OhSewCrafty Blog

• Design “Father Christmas” by Sandy Orton for “Charms of Christmas” by Leisure Arts
• Materials: 32 ct raw gold belfast (opal), DMC, Kreinik #4 002HL and blending filament 002HL, brass charms
• Size: 8.13″ x 11″
• Time to stitch: 32 days 

Presenting my second oldest WIP, now finished, Charmed Santa!

I can’t believe this project is finally finished.  It’s not large, but it is mainly full coverage plus fractional stitches, blended floss, metallics, extensive backstitch, a few french knots, and charms.  The pattern is very well done, but it’s in color, with colored backstitch lines, not my preference.  The face section of the chart is enlarged, which is helpful.  There is separate backstitch chart for the final backstitch step, the diamond mesh toy bag.  

Oh, the backstitch… there are 12 different backstitch directions, with several different colors of floss.  The backstitch came close to burning me out, a few times.  I did make a few modifications like a darker green to backstitch some of the leaves, so they would be more visible.  For the diamond mesh bag, I used pearl cotton 12, long stitches for the interior and couched around the edge.  This pattern was in my stash for a long time, but a peek at the toy sack section of the chart (teddy bear, doll, horse, boat, etc), was quite intimidating.  In 2017, I decided I could handle it, so I started it as a Maynia project, thinking it wouldn’t take too long because it’s not that big.  I was clearly deluded!  

I chose to stitch this on raw gold belfast since the model was stitched on a neutral brown fabric and gold glitter is perfect for Christmas.  And I love belfast.  But the fabric was a little challenging with the sparkles obscuring the threads at times.  I did get an Ott light for Christmas 2017 and that made a big difference.  The floss used is all DMC, but several floss blends are used that create the look of soft vintage colors, very interesting effect.

I opted to use high luster metallics (in the border) because I wanted them to stand out against the sparkly fabric.  They were difficult to work with at times, probably my fault for cutting my thread lengths too long.  As for the brass charms, they are not listed with the pattern materials, so I had to source my own.  I looked very carefully at the model pic to determine the size of each charm (relative to the stitches) and used that information to shop at FancifulsInc.com, my favorite source of brass charms.  

My favorite parts are probably Santa’s face, so sweet and charming.  The teddy bear with his red ribbon is precious.  The harlequin doll is cute.  The color selection is extensive, but not overly so, and I think all the coloration especially with the blended floss, is gorgeous.  I like how the pattern charts many fractional stitches, which only makes sense, if you’re going to the trouble of backstitching everything.  

And now I’m back to 8 WIPs.  It feels good to be in the single digits!