You may want to "paint" your Victorian Miniatures or stitch a neighborhood of "painted ladies". Here are some suggestions to get you started designing your own color schemes along with some examples I have worked up for myself. You are welcome to use these schemes, but I hope you will experiment with designing your own.
Make a copy of your house chart and then color in your ideas with colored pencils or pens to use as a color guide for stitching. You may want to check your own historic neighborhoods or districts or Victorian house publications for color scheme ideas. If your house will end up in a precut 5" x 7" mat, consider coordinating the color with those available in the precut mats.
Generally, these little houses have five separate color areas:
| #1 | Roof and Windows | usually dark charcoal |
| #2 | Main Body Color | up to four shades of one color - light to dark |
| #3 | Trim Color | contrasts with body color |
| #4 | Accent Color | small amount of bright color that can be worked into some but not all of the houses |
| #5 | Window Curtain and Steps | usually light gray |
The symbols on the chart will help you to identify how many shades of each color are needed. Remember that the same symbol on the original black and white chart may translate to different colors on your colored chart depending on what part of the house they appear. For example, in my color scheme for the "Gothic Revival", the symbol "/" on the black and white chart translates to "dark mauve" (DMC 315), which is in the shadows on the main body of the house, and to "medium gray" (DMC 648), which is also in the shadows but on the trim. It's important to keep your wits about you and an open mind as you go through this conversion process because you want to put colors and shadings where they work best for you. After you have made your floss color selections, make a note of the color numbers on your chart. Whether you choose serene or psychedelic, you're sure to enjoy playing with colors on these Victorian Miniatures.
IMPORTANT TIP:
When stitching the colored versions of the Victorian
Miniatures, stitch
all cross stitches and partial stitches first, then work the black
outline stitches.
For coloring suggestions for a specific
design, please click on the design name below.
© 1996-2016 Nancy Spruance. All rights reserved.