How to stitch a Schwalm Shepherd?

You have seen my lovely nativity figures in the previous post and now you want to make your own? Fantastic! Here are the general instructions.

I am using 36ct natural linen even weave from Zweigart as my embroidery fabric. This guarantuees that I get a nice smooth and strong edge for my figures. And once the threads are cut, my embroidery grid is fairly fine so that the filling patterns look like lace. Using an aqua trick marker and a light box, I transferred the patterns onto the fabric. The embroidery is executed with one strand of Anchor coton a broder #25 in navy blue (224) and light blue (237). In order to keep both hands free and my work taut, I am working using a seat frame.

Now start by covering the lines of the figure with neat regular chain stitches. Whenever possible, follow the grain of the fabric meticulously (for instance the base of the jellabiya or the vertical lines of the shepherd's crook). I am using an embroidery needle #7 for this task. Make sure you don't use a tapestry needle as you are not working counted thread embroidery yet. To add some depth to the figure, think about the order in which you embroider the different parts. For instance: the hands are on the crook, but the sleeve of the jellabiya is covering the wrist etc.). It is simple things like this that give your embroideries that je ne sais quoi.

In order to be able to cut the finished figures out, it is necessary to cover those chain stitches that form the outer contour of the figure with neat fairly closely placed buttonhole stitches. The 'edge' of the stitch needs to be on the outside. Again, if possible, follow the grain of the fabric. I still used my #7 embroidery needle for this task as especially on the curved parts, you sometimes need to stitch through the threads of the ground fabric.

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Before the actual Schwalm-fun can start, you will have to prepare the grid. From the back, cut every fourth thread in the horizontal and vertical direction and take them out. In this particular case, I started with the horizontal threads as there is such a nice on the grain edge at the bottom of the jellabiya. This is less of a daunting task as you might think. If, by mistake, you cut the wrong thread (weave it back and) put a little white glue on the cut. Let it dry and nobody will be able to tell once you covered it with embroidery! I like to cut my threads with the embroidery taut in the hoop as I find that, for whatever reason, I make hardly any mistakes. However, some people prefer to take the embroidery out of the hoop. See what suits you best.

And now the real fun starts. Don't forget to put your fabric back in the hoop and to pull it taut. Pick a Schwalm filling pattern that suits your figure. In this case, I opted for another stripy pattern to fill the jellabiya. As I did with Joseph's. This pattern is a little more open, i.e. it does not cover a lot of the fabric. I opted for "Kletterbäume" or climbing trees. As the area of the sleeve is rather small, I only repeated part of the pattern. A trick I used on Joseph too. After all, I stitch the figures, so I make the rules.... It is important to secure your threads well on the back in the previous chain or buttonhole stitches. And to use a tapestry needle, this case #24, so you don't damage the grid accidently.

Only one thing is missing now: a little bit of glittery stuff. Sew down different sizes of gilt spangles with bead-sized pieces of gilt bright check #6. Use a waxed double thread of Güttermann sewing polyester thread #488. Fill the spaces in between the spangles with more pieces (chips) of gilt bright check. The more random you place the spangles, the more bling the end result.

Now it is time to cut out the good shepherd. It is best not to aim for a close cut end result immediately. Cut him out a bit bigger and get closer to the buttonhole edge bit by bit. Again, don't panic if you cut a buttonhole stitch. Keep calm and put some white glue on it. Let it dry and nine out of ten, you don't need to repair it any further by placing a few fresh buttonhole stitches on top. I don't wash my finished figures, but I spray them with a little water to get rid of the aqua trick marker.

I hope you liked my blogpost on the making of a Schwalm shepherd. Have you tried anything similar? Please share it below with us! In the future, I would love to write a post on the work of my readers. So please don't be shy! My next blogpost will feature Christmas wishes and a picture of the finished result of my nativity scene.