Sunday, October 17, 2010

Little Lulu

I have a friend who loves Little Lulu. You have to be of a certain age to remember the comic book character, but she was beloved by many little girls at one time. My friend believes she even looks like Lulu. She has long, dark, naturally curly hair that tends to hang in corkscrew curls, but I think that's really where the resemblance ends. For quite a while, I've wanted to stitch her something Lulu-related, but apparently that character has not been licensed by the x-stitch pros. So I bit the bullet and adapted a drawing myself. My method is just to trace the design onto tracing paper and then tape it to graph paper printed with the same number of squares per inch as my fabric. Instant chart! Here's the result with plenty of back-stitching to help get the shapes right. She's stitched on 25-ct Vikki linen. I used some DMC color variations for the dress so the color wouldn't be so 'flat'. And that ice cream cone is from the skein of pink Princess floss that I won a while back. I think I'll make it into a little bag of some kind with some cute backing fabric I found today.



I received a lovely surprise gift from Kirsten. It's a luminary made out of card stock with a cross-stitch design. You just put a tea light (battery-powered for safety!) inside. This is so cool, but so difficult to photograph. This photo is showing the light from the lamp behind it. There is no light inside yet. Kirsten used an opalescent fabric so it's really sparkly. And it folds flat so it can be mailed like a greeting card. You can see better photos on Kirsten's blog, the 10-16 entry.



26 comments:

Jackie's Stitches said...

Your friend is going to love the Little Lulu gift. How creative you are to figure out a way to make it work.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! I loved Little Lulu comics! I've been meaning to try this with some Peanuts coloring pages. May I ask where you found the Lulu print? Your friend is going to love this! Thanks for sharing, Nancy Hedghogmom@aol.com

barbara said...

Very cool Little Lulu gift for your friend! :D And speaking of cool, WOW that's a gorgeous gift you received!!

GoldenAngelsWorks said...

I love Lulu.... your friend is so lucky!

Blu said...

What an awesome present! Your friend is so lucky!

I had a couple of my friends discuss Little Lulu the other day and was sure I didn't know her, but if that's her then I remember! I guess the memory is the first to go! lol.

TammyK said...

The Little Lulu turned out great :) Congrats on such a great job!

Jane said...

You've done so well in creating this little treasure. You're friend will be delighted. Love your luminary too.

Olga said...

This is a cute design of Lulu - congrats!
That an interesting gift you've got!

Carol said...

That is great that you were able to design a chart for yourself, Annie! Little Lulu is darling and I know your friend will be thrilled. I think I do remember her from comic books way back when. My mom would only allow us to buy comic books when we were on vacation one week out of each year and I think I bought hers and those old Archie ones! Funny how one little photo can bring back memories...

And what a beautiful gift from Kirsten--I love her freebies!

Margaret said...

Lulu is so much fun! What a great gift for your friend! Love the luminary too -- a sweet present!

Pumpkin said...

Sweet! You did a great job. Definitely looks like Little Lulu ;o)

Now that's a neat idea!

Annette said...

Love little Lulu, you did a great job on making the pattern...

What a beautifull 'card' you got, love the idea of it...

Vinniey said...

Beautiful work, Annie! So cute and pretty! It was fun to design own cross stitch chart isn't it? I'm sure your friend will love it very much. Cool luminary from your friend, you're so lucky, Annie. :) Happy stitching.

Anne said...

Love your Little Lulu! Exactly as I remember her in the comic books! Good for you in making your own design! :)

KarenV said...

I'm not familiar with Lulu as a character, but she looks very sweet :) The gift you received is beautiful, what a clever idea!

Lee said...

What a successful designing effort well done your Little Lulu looks just great.

Karen said...

Annie, you did a fabulous job designing and stitching little Lulu! She looks just like I remember her. You should be proud!

Nancy said...

You did a wonderful job on Little Lulu! I grew up watching her, and I love her to this day! Very nice gift from Kirsten!

Lois said...

Your Little Lulu piece is cute! What a lovely gift you received!

Mylene said...

You made a great job on little Lulu, such a cute design. I am sure your friend will be thrilled.
Beautiful gift recived from Kirsten.

Nicky said...

What a great method to design the chart! She is a sweetie. I love the card you received form Kirsten, what a clever idea.

Phyllis said...

Hello! Somehow this evening while blog hopping, I discovered you.

I loved Little LuLu as well and your rendition is absolutely PERFECT!!

Dani - tkdchick said...

What a fantastic thing you did for your friend!!!

That luminary is so creative!

Siobhán said...

Lulu is adorable!! I am so impressed. I'd never be able to figure out something like that on my own! The luminary is really neat, too. Very clever!

♥ Nia said...

I'm 31 yo and I remember Lulu, I had comic books from her :)
You did a great job to make the chart! Your final work is so pretty :D I bet your friend will love it!!
Great job ;)

Margaret said...

Little Lulu was a very important part of my life as a young girl. I just loved her and love your design and stitching of this childhood friend.