This week's post is less about a specific stitch and more about how to mix patterns to fit rigid space definitions.  The backstory is someone asked me for a wallpaper stitch.  My first thought was some sort of huge, open, and fun stitch (my favorite).  Turns out the wallpaper was really columns surrounded by single vertical rows painted in a different color.  This person needed three stripe stitches to fit an overarching wallpaper.  A completely different request, but a great opportunity to mix things up a little.

The trick was to define the dimensions of the individual spaces, find a pattern, and mix stitches to fit that pattern.  Turns out the column width pattern was 10, 2, 3, 2, 10, 2, 3, 2, 10 with a row of plain needlepoint on either side of every column.  So, I needed three stitches, one ten rows wide, two rows wide, and three rows wide.

Here's where I landed.

Clearly, the 10 row column has the most stitching potential.  Any pair of 5X5 squares would fill the width of the space.  A smaller pattern, such as the Star OctagonWoven Hungarian, or even a Tramme stitch would fit.  It's all a matter of personal taste.

The smaller columns are best handled in traditional stripe stitches.  But, don't be afraid to mix it up on the direction.  Mix diagonal and horizontal for a little change of pace.  You could do the over-2 columns in a single row of Tramme, or fill them with Smyrna Crosses from top to bottom.   

In terms of threads for backgrounds, I tend to understate the threads.  The stitched sample on Instagram illustrates the above diagram with a cream Subtlety.  I've seen versions of these columns with the all the columns in a matte thread and the gray lines are in a light sheen metallic.  The small splash of a muted metallic was a nice touch.  The final determination is the space you are stitching.  These are simply thought-starters.


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