More from the Classroom

Lion in tent and longstitch needlepoint on canvas

I love hearing from my readers! Recently a lady who had learned about this blog from a friend wrote me, saying: “I wish you didn’t live so far away. I would love to take some of your classes. Please tell me you are going to write more about what you do in your classes. I studied the first two posts (1/16/2018 and 2/5/2018). The directions are clear and the pictures are great. I have made the butterfly and the water lily and I really like the way they turned out. I can’t help but think that learning more about the lessons online is the next best thing to being there.” I wish she could be here, too! I appreciate her enthusiasm! For her and for everyone else who is interested, I am going to do some more posts about what we’ve done in the classroom, although they will be spread out among other topics that I have promised. Today we are continuing with the studies of canvas work, focusing on French longstitch.

Finished butterfly in Gobelin stitch

Pattern for bighorn in French longstitch

I wanted to show my students how useful French longstitch is for doing pictures of animals, but I knew that none of them were ready yet to do anything as complex as the bighorn sheep and the pronghorn antelope you saw on the previous post (although one person did ask for a printout of the bighorn pattern to work on in the future, and J. D. printed it.) Nor were they ready for a project like the lion’s head in a combination of French longstitch and conventional tent stitch that you see at the top of this article. Both of these projects are done on needlepoint canvas with tapestry yarn.

Puppets in the classroom

They needed to start with something smaller and simpler. I got my inspiration from a group of puppets hanging in a corner of the classroom. Before I start a new puppet pattern, I do a color rendering of the head in the same size as the pattern for the head. I got out several samples of the animal heads and traced their outlines. When the students arrived, I had laid out the colored renderings, the tracings, and a piece of 5 ½ in. X ¾ in. (14.5 cm. X 17.5 cm.) #10 plastic canvas for each person. That is ¼ of a sheet of the canvas. An assortment of permanent markers and a box of tissues completed our equipment, and the egg cartons of yarn balls were open along one wall within easy reach. I had chosen a small dog for my example and included two rabbits (one lop-eared), a baby chick, a duckling and a lamb among the animals in case someone wanted to do an Easter picture as a present for a child.

Simple drawing for bulldog's head

To start a longstitch project, you need a fairly simple picture that has some large areas that need to be filled. Longstitch is several times longer than the upright Gobelin stitches that were used previously, but there is a limit. If the stitches are too long, they tend to sag away from the canvas or snag on objects, so I don’t recommend either vertical or horizontal stitches more than about 2 inches (5.5 cm.) long. With that in mind, I put in lines on the tracings that broke up spaces that were too long into shorter sections.. The students each chose a color picture and a matching outline and traced the outline onto the plastic canvas. Then they scrubbed both sides of the canvas with tissues to remove any extra ink that might come off on their yarn. They chose any yarns that they needed from the cartons and sat down to work.

Canvas with edges taped to prevent raveling

If you are doing this technique on plastic canvas, as my students were, be sure all of the edges are as smooth as possible. If you are using jute or fabric canvas, tape the raw edges with masking tape turned under to cover both sides of the canvas. This keeps the edges of the canvas from fraying and keeps your yarn or floss from being roughened by contact with the edges of the canvas.

Bulldog's head outlined on plastic canvas

The students had been working on #7 plastic canvas for their projects. Since #10 is a much smaller mesh (100 squares to the square inch, rather than 49 squares), they now had some adjustments to make. Each one was provided with a shorter tapestry needle which had a smaller ‘eye’ than the one they had been using. I demonstrated how to use two different kinds of needle threaders and put some on the tables. Then I demonstrated how to separate and combine strands of 3-ply and 4-ply yarns to get the proper thickness that would cover the canvas. I also demonstrated how to combine strands of different colors of yarn to get the effect of shading (also detailed in the April 8, 2018 post.)

One half of bulldog stitched

I had already worked one side of the dog’s head and now demonstrated the stitching on the other side. Once everyone was satisfied that they knew how to proceed, the class began stitching. While they worked, I went over with them the “11 Secrets for Needlework Success” (see the post for June 1, 2014), which I had printed as a hand-out for each of them. We discussed the suggestions and I answered their questions. As any problems arose with the stitching, we discussed and solved them. When the first person wanted to do some interior back-stitching, we stopped for a few minutes to discus back-stitching in a single color or in several colors, when to use longer stitches instead of very short ones, and when slanted stitches worked better than straight ones. They asked if it was all right to use some tent stitching with the longstitch and I assured them that it was.

When about 20 minutes was left of our 90-minute session, I demonstrated a stitch pattern on a pegboard display stand which shows individual stitches in a large size, and had them copy the stitches on a small piece of plastic canvas, label it, and store it in a notebook. The stitch is one of several long-and-short stitches belonging to the family of very old tapestry stitches known collectively as “Hungarian point”. These stitches are usually called “grounds” or “groundings,” and are used in a single color or two closely related colors as backgrounds for other kinds of needlework. I have used two colors in this sample for clarity.

Parisian stitch sample

This pattern is called Parisian stitch. The first stitch is an upright one over 4 threads of canvas or bars on plastic canvas. For the second stitch, drop down 1 thread or bar and make a stitch over 2 threads or bars. Alternate these two stitches across your canvas. In the second row, the short (over 2) stitches are done at the bottoms of the long (over 4) stitches, and the long stitches (over 4) are done at the bottom of the short (over 2) stitches. These second row stitches begin in the same squares of mesh where the stitches above them ended, so no threads or bars are left uncovered. The third row and all other odd-numbered rows are like row 1; the fourth and all other even-numbered ones, like row 2. To complete an area, fill in with short stitches so that the top and bottom of the piece is even.

More Parisian stitch samples

There is no reason, however, that these stitches cannot be used to form colorful all-over patterns on their own. In contrasting colors, as on the top sample here, the stitches make a boldly striped pattern. But if you choose closely related colors like the reds and oranges of the middle sample, you can achieve a more subtle ombre-shaded effect. This is how the stitches were used in the old tapestries. The more closely related the colors are, the subtler the effect. A variegated yarn (bottom sample) will give you a more abstract effect. This can be be useful. Imagine, for example, using a variegated green in the background of a picture to suggest trees or shrubs, or a variegated brown or gray to suggest a fabric.

As the end of class neared, I asked the students to practice the Parisian stitch, but not to use it on the backgrounds of their pictures, explaining that in the next session they would learn a number of such background stitches and could choose their favorite. I also asked them to put color directions on their traced outlines and return the color renderings for my puppet files. They were to have their outlines filled in, plus interior back-stitching; by the next session to be ready for background stitching. The two ladies working on Easter animals asked if they could have copies of the color pictures and outlines for the other Easter animals. They planned to work together, so J.D. did copies of two extra animals for each of them and together they had the full set. For those of you working at home, you might want to work from a photo of the face of a favorite pet. We adjourned.

Bulldog's head finished, ready for background

I realize that some students will not do canvas work again after they finish their class projects. Nevertheless, the skills they have learned will carry over to other kinds of embroidery on fabrics like monks’ cloth, Aida, decorator burlap, etc. And they will have learned the advantages to be gained from having a firm surface to work on and will be more likely to use hoops and/or frames. That will reduce the necessity for extensive blocking and produce a neater project.

As always, enjoy your work!

More simple puppet head designs

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Same Song, Second Verse - Our Anniversary Post

Annake, at work on this blog

 Some time in late January 2013, about a month after our Etsy shop went online, J.D. announced, “You're going to become a blogger.”

“What's a blogger?” I asked innocently.

“Someone who writes a regular blog and posts it online,” J.D. replied.

Beginning to feel a prickle of apprehension, I asked, “What's a blog?” At that time I had never even read a blog. J.D. explained the basics. “How am I supposed to do that?” I cried. (You should know that J.D. is rather fond of throwing me into the deep end of things and expecting me to “swim”.)

“Easy,” he said. “Just think of something you're interested in and write a short article, like the ones you've been writing for your students and for other teachers all these years. I'll illustrate the articles with photographs if you give me something to work with.”

Although uneasy about the whole process, I did “swim”. On February 12, 2013, we posted the first of 24 Cuttings from Annake's Garden. I have enjoyed writing the blog and making the projects to illustrate the articles more than I could ever have imagined. (J.D. is probably not as thrilled, especially when I trot down to his workshop with an armful of projects and tell him, “Take lots of photos so we can pick the best ones.” Or when I ask, “Can you have this ready to post by tomorrow midnight?” Too bad. He started it, after all.)

"Spring Thaw"  needlepoint wall hanging

In reviewing the year's articles, I found that I had shown a lot of works-in-progress and talked about others that weren't shown. I decided that a good way to mark this first anniversary (and prove to you readers that I do finish what I start — eventually), would be to show some of those projects in their completed state. For example, the second article (February 28, 2013) featured a long wall hanging on quickpoint canvas. The inspiration for this was a small (about 1 ½ inch by 3 ½ inches) picture that I cut out of a magazine ages ago. I started by taping several pieces of graph paper together and trimming them to the same relative proportions as the picture. I cut the canvas so that it had as many squares of mesh as the paper had quarter-inch squares. Then I sketched the features from the picture that I most wanted to show on graph paper in colored markers. I chose acrylic yarns which closely matched the marker colors and began at the bottom of the canvas, making one stitch for each square of the graph. The piece was rather unwieldy, so I devised a way to secure the canvas on a rolling cart so I could work on one section of canvas at a time, rolling up the completed canvas to keep it clean. That device, more than the hanging itself, was what I wanted to feature in the article. Here's a picture of the finished work, backed by felt and hung from a dowel. I call it Spring Thaw.

Latch hooked rug "Diamonds in Pink and Green", in our Etsy store

Most of my subjects are taken from Nature: animals, plants, landscapes, seascapes and skyscapes. But when I prepared to do an article about latch-hook (June 16, 2013), I wanted to do something different. Discovering that there were more packs of greens and pinks in my stock of rug yarn than there were of any other colors, I decided to use them in a geometric design. The chosen design creates a kind of optical illusion. Out came the graph paper again, to make a diagram of several repeats of the motif so that they flowed diagonally across the paper — as they would in the rug itself. The resulting graph served as my pattern when I began making knots on the canvas. Above is a picture of the finished rug, entitled "Diamonds in Pink and Green".

Some new puppets: Lion, Raccoon, and Owl

 Thanks to a LittlePink Pig (April 17, 2013) told the story of how I got involved in designing and making felt hand puppets for children. When people come up to me at shows to say they enjoy the blog, that's one item that's frequently mentioned. The puppets are such fun for me at Christmas. At the last show of the year, a grandmother gasped with delight when she saw the raccoon puppet. Her grandchild had asked for some kind of raccoon toy for Christmas. The whole family had been searching for nearly three weeks for any kind of raccoon, without results, and had nearly given up hope. How satisfying it was to be able to fulfill that little girl's wish. I also got a good laugh from another grandmother who described to me the ways she and her husband had played with the puppets they bought — before they wrapped them for their grandsons. I thought you might like to see some of the puppets I've designed and made lately. So here are Raccoon, Owl, and Lion.

Raspberry Ripple crocheted afghan, in our Etsy store

On June 2^nd, we showed a ripple afghan that I had just started. The topic of the article was to promote using leftover materials to make useful items, rather than discarding them or leaving them to accumulate in storage. As carefully as I could, I divided each color of yarn in half before I began crocheting. When I reached the midpoint of the afghan, I reversed the order of the colors. I used up most of the yarn, except for short lengths. In one case, I had less than a foot of the color left when I completed the afghan. You can see the finished project in the photo on the right.

You have probably noticed that we have changed the background of the blog. Expect to see several new pictures from the garden as backgrounds at different times throughout the year. Coming soon, there will be additional changes to the mechanics of the blog to make it easier to navigate. And, of course, lots of new projects. For a glimpse of “coming attractions”, we've placed pictures of some future projects across the bottom of this page. From left to right, they are: a blackwork picture on monk's cloth, a 4-way bargello on a background of tent stitch, and a sample of Swedish weaving on huck. The items shown in the article are either already on our Etsy shop site, or will be there in the near future.

Thanks for stopping by,

Annake

Coming Attractions!

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A Perky 'Possum Puppet

Annake with the Little Pink Pig Puppet

'Tis the season ... for craft shows and Christmas bazaars. We have been doing our share of them. The hand puppets are always a popular item. I've been pleased with the number of people who have come up to me to say they enjoyed the story behind the little pink pig. If you have read that blog, (April 17, 2013), you know how I got into making puppets in the first place. I'd always done realistic art work, so making the caricatures that were necessary for a child's puppets was hard for me at first. I wanted to put in too much detail. My class members, who were making most of the puppets, soon convinced me that this was both unnecessary and undesirable!

Red Fox Puppet, Front View

The more I worked with the designs, however, the more I enjoyed the cartooning process. Now I design and make puppets for my own enjoyment as much as for that of the children who will eventually receive them. I especially enjoy making animal puppets and giving them “personalities” of their own. They're one of the few items I make more than once. Even then, no two versions of an animal turn out to be exactly alike. For some time I've wanted to make a perky 'possum puppet. (Say that out loud five times quickly!) Let me share the process with you.

Fox Puppet, Back View, showing tail

The most important part of a hand puppet's design is the face. The bodies are pretty standard for animals with paws or hooves, but need to be modified for ones with wings or flippers. I try to make the backs of the puppets interesting, paying particular attention to their tails. The first thing I do is cut out two stock bodies, a front and a back., from the appropriate color of felt --- gray, in this case. The back of the 'possum's body is medium gray and the front is light gray. These pieces have a “wrong” and a “right” side since I adjust the patterns for the fact that a hand's thumb and little finger are joined to the hand at slightly different levels. I have small hands, so a puppet that fits me will work for most children, although it is sometimes necessary to pad the tips of the puppet's “arms” with cotton or fiberfill for very small hands.

Possum Face Sketch

I make a cartoon sketch of the animal's head, using colored pencils that approximate the colors of felt that I plan to use. Once I have the basic features and have captured the expression that I want, I trace the outline of the head, cut it out, and place it over the front of the body. Sometimes the sketch is too large or too small and has to be adjusted for size. Or I may have to make some small changes so that the left and right sides match. When I'm satisfied with the head shape, I make a new pattern out of a heavier, more durable paper and cut one out of felt. I place one on the front of the body to decide how far it should overlap the “neck” of the puppet, pinning the head in place. I make a second paper pattern for the back of the head, leaving off the “chin” or “muzzle” and rounding off the back of the head where it will overlap the neck in a gentle curve. I cut out the felt for the back of the head and turn it and the back of the body over.

Possum Body and Head Pieces

I match the front and back, wrong sides together, adjusting until they fit exactly. The back is now ready to be sewn together. I mark the position of the head on the front of the body with a couple of small pins. Then I remove the head so that I can put on all the facial features. Some of these are sewn on in layers, while others are drawn with permanent markers.

I wanted my puppet to be a mother opossum with some babies. When I was in college, someone brought our biology class a female opossum that had been hit by a car. There was nothing we could do to save her life, but six of the babies in her pouch were alive and apparently unharmed. Working in shifts around the clock, we fed them with doll's bottles and carried them in our pockets to keep them warm. They gripped our fingers with their tough little tails and dangled underneath our hands. Eventually they were weaned onto solid food and we were able to release them into the wild.

Possum Puppet Pouch Detail

A mother opossum's pouch is a slit that runs along her belly from front to back, with babies tucked in on both sides. If I were making a stuffed animal, I would make it that way, put in a zipper, and stuff it with babies. This wouldn't work for my 'possum puppet, however. So I made a side-to-side pouch like that of a mother kangaroo (another marsupial). When making puppets, I sometimes have to take liberties with Nature.

Possum Puppet Tail Detail

I try to avoid having loose parts on my puppets that a small child might pull off and swallow. That's why I don't use buttons, beads, ball fringe, sequins, etc. Therefore, I chose to applique the “babies” to the mother's body rather than having them loose in her pocket. On the back, I added a long tail for the mother and appliqued a single baby hanging from it. Up to this point, all sewing was done by hand. The two halves of the puppet were sewn together by machine and the head was stuffed lightly with fiberfill.

Opossums are not particularly intelligent, or even attractive, but they are survivors. They have been around much longer than we have, spreading from their original home in South America throughout the United States and well into Canada by now. As scavengers, they are a part of Nature's clean-up crew. I hope this new puppet will help children learn to respect them as much as they do the more “cuddly” creatures. They all have their parts to play in the great scheme of things.

Season's Greetings,

Annake

Finished Possum Puppet, Front and Back Views

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Thanks to a Little Pink Pig -- Felt Puppets for Children

Angel puppet, showing scale

I've been indulging in one of my most enjoyable pastimes – designing and making felt hand puppets for children. I started making puppets decades ago when I had small children of my own. Those were the days when Kukla, Fran, and Ollie had one of the most popular programs on television. As a teacher, I found puppets very useful for reaching young children. I could use animal puppets to teach them about life on the farm or in the desert or the jungle. Character puppets could illustrate history or life in other other cultures, as well as demonstrating concepts like kindness and cooperation. Even fifth-graders enjoyed the puppets, although they felt they were far too sophisticated to admit it.

Although it is one of my simplest designs, my favorite puppet is a little pink pig. Let me tell you how that came about.

More than thirty years ago, my day job was teaching art and craft classes for a Parks and Recreation center near Fort Carson, Colorado, while I taught night courses at a business college in Colorado Springs. One of my craft classes was engaged in making several dozen puppets to take to Children's Hospital in Denver at the end of the session.

The Little Pink Pig

The class members were a diverse group, differing in age, ethnicity, and previous crafting experience. Only one was a native Coloradoan. The others came from as far away as New York and California and one was from the Navajo reservation. They were friendly and enthusiastic and a joy to teach. They really kept me hopping, designing new puppets each week.

At last the big day arrived. We gathered up our bags of puppets and formed a small convoy to convey them to Denver. After a kind greeting from hospital administrators, we began walking through the wards, showing the puppets and giving them away to the children as we went.

I had the little pink pig puppet on my hand and was making it bow and wave or hide its face shyly against my shoulder as I approached a nurse who was holding a very limp-looking toddler in her arms. Suddenly the little one gave a faint cry and reached both arms toward the puppet. I pulled the little pig off and handed it over.

The nurse's eyes filled with tears. As our group gathered around her, she explained that the child had been brought in some time before, suffering from a closed head injury. The doctors feared that there was brain damage. The little pink pig was the very first thing the child had responded to.

Red fox puppet

Soon there were a lot more damp eyes on that ward, including those of the child's mother and grandmother, hastily called up from the hospital cafeteria. But the tears were tears of hope and joy. It was then, and still remains, one of the best days of my life. 

The head nurse was kind enough to keep us informed of the child's steady progress and eventual release. Just about everyone in the center had become interested in the matter and we were all greatly cheered by the good news.

This past December I was making new puppets when I remembered the little pink pig and wondered if I still had the patterns from that long-ago class. (I'm the proverbial pack rat and seldom throw anything away that might possibly be useful someday.) I rummaged through file boxes until I found a dusty expandable folder that looked promising. Inside were all my old patterns. I've started making them again, along with new designs.

The "End"

The very first one I made was a little pink pig.

And no matter how many characters I create, or how many “critters” I portray, my very favorite one will always be a jolly little pink pig with a jaunty curl in its tail.

Annake

These, and other puppets, are available in our Etsy shop

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