I don't have to leave it white if I don't want to. Oh! you may have noticed that I have stitched over the scarf that she is knitting and will also do the same thing over her apron because I want to add the stitched scarf over (like stumpwork). Still thinking about her needles as to how to make them. Also still debating about her hat, not sure what I will do..
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I have been wondering if I want to cover the shade of the lamp with some fabric instead of thread. Also have not decided how to do the lamp base, stem and finial. I will do the basket the same way as Anne did hers, but will wait for the balls of yarns as I may change some colors. As for the pine branches and bow, I may decide to do exactly as Anne did, unless I make the bow Brazilian embroidery style.

[My photo is a bit dark compared to Anne's but have used the same colors]
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So, lots of decisions still to make before this piece is completed. I will probably start working on the wallpaper while I am thinking about all this. If you have some ideas for any part of it, I would love to hear from you all and also tell me if I should change her dress or leave it as is. I don't mind doing a bit of frogging in order to make her look nicer :-)
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Pierrette =^..^=

4 comments:

Terry said...

yours is looking great, I think perhaps that the design looks rather sober for such a fun time of the year and maybe a touch of turquoise or a light lemon could lift it a tad.

Needless to say stitched beautifully as always

NCPat said...

This is cute! Are you looking for ideas? I would give her a lace collar if you can find a small piece, and use miniature needles instead of stitching them. That way if you stumpwork the scarf the needles add to it. What about ruching silk ribbon for the lamp shade for extra depth? I might also wrap beads with floss/yarn for stumpwork type depth on those as well! LOL--I think I just made a lot of work for you!

Mary Lou Heinig said...

I would add the lace to the collar and something to the apron to soften it a bit as the corners are a bit harsh to me. Maybe a few flowers or bits of lace here and there would soften it. She needs a bit of color in her face also to soften it. The gal who gave the lamp idea was a good one.

Anonymous said...

My, you've got quite a bit done already! Looking good, as usual! Curious to know how you liked working with the Rainbow Tweed for the rug and the Vineyard Silk for the dress, as I know you hadn't used them before.