Even though the finished piece will be loaded with lots to trim, it will look better if the untrimmed tree looks more realistic.
It’s a small thing, but having a variety of colors as the background for the trim will make it pop just that much more. With the changes in color your attention will be directed to the trim because the tree looks dimensional and “right.” The flat coloring of a solid thread will draw more attention to itself. Maybe not consciously, but unconsciously you will pause because it isn’t quite right.
With this in mind I decided to use two shades of Lorikeet wool. The varied tones and soft texture will look good against the harder surfaces of the embellishments.
Beginning with the lighter color I stitched modified “clumps.” Instead of being discrete clumps, the color does change and they snake down the tree in longer curves. I tried to have some of them stop behind ornaments or continue on both sides of an ornament.
While I did not stitch behind tinsel hanging on the edges of the tree, I did switch the slant so that all the branches were solid. You can see the result on the bottom part of the tree.
Once I had stitched about half the tree I switched to the darker color. Here I did more clumping. I would stitch around in an area until the color changed and then move to another area. You can see this on the top of the tree.
I really love the result. I like how the color changes.
Finally I traced the shape for the background. I used a small ramekin for the top The left half of the inner line shows the actual shape of the ramekin, which I then moved over to make the round top big enough. Since the background will be solid stitching, this isn’t a problem.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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