Little Angels (1) – Hairstyles and Faces

When embroidering the little angels, it makes sense to start with the hairstyle (2 strands of 6-ply stranded cotton). And depending on your preference, the angels can have the same or different hairstyles. With a parted hairstyle, the stitching should commence at the apex with alternating short and long stitches.

Subsequent rows of stitching consist of long stitches placed between the stitches of the previous row.

At the edge, the needle should emerge outside of the previous stitch. In this way, the edge becomes relatively smooth.

Stitching so that the needle emerges inside the previous stitches, one could create an overall shaggy effect.

After completing the hairstyle, the rest of the facial outline can be worked. It’s preferable to stitch the face’s outline after the hairstyle because one will be able to see the remaining parts of the head outline.

Fine outlining of parts such as face or hands is best done with wrapped Back stitches. One can use coton à broder No. 30 or 2 strands of 6-ply stranded cotton.

The outline is first covered with Back stitches.

On the way back, each Back stitch is wrapped once.

This creates a fine line that can adapt well to any curve.

Again, you can choose from many different possibilities for the design of the face – if you want to design it at all.

Here I have worked the mouth with a Straight stitch; it has been couched in the middle, which pulled the stitch downward into a smile.

One could complete the mouth with another short stitch

to establish an open mouth.

The eyes shown here were worked with three short stitches, which are very close to each other. The middle stitch is slightly longer than the lateral stitches.

Additionally, one can add eyebrows.

There are many possibilities for further hairstyles and facial designs. Here are a few examples:

Flips can be worked with Wide Stem stitches (Early Schwalm Whitework, page 5).

And the space between the facial outline and hairstyle edge can be filled with several rows of Wide Stem stitches.

A small fringe adds a cute accent to the hairstyle.

Short curls can be worked with double open Lazy Daisy stitches.

Here are some more possibilities:

Many more possibilities for creating hairstyles can be found in the article Follow-up of the Angels Meeting (2) – The Hairstyles.

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