Category: Funk & Weber

Today we have eleven almost-monochromes for Monochrome Monday. This is the Let There be Night collection by Funk & Weber.

From the Designer

They’re here! Our best-selling silhouette patterns all together in a single e-book. You asked for it; you’ve got it! Now you can print only the pages you need and feel free to mark them up as you stitch—you’ll always have a clean copy. Because the designs are all the same size, you can rotate them through a single frame (or two or three).

• Celebrate holidays (Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Christmas)
• Celebrate seasons
• Celebrate different places in the world

Of course, you can always finish them as pillows, quilts, placemats, etc., too.

• silent night – First in the Let There Be Night series, this charming white-on-black design has just a touch of color shining through the cabin window and Orion in the sky.
• arctic night – A polar bear peeks into an igloo and reflects the light within. As in real life, the Big Dipper (complete with a double star on the handle) points to the North Star.
• the night before christmas – Festive colors in the cabin window and on the lead reindeer’s nose! Reins sparkle when stitched with Kreinik tapestry braid.
• antarctic night – At the south pole, Emperor penguins gather on an ice floe in the moonlight.
• looner night – At a peaceful cabin on a lake, loons call and geese fly in the moonlight.
• african night – In Africa, a zebra and giraffe graze on the plain in the moonlight.
• dead of night – For extra spook, stitch with Kreinik glow-in-the-dark thread.
• night howl – Coyotes howl and an owl hunts in the desert moonlight. ow-WOOOOoooOOO!
• lovely night – Linger on this Lovely Night. Will you be my Valentine?
• night lights – It’s the best view in the city. (If you ask me what city, I’ll say Mike-alopolis.) City lights reflect in the water on this moonlit night.
• “bearly” night – In the bamboo forests of China, it’s “bearly” night and time for a bite.

Why these charts?

These charts are from my stash.  I love Jen’s use of colour. The trick is that you stitch white floss on black fabric giving an Assisi feel to the completed project.

Jen also links to how-to articles on her site that might help you to stitch these designs, including:

• how to cross stitch on dark fabrics
• how to make french knots
• starting thread with a pinhead stitch

However like all monochrome projects, you can easily stitch black on white or any combination of colours you care to imagine. Try bright colours on a white background for an Andy Warhol look, or try reverse stitching as shown below:

Due to only using complete crosses and a little back-stitch, I recommend these designs for everyone looking to stitch something a little different, from beginner to advanced stitcher.

Review

You can buy these charts individually, they are printed on US Letter (9 x 11″) white cardstock folded in half. The cover picture on the front, the stitching instructions on the back and the chart across the internal of the card.

Or if you love the series you can buy the set as an e-book directly from Funk & Weber.

In both the printed and e-book forms, the design symbols are very easy to see and to differentiate.  In the e-book, the background grid lines may print a little too pale, so make sure you print the chart pages on your “best” setting.

The projects are quite small, each designed to fit inside a 5 x 7″ frame, so each chart in the e-book  is on its own page, including the instructions.

All projects use DMC threads on plain fabric so you can change these to your heart’s content, or stitch them as is.

 Materials Required

To stitch the charts exactly as designed, you will need:

 

1 skein – DMC White, plus a snippet of other colours, varying per chart.

 

Zweigart – 32ct Belfast Black (stitch count 100 x 64). This design can be stitched over 2 or over 1.

For 16ct Aida or 32ct evenweave (with 3″ border allowance) fabric size is: 12½” x 10″  or  31 x 26cm  or  a fat eighth (13  x 18″).

If you reduce your margin size to 2″ you can fit this on an ornament cut: 9″ x 13″

Approximate cost for Project

Approximate cost to stitch each Let There Be Night design using the recommended materials (prices are in $US, at recommended retail and do  not include postage):

Chart: $ 6.00
Floss:  $ 1.33
Fabric: $4.37

Total: $11.70    ($24.50 AUD or £19.35)

As many of these designs use the same colours, this price could be reduced further.

Places to Buy

Funk & Weber: Individual printed charts sell for $6.00 each (plus postage) or the e-book of the entire series of eleven charts sells for $45.00.

Australia:

Colours Down Under has all the threads in stock. Jo would be happy to order in the individual charts, and offers a 10% discount on the package (chart + floss). Mention this review when ordering.

Colour Cascade Fabrics has a variety of dusk, twilight and almost black fabrics for you to make your design unique. Tammy offers a 15% discount for readers of this site. Code is: CSReview. Offer ends 6 December 2014.

United Kingdom:

SewandSo offers a variety of threads and fabrics.

Sparklies suggests “Ink or Pitch, or Moonlighting or Midnight”.

United States:

123Stitch stocks all items for you to complete these designs.

Discussion

Would YOU stitch one of these charts?  Would you stitch white on black, or black on white or reverse stitch black on white, or would you use a dawn or dusk or twilight fabric?  How would YOU stitch one of these?

Feedback

Did you like this review? Did it contain all the expected information? Is there anything you would like added or removed from the reviews? Do you know of a particular chart or designer you want to see featured here? If so, please head to the Suggestions page and let me know.

Was this read worth a cup of coffee?