Sprite Stitch Board!

Hello! I am in desperate need of help, and y'all are my last hope.

I am making customized stockings for my family this Christmas, and I want to make a Monkey Island stocking for my boyfriend. I've been trying to run this picture through free pattern programs, photoshop, vector processes... everything. I can't get it to look good: I lose all the facial detail and I can't seem to get the minor image alteration to look right . I found a different Monkey Island image on the pattern page that looked amazing, and I was hoping someone could work similar magic on this image.
I'm hoping to get the black border taken off, and Santa's sleigh (in sillhouette form) up in the top right corner of sky.

The stocking is 14 in tall x 10 in wide, with the toe on the right side.

I am at the end of my rope and really appreciate any help!

A couple of questions for you. Do you know the thread count of the fabric you will be using? Do you want the whole image to part of the stocking or just part of it? If you want just part of the image, which part and do you have a pattern for the stocking itself? As in a template?

The smaller the count on the fabric the more detail you will get. I'll try to do something with it this weekend as I have a test tomorrow.

I usually use Aida 14, but a if you think another count would be better, I will use whatever Aida gives me the best detail.

I have a template, so the whole image is going to be stitched then formed to the template.

Thank you so much!!

Ok. I have a picture that I put together with what you want. I cropped your image so that it has only the important parts so that it would fit into the size that you were wanting. Let me know what you think and I'll make a pattern for it. I also think that 18ct or higher would be better as you would be able to keep the details that you were wanting.

It's perfect!

Wonderful! I should have the pattern posted sometime tomorrow.

Here is the pattern for 22ct. This should give you the most detail that you are looking for. I would also recommend taking the picture with you when you get your colors as KG-Chart tends to go to the darker side when choosing them. It's a little wider than you probably need/want, so you might have to some adjusting there.

YOU ARE AMAZING. Thank you so much!!!

If you have a blog or Tumblr, I would be happy to promote it on my blog/Tumblr, as a way of saying thank you. You've basically just saved Christmas for my family lol.

You're welcome. Unfortunately I do not have a Tumblr or blog though I do have a Deviantart account (ameliarose22).