Experiments for the Chorus of Angels Tablecloth

With sixteen angels to do, it seemed like a good idea to work out a plan of action. My first idea was to have green capes with red stitching and red capes with green stitching, so that was the first thing I tried. Red on green is certainly working, and looking at the comparison between petal stitch or an upward pointing stitch for the trim on the cape, it seemed to me that petal stitch was the clear winner, so I put that in place.

Yes, definitely, that works.

And I like closed feather for the trim around the shoulders, too.

The red neckline and hem – not so much. It looks like a failed attempt to link the trim on the cape, rather than a harmonious trim on a dress. Ugh!

Part of the problem, I think, is that the border is too narrow, but I was afraid of the red pulling itself forward too much.

So, here’s what I’ve settled on.

The cape is edged with Mountmellick stitch, which makes a rather charming edging stitch. I think of it as a cross between blanket stitch and chain stitch, even though it’s not really, and wasn’t used as such originally. The dress edging is much broader than the first one, two rows of up-&-down blanket stitch face to face, and you will note that I’ve patterned them, with a V-shape alternating with a short pair of stitches. Then I’ve added two rows of cable chain stitch to broaden the edging further.