I have a large collection of nativities. My family knows this and indulges this collection in a way they don’t for other things, say, my collection of needlepoint canvases. And among the folk art nativities, I also look for needlepoint nativities.
This is the first figure from a small set I’m needlepointing from a free PDF from Wild Olive. The nativity is line drawings of the the manger, Mary, Joseph, and a shepherd. I traced them onto canvas and have started filling them in with stitches using threads from the stash.
In this picture from Wild Olive you can see the four figures cut out and finished simply as ornaments.
While I like the simplicity of the four figures, I always want more, so I’m going to make more than one shepherd and maybe a couple more sheep. Then I might add some more Josephs to become the three kings> This is a fun project for Christmas stitching!
Throughout the weeks before Christmas, I’ll be highlighting easy ideas for ornaments you can needlepoint. Some will be original designs, and some, like this one, will be adapted from other crafts.
Related posts:
I’m going to be interested in knowing how the faces work out as you stitch. Will you add features? Or will the blank faces work as well when stitched? Keep us posted.
Nancy
Yay! I can’t wait to see your finished stitched Nativity! I’m pressed for time this year, but next year, I’ll be embroidering them myself. So happy that you like them!
Brilliant! And I’ll bet Mollie will be thrilled with how you’re using her sweet designs. This post made me do a little happy dance!
I’m undecided about this. I think blank faces won’t look good stitched, so I’m going to add eyes in Cross Stitch and a mouth in Cross Stitch or Backstitch.
Keep Stitching,
Janet
[...] tips on using raffia are great, and I can’t wait to use them on the manger in the Wild Olive nativity I’m working [...]
[...] Make your own Needlepoint Nativity I have a large collection of nativities. My family… [...]
[...] an aside, you may remember Wild Olive from our free nativity post, those outlines were [...]