Henna Design Revisited – Finale

I’ve finished the new, bright version of the Henna Star design. Continuing where I left off in the last post, I did the top and bottom borders. When I stitched the aqua V stitches, they seemed too light. But when I added the brown in between the aqua stitches, they were perfect.

Then I needed to stitch the side borders. After stitching the V stitches, I added a darker turquoise Sprinkles for the little running stitch between them. The eye motif is brown Impressions with the same Sprinkles for the + in the middle. Purple beads were added for an extra punch. These side borders are busy, but I feel the heavier motifs on the top and bottom give them a balance.

Time for the lattice around the large star in the middle of the design. The lattice was created by long stitches in overdyed Kreinik braid (purple and turquoise). Then a bead was added at each intersection.  Here is a photo of the corner, all finished.

The final touch was to do 4 long stitches in purple Fyre Werks Hologram. And here is the final photo. A very bright version which I really like. Though I’m partial to the original version too.

Henna Star Design Revisited

I did the original of this design last December. I used ecru canvas and reddish brown threads to imitate a real henna design on skin.

I decided that I needed to do another version, to show you that the design can be created using any color of threads and canvas that you choose. The new version was stitched on a gray canvas using bright colors – turquoise and purple. I started with a #5 perle cotton overdye this time for the outline of the piece.

The next step was to stitch the four corner motifs. I used Impressions for the Scotch stitches and Fyre Werks Hologram for the crossed stitches. I don’t like the Hologram version of this thread, but it worked very well for these long stitches. I found the trick was to make sure I laid the stitches on the back of the canvas as well as the front of the canvas. The fairly stiff thread looks good for this motif.

When the corners were done, I started on the center star. I used Impressions again for the inner star. Then added Sprinkles for the outer star. I like the sparkle of metallic thread here to pick up the light and draw attention to the center of the piece. I’ll add more Sprinkles for the center of the square later.

Quite a change from the first version, isn’t it? This is a good way to use up some of those partial skeins you have in your stash. In my next post, I’ll show you the rest of the piece. This would be too bright for me if I didn’t use the gray canvas to tone it down a little. Some of you might like it on white.

Henna Star Coaster

I like the way the center of the henna design looked when it was all done. So I decided to make it into a coaster. And, of course I had to get out the overydye threads. On my first attempt, I used Watercolors Geranium for the outer star and light and dark floss for the inner star. By itself, it looked a little bland. I wanted to keep it simple, but it needed a boundary. I made a single row of stitches at the edge of the coaster to help anchor the center star. I then added large Smyrna Crosses to the corners and the center in Watercolors.

I think the border needs to be a little wider and the Smyrna Crosses need to be moved in a little from the corners. The second attempt corrected these two details and I changed colors to one of my favorites – teal with yellow. The outer star is done in Watercolors. The Smyrna Crosses are done with Needle Necessities Butterfly Island. I think it looks better than the first attempt.

The third version has no changes except for the canvas and threads. I used a dark blue canvas and stitched it with pale blue and silver. Nice and frosty for the winter (even though the weather isn’t frosty here at my house).

Henna Finale

I know I said Sunday, but this is ready to go and I want to see what everyone thinks about the final design.

So here is the Henna Design all finished! 

I wanted to create a feeling of the lace work that Catherine of The Henna Page did on the original picture I posted here. I really wanted to use a metallic ribbon for this part. I tried a Kreinik 1/16 ribbon that had copper and black – it was too dark and detracted from the overall design, so I ripped it out. Then I tried a Kreinik ribbon that was just Copper – too red, so I ripped it out. Copper Neon Rays – way too red. (I’m beginning to feel like Goldilocks!) So I went back to the drawer of Kreinik and found a #16 braid that is lighter than the floss used in this project, but doesn’t detract from the design. When I tried one corner, it looked okay, and that’s what I used for all the lace. The edge of the lace that forms the center square was stitched with a copper color of Frosty Rays.

Stitching was all done, so it was time to set it where I could see if often and think about any tweaking I could do to enhance the design. Time for the bead drawer. I’m not a fan of beading – no particular reason. But a few beads would be the right touch here. Above and below the zigzag lines I put small light amber beads. Then on the lace, I put a matte finish olive bead at each intersection of the metallic braid. Henna artist do sometimes add another color to their design, like turquoise or green. Here’s a close-up of the corner with the beads.

I’m pleased with the finished design and I thank all of you for coming along on the journey. And I want to again thank Catherine at The Henna Page for allowing me to post her designs and letting me adapt them to needlepoint.

Oh, don’t worry. I’ve already decided what to study next. Tuesday, I’ll give photos of my inspiration. And the journey will start again.

Henna Design – Part 4

In the side borders, I’ve included a new motif. It’s called the Eye. Some perceive this as the Evil Eye, but it’s actually the opposite. The eye watches for the evil eye and protects you from it. In the center of the small motif is a +. This symbolizes that evil is deflected in all four directions. It can be represented by an oculus (actual eye shape), a triangle or group of triangles, concentric diamonds, or the symbol I have used in the border. It was stitched using 4 strands of floss for the light color and six strands of floss for the eye. 

The second motif in the border is one I played with on the doodle canvas. I had put little Xs under the zigzag lines, but didn’t want to do that in the final design. That finishing touch will come later. This was stitched with 4 strands of floss in the lighter color. In between the zigzag lines is a dotted line done with Copper Snow.

Now I have a completed center star and four completed borders. I’m almost done, but the center of the square still needs some work. 

Stay tuned. Sunday is the grand finale!

Henna Design – Part 3

I need to start this post with the center 8 pointed star. It wasn’t completely finished in the last post. I’ve now stitched all the way around with the Copper Snow and really like the way it looks. You will notice as I continue stitching this design that I am alternating light and dark colors as I work the various motifs.

With that done, I turned to the borders. The border across the top and the bottom will be the same. This is a stitch I played with in the doodle canvas. The light color is 4 strands of floss which I tried hard to lay nicely. The darker color is Grandeur – #5 silk perle.

I wanted them on the top and the bottom because they appear heavier than the ones that will be used on the sides.

So here is how it looks at this point. Another post coming on Thursday will show the design with all the borders done.

Henna Design – Part 2

Let’s start with the center of the canvas. I have three shades of floss, so I started with the lightest shade and stitched the triangle shapes first. Then I outlined with the darkest shade – good contrast and it shows off the 8 point star nicely. I want to do another version of the 8 point star around it. It’s started in the photo below. I used Copper colored Snow to add a little shimmer to the design.

Next I worked on the corners. Again, it’s a version of the 8 point star. Repeating a motif provides balance and unity to the overall design. The corner stars were done with floss for the small squares that represent the underneath square. The top square is stylized with the stitches done in Goldrush 18. Straight stitches were placed in each direction first to start the “corners” of the top square. Then two long stitches were crossed in the middle. This gives the illusion of a corner in areas between the floss squares, as shown below.

The final photo for today shows the overall design as it appears today. Next I’ll finish the second layer of the 8 point star in the center and then work on the borders along the four sides.

Henna Design Outline Done

Last night I finished the outline for the Henna Design. I stitched the outline with Anchor #5 perle cotton. That’s the only place where #5 perle cotton will be used in the design. Here it is so far.

I haven’t made final decisions on the other threads I will be using. I pulled out everything I had that might work with the mono color scheme, which is Anchor threads #349, 351, 352 (they call it Bark). The photo below shows what I have to work with right now. I will be using the Snow I got for Christmas! It’s a perfect match. On the right are two threads that may not work – Neon Rays and Kreinik 1/16 ribbon. Both are more of a rust, so I might try them for a few stitches and then decide if I should keep them or not.

 To be continued in a few days.