OhSewCrafty Blog

• Pattern: Mill Hill MH19-4302 “Gabrielle”
• Materials: 14 count Perforated paper, floss, beads, as kitted
• Size: 3.8″ x 5.1″
• Time to stitch: 2 weeks

I’m happy dancing!  

This project worked up quickly.  For an ornament, it is on the medium to large side, but I do believe it will look lovely on the Christmas tree.   Separating the floss colors was a bit challenging, as many are very close in shade, but luckily the numbers in the color code are DMC numbers (the kit floss is DMC) and I was able to verify my sorting against my DMC floss collection.  All the cross stitching is done with 3 plies, it is rather dense, and I worked in hand, which slowed me down (normally I stitch 2 handed with a scroll frame).   This was my first time working on perforated paper, and I don’t like it much, but I see its utility for ornaments.  In any case, I prefer perforated paper to plastic canvas!

I made a mod to the backstitching- did more around her mouth since the one little line charted was pretty much invisible.  The beading is extensive and took awhile; most of the beads are attached with a full cross stitch.  5 different colors of beads are provided in two bags, and the directions say to separate the beads carefully.  I found this unnnecessary- I just spilled beads from the first bag into a corner of my tacky bob beading case, and the second bag into the opposite corner.  From the two areas, it was easy to find the appropriate color bead and pop it onto my needle.  The hanger is 6 strand DMC and I used hot glue to affix sparkly white stiff felt as backing.

I’m very pleased; I think my finish is nicer than the pattern photo.  There are 3 angels in this series; Seraphina is stashed, and I picked up Angelina on Ebay.  The other two will be on my to-do list for next year.