What do you think of this chart

[roo_bear]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to ask what you thought of this? Its the first time I have tried to chart something other than text but I have had a look online and through my magazines and can't find a rock hand anywhere, so have attempted to chart one myself. It's something I have in mind for my boyfriend but what he seems to want I'm really not sure I am capable of, I'm relatively new to cross-stitching and I'd really like to do this for him especially since his mums sampler went down so well, but I'm not sure I can, it won't just be the hand there will be text too but I haven't got round to charting that yet. He wants a black background (probably have to get black fabric not sure I bring myself to stitch a whole black background, have feeling its going to be a big project) and flames around the text and hand. also can anyone recommend thread colours for the hand, preferably hand coloured.

[tiffstitch]

I think the little finger should be a bit taller, but otherwise, very cool. Maybe 2 rows? Just seems stunted to me.

[Squirrel]

Great charting and I agree with Tiffany, the little finger needs to come up a little bit.

[karen4bells]

Great charting and I agree with Tiffany, the little finger needs to come up a little bit.

I totally agree! Great charting

[rcperryls]

I agree with the others. If you change the little finger it will be a great chart. Very creative.

Carole

[wendywombat]

Ditto!!

Well done! What will you do with this?

[tiffstitch]

Forgot to add, there's a ton of colours you could use for the hand. What shade were you thinking? DMC 945 is a good colour for Caucasian, but you could do any colour. It's a neat motif.

[Amanda G]

I think it's pretty good for your first non-text chart. I've sat in front of my PC doing the hand position and it looks accurate to me.
Colours: I'd go for DMC 3770, 945 and then 754 for the darker shades. Or 3770 and 945 if you only wanted 2 colours.
I've also sent you pm.

[roo_bear]

Ok downloaded myself a free charting program which uses DMC colours. What do you think of this? I have lengthened the fingers as suggested and made the hand a bit fatter, I used 945 and 3770 for the actual hand and 310 for the nails and 310 and 415 for the studded bracelet.


Do you think I'd need to back stitch around it and would I need a different colour for that?

[geekishly]

I don't think it needs any backstitch with the way you've selected the colors. However, if after you've stitched it up, you think it needs some, then I'd go ahead and toss that in. Also, I think this might stand out really nicely on some red aida.

[karen4bells]

very nice, and I agree with Brandi about the backstitching

[JulieBean]

Nice chart! If I may suggest some back stitching might help bring out the studs a bit. A nice silvery metallic might look cool.

[geekishly]

Nice chart! If I may suggest some back stitching might help bring out the studs a bit. A nice silvery metallic might look cool.

Good idea! If she made a giant X through the center of each stud, it would give them the 3D look of the pyramid shaped studs. And maybe for the two on the end that are supposed to be a sort of side view, it might do some good to put in some three quarter stitches to really give them the right look to match the center studs.

[roo_bear]

Nice chart! If I may suggest some back stitching might help bring out the studs a bit. A nice silvery metallic might look cool.

Good idea! If she made a giant X through the center of each stud, it would give them the 3D look of the pyramid shaped studs. And maybe for the two on the end that are supposed to be a sort of side view, it might do some good to put in some three quarter stitches to really give them the right look to match the center studs.

That sounds like a good idea, I was thinking of maybe doing the studs in a metallic thread but would that look too sparkly for a rock look would you think the X in metallic would look good? My bf has asked for it to be done on black aida.

[rcperryls]

If you think a metalic thread will be too sparkley blend it with the floss you are using. That gives it a good sparkle like a metal would be, but not too much. I think that would look good on the studs.

Carole

[geekishly]

I agree with Carole. Mixing a metallic and non-metallic thread will cut down on the shine while giving it a metallic look. A single strand of metallic floss might look good for the backstitch on it. I'd find a scrap piece of cloth to test out your different options for the studs to find out what looks best.

If you're doing it on black cloth, you may or may not need to do a backstitch around the wristband. That's something you'll have to decide once it's stitched up. You might want to go for a very dark grey instead of black for it so that it's not the same shade as the cloth.

[JulieBean]

I also think if you are doing this on black you will need to back stitch the wristband to off set the black on black.