Stitching Faces

Here's a tip for stitching faces. When you are stitching a face on a small design, stitch it with a solid flesh color in tent stitch. Then, stitch eyes, eyebrows, lips, and perhaps a small nose, using embroidery (or surface) stitches on top of the tent stitches; you can get much more detail than trying to create the same in clumsy tent stitches.

When stitching a face, consider padding the nose and lips/mouth, especially if the face also includes a dimensional mustache and/or a beard. The facial hair can swallow the facial features if they are not stitched a little larger than they are painted.

The easiest thing to remember is ALWAYS use tent or basketweave on your body parts. No fancy stitches are needed. Look at this beautiful young woman, stitched by our own Becky. You can see the different tones of thread used to give her face and neck dimension. And it's all continental or tent stitched. Isn't the hair on the girl fabulous too? This canvas was stitched by our talented Becky. We love it!