CROSS STITCH DESIGNS
'ALICE' Design Diary
I've wanted to design an 'ALICE' piece for some time. But have always been very conscious of the fact that an enormous number of very talented illustrators have already produced some exceptional personalities based on Lewis Carroll's quirky stories.
To complicate the matter even further, there's also the fact that Alice's adventures are an extraordinary mix of fantasy, innocence, 'frightmare' and dream...
We first meet Alice on a hot, sleepy day as she's trying to decide whether she really wants to bother picking daisies.
Please click on the thumbnails to continue your exploration of "Alice".
To me, Alice seems to be an intelligent, but bored, little girl who wishes that her life (or at least her afternoon) was more exciting.
After falling asleep beside her pre-occupied older sister, her subconscious begins to play tricks on her.
After tumbling down a rabbit-hole, Alice's adventures become even more surprising when she discovers a tiny golden key.
The Mad Hatter was the first character in this design to really assert his personality. As you can see, from his frosty stare in the pencil sketch to our left, I hadn't yet decided whether to create somewhat scary characters or transform them into something a little more benign.
Please click on his sketch to find out what direction he took.
The Queen of Hearts is one of the most malevolent characters that Alice meets in Wonderland.
She has some rather peculiar gardening practices too...
"Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" Alice's frantic guide to Wonderland is the anxiety-ridden White Rabbit.
A cute little white rabbit would be nice but...
The Cheshire Cat had an irritating and ridiculous smile.
He also had an annoying habit of disappearing all the time...
Aside from 'Jabberwocky', the Mock Turtle's 'Soup Song'... "Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, Waiting in a hot tureen!..." is my favourite Lewis Carroll poem.
So, of course, the Mock Turtle had to be included in this piece.
Orange marmalade; currant cake; comfits; magical mushrooms; tea; bread and butter; a large number of tarts and... a little bottle with a label that simply says "DRINK ME".
Wonderland is full of temptations.
Thank you very much for taking this little tour of "Alice"... I hope you enjoyed it. Lynne
If you'd like more details about stitching this design, please click here.
If you'd like to see how other designs were developed, please visit... Design Storyboards.