A Suggestion for Stitching Hair

I was working on the angel last night and started the hair. I used to shy away from doing figures because I didn’t like stitching hair, but I’ve found a nice compromise which looks good but doesn’t make me crazy.

First stitch the hair in Tent Stitch. If there are different colors painted on ther canvas, stitch them. The result will be blocky, but that’s OK.

Now overstitch. Overstitching is a simple way to add dimension, without more complex techniques like padding or whipping stitches.

You will use all the colors you used in the first step, in about the same proportions. Throughout the hair, especially where the colors change, add French Knots. They should use different numbers of strands, different numbers of wraps and even different sizes of needles which will create more texture.

Stitch one color at a time.

This softens the edges of the color changes, and adds texture.

How do you know when you have enough knots? How curly is the hair supposed to be? The curlier the hair, the more knots. But never do solid French Knots unless you are stitching a poodle, people don’t have hair that curly.

As a last step, if you want even more texture, brush the hair with as wire brush

Related posts:

1. Ideas for Stitching Hair
2. Bringing Things to a Head – Stitching Foam
3. Making Hair
4. Stitching Sand
5. The Lazy Stitcher’s Guide to French Knots