THE PLAY'S THE THING

Shakespeare's face is largely defined by the background fabric allowing this piece to stitch up much faster than expected. The design contains several pictorial references to Shakespeare and his works... a pensive fairy at the top-right (from A Midsummer-Night's Dream); a little rose and horse in the bottom-right corner (Romeo and Juliet and King Richard III, respectively); a few notes from Mendelssohn's Wedding March (A Midsummer-Night's Dream); a black cauldron and bats (Macbeth); a thatched cottage (Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife); and, if you look very closely, you'll spot a skull forming amongst the billowing smoke (Hamlet, Prince of Denmark). Three Shakespearean quotes (Portia's touching plea-'The quality of mercy is not strain'd...'; Juliet's famous exclamation-'a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...' and Macbeth's Witches' chant-'double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble...') are also stitched into the piece.

Areas of embellishment are as follows... Fairy's tiara (metallic silver); fairy wings (Old Rose beads); 'S' in Stratford (metallic copper); Shakespeare's face and hair (rayon floss); Mendelssohn's music (metallic silver and copper) and the cauldron (rayon floss).

Fabric for model: 16-count Charcoal/Sage Aida (Zweigart 3251/762/43)

Stitch count: 152 stitches wide x 160 stitches high

Design size: Approx.10" wide x 10" high (when stitched on 16-count fabric)

Threads required: White/DMC 315/DMC 316/ DMC 317/DMC 318/DMC 413/DMC 414/DMC 415/DMC 469/DMC 471/DMC 640/DMC 644/DMC 762/DMC 778/DMC 902/DMC 934/DMC 936/DMC 945/DMC 950/DMC 951/DMC 977/DMC 3012/DMC 3021/DMC 3051/DMC 3687/DMC 3770/DMC 3773/DMC 3787/DMC 3799/DMC 3830/DMC 3855/DMC 3859/DMC 3866/DMC 5279(Metallic Copper)/DMC 5283(Metallic Silver)/DMC 30415(Rayon)/DMC 30930(Rayon)/MILL HILL Petite Glass Bead 40553

Shakespearean Teddy freebie (designed to complement this piece).

Faster, text-based 'Designs' page

Updated: July 2001