It’s been more than a minute since my last #smallspacesunday. I have a huge crush on today’s stitch. It’s small, it’s pink, and it’s adorable.
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The stitched sample is an adorable heart ornament on a vintage Melissa Shirley Santa. One of my stitching besties stitched it with size 8 gold Kreinik and red Sundance Beads (size 14/15) with clear beading thread.
I have loved brick beading since the day I was introduced to it. So much so that it was the subject of my very first blog post. (Evidently, I was so Instagram-illiterate that I didn’t think to include a stitched sample in the original post, so here is a link to a different stitched sample that includes brick beading.)
As you can see, brick beading in a larger area imitates bricks. In today’s stitch, I just used a single column of it to add a little surprise to the small space and allow some of the beautiful shading to show through.
This would be a great stitch for a wine or martini glass, especially if it is a clear glass. I would stitch the glass outline in tent stitches (in whatever color the outline is in) and stitch the glass with white metallic and clear beads. One of Sundance’s clear beads, #250, have a little opalescence in them and I love the sparkle that comes from them.
I hope you have the perfect spot for today’s small space stitch. Have fun playing with it!
Click on image to see the whimsicalstitch.com Stitch Library on pinterest.com. Includes all #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday stitch diagrams.
As you are auditioning stitches (from any stitch source), count the number of canvas threads on the diagram that match your mesh size. And there you have what an inch of the stitch will look like. Evaluate that against the area where you plan to use the stitch and make your final decision. If you start integrating this step into your stitch selection process, you may be surprised at how many stitches you think are large are much smaller than you realize.
By (sometimes) including this step in my own process, I find I am now integrating much longer stitches than I ever thought I would. I used to think a stitch six rows long was super big. I have very much changed my tune, which has helped me expand my creativity, especially for large-space stitches.
Today’s stitch diagram, along with all other #whimsicalwednesday and #smallspacesunday stitch diagrams, can also be found on a Pinterest board here. Be sure to follow whimsicalstitch.com on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter.
If you like what you see on this blog, there's more. Mary’s Whimsical Stitches is a series of four books offering contemporary how-to collections of more than 200 stitches (in each volume) for all stitchers, regardless of skill level. All books include updated and sequenced diagrams from this blog, plus a collection of all-new stitches from private lessons and other class projects. Visit here to find a needlepoint retailer that carries my books.
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I hope you have the perfect spot for this stitch! Please enjoy! Have a wonderful #whimsicalwednesday!
A Note about Diagrams
I use color in diagrams to make them as clear as possible. The primary function of different colored lines is to illustrate a stitch sequence. For example, the layering of colors demonstrates you add them in that order. They can also provide ideas on integrating additional threads (one line for each color). Or, you can use the same thread for all color lines. That's where I encourage you to use your imagination for the space you are stitching!