A friend of mine stitched a Bent Creek piece (I think called Flowers in the Springtime) for a friend of hers who was married in November. My friend didn't like the verse at the top, and had her friend come up with an alternate verse she felt more suited their style. She used the personalization chart to stitch that instead, and also changed some of the flower colors to make the piece more vibrant, and the whole thing turned out really neat.

The gal downstairs stitched a different Bent Creek piece for her co-worker for Christmas. The piece was perfect with a cabin and a river, but she wanted "Welcome to our cabin" as a phrase, rather than the alphabet as on the original. I used my designing software and the alphabet on the piece to help her chart that out, and it's really a nice change (and makes it more suited to the person receiving the gift.)

It's easy to get stuck in the rut of "I want it to look just like it does on the cover of the pattern," but sometimes when you're making a gift, or making something for yourself, you had something a little different in mind. Don't be constrained to what you see. What did you have in mind for a piece? Find a pattern that's close, and work your way toward your vision.

The easiest thing to change is colors. I have some customers who like to stitch pieces with cats and dogs, but maybe the patterns don't match their pets. So, a black dog can easily be made into a white dog (or a brown one, or a purple one) with a simple color switch-a-roo. Flowers can be changed, houses modified. You may even have older patterns where the patterns are cute, but the colors look a little dated. Go through your stash and make those changes. Remember that DMC groups colors together in families, so switch some 470's greens to 500's, and you'll have a nice easy update.

You can also change a verse (or add one entirely). If your chart doesn't come with an alphabet to use, there are plenty of alphabet books available, or you can use an alphabet from another chart. You can also remember the occasion by adding names, dates, and locations of significant events.

Embellish a piece to make it more to your liking. A local customer of mine is stitching the Lizzie Kate Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter Samplers (houses with lawns in each of the seasons.) We decided rather than use the buttons called for, it might be fun to have a character on each lawn. So, instead of a package sitting on the lawn outside, she picked out a snowman.

Instead of using French Knots when called for, pick out some beads in the same color to give your piece some sparkling dimension. I stitched a snowman for a Christmas gift, and hung a birdhouse charm I picked up a while back off of one of his branches.

Think outside the box with fabric, too. I am stitching one of the Prairie Schooler Santas on 40-count silk gauze and he's ADORABLE! He'd be really cute on 10-count Tula, too. I'm so glad that everyone is using colored fabrics now...really use that stash of yours, and get creative with the fabrics you choose.

Don't worry about making mistakes -- what's the worst that can happen? If you don't like what you've done, you can just practice your "reverse stitching," and give it all another try.

Best of the holiday season to each of you. "Let there be peace on Earth, and let it begin with me."

© 2007 Theresa Venette. Articles on this site may be reproduced in needlework group newsletters or other handouts with permission of author and proper attribution. Send questions, comments and suggestions to: xspeddler@yahoo.com