Yet another idea!
Long time readers of my blog know that I use it, not just to talk about the embroidery I’m doing at the moment, but also as a place to put some of my ideas, in the hope that the Search facility will help me find them again, rather than having to paw (I use the word advisedly!) through stacks of paper and notebooks. This is one of those posts!
Some of you may recall that the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists used to send out, not just cards, but little sheets that had angels printed on them. You could press them out and curve them into a cone shape, making a charming little Christmas decoration. I was reminded of them when we got the decorations out of the loft, and found a whole boxful!
It occurred to me that I could use a variation on that little pattern to create a needlelace Nativity scene.
That idea became a bit clearer when I looked at a few of them. If you look at this one, the angel’s wings have clearly been made to represent fabric with a bobbin lace edging laid over it, and if that necklace isn’t based on a piece of tatting, I have never seen tatting before!
Clearly, I would want to tweak the shape a little. Only the angel, of the characters in the Nativity, needs wings, and besides, I think a bit of variation in height would be advisable!
The basic shape can be seen when you open one of them out. The wings wouldn’t be hard to remove, for those that don’t need them. But the shape is fairly simple, and it would mean that I could use really gorgeous thread and stitch, allowing the thread and the stitch to do all the work.
I doubt I will be tackling the idea any time soon – I still have to work out how to create the Baby Jesus in the manger in much the same style! – but I think it would be fun to do.
Kelly Clark has created several Nativity sets that fold in a somewhat similar way. Here is the largest set before it was made up. https://www.clneedlepoint.com/collections/kelly-clark/products/handpainted-needlepoint-kelly-clark-baby-jesus-in-the-manger
Here is a smaller version put together. You get the general idea.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/f9/19/71f919ac591e1db16087d6f14b3e9b42.jpg
I can remember doing angels like that at junior school. I also had some I bought, back in the 70s, made from metallised plastic film, with baubles for heads. And loops of very short tinsel wire for halos. Those had the wings larger, crossed over at the back, which looked better. Very simple. I put six of them on a mobile, three blue and three pink and had another six on my little tinsel tree below it.
The angel would definitely look gorgeous in needlelace
They are charming ornaments and great for storing flat when not on display. I am sure you can work out how to make them with fabric and stitching. Beads, lace and yes, tatting’ would be perfect.
I remember those angels!! What a fabulous idea and a great place to showcase gorgeous threads.
Fabulous idea. I hope you get around to making them.
It would be fun, and that’s one of the reasons I blog, too – to save ideas. Sometimes I look back and wonder where the idea came from! I like this one a lot.