Tuesday Tips - Getting Centered

(Okay, so it’s not Tuesday, but it’s been so long I figured I better post anyway!)

In order to start any stitching project, it is proper to start in the middle of your fabric and work out. There is a very good reason for this: if you start in a corner and didn’t measure properly, you might not end up with enough fabric to finish the piece!

Fabric Size

Your fabric should be large enough for your pattern, based on the number of stitches in both length and width, plus about 3 inches around all edges for finishing. To get the proper measurements, you can ask the nice salesperson at the craft store to help or follow these steps (this does require some math):

1.  Determine the total stitches from the pattern. This is usually listed as the pattern dimensions.
2. Divide the number of stitches in the pattern by the count of your fabric to get your total finished piece size. The fabric count is the number of stitches per inch; for example, Aida 14 has 14 stitches per inch.
3. Add 6 inches (3 inches per side) to each dimension.
4. Buy fabric with at least these dimensions.

So if you have a piece that is 112 x 140 stitches (8” x 10”), you will need a piece of Aida 14 count fabric that is 14” x 16.”

Preparing the fabric

You may notice that some fabrics tend to fray at the edges. While this may not be a big deal in the beginning, over time these straggling bits of thread do become annoying. To prevent fraying, either wrap the edges in some masking tape or zig-zag stitch along the edge with your sewing machine.

Finding the Center

Now to the heart of the story: finding the center of your fabric.

To do this, simply fold your fabric in quarters, lengthwise and widthwise. At the folded point, this is your center. Poke a needle into this point so you don’t loose it after you put the fabric in your hoop. This is where your first stitch will be placed.

See this quickie slideshow for some illustrations.

Make sure you find the center stitch of your pattern: it is marked with arrows on the edges of the chart.

For more advanced projects, or if you are undertaking a project that is larger than one you’ve done before, it may be helpful to mark the center with a few basting stitches. Take a piece of thread that is a different color and create very long stitches that cross the center point of your fabric. Make sure they are loose enough so that you can pull them out later, but tight enough that they are useful. It’s a fine line. :-)

Tuesday Tips - Tutorial on how to secure your thread neatly

I was going to save this post for a later date, but I realized I’ve been slacking lately. So here is my first official tutorial! It is also going to be posted on the Etsy CREST blog this week as part of their needlecraft week. (If you don’t follow etsyCREST, you should! :-) )

Many of my friends comment on how neat the back of my stitching is. True, there is a bit of planning involved in my stitching “trail,” but much of it is how I secure my thread when I begin stitching. This may be non-traditional for many and some may feel that I am cheating. It is a sort of knot, which is a no-no in cross stitch! But it’s a nice flat knot, I assure you! (I’m such a rule breaker!) This was taught to me by a friend of my mother’s when I was a few years into my stitching habit.

Note: This only works if you are stitching with an even number of strands.

1. Start by cutting a piece of floss twice as long as you normally work with. I tend to cut mine about arm’s length.

2. If you are stitching with 2 strands (the most common), separate out only 1 strand of floss. Fold it in half and thread the open ends through the eye of your needle, leaving the loop on the end you will stitch with.

3. Bring the needle up through the back and make your first stitch as you normally would. Instead of leaving a “tail” to stitch over, bring your needle through the loop and pull taught. This creates the flat knot. (Images are of the back of the fabric.)

Note: Don’t pull too tight or you risk pulling the knot through to the front.

4. Continue stitching as usual and when you come to the end, thread the needle behind the last few stitches as you normally would. Be sure to clip the threads close to the fabric so you don’t leave thread hanging out. In the images, I started in the bottom left corner and ended in the top left corner.

So essentially the back looks the same as before, you just have fewer “beginning and ending” spots visible, which makes it look just a little cleaner.

Tuesday Tips - Choosing your fabric

The type of fabric you choose can really do wonders for the project you are working on. It can change the texture and add to (or detract from) the artistic style. The weave style, color, and fibers all add to the perfect piece of cross stitch or embroidery fabric.

Weave Style
Most beginner projects are done on even weave fabric called Aida. This fabric comes with nice, neat squares that make it very convenient to match up with the graph lines of your chart. It helps makes basic cross stitches evenly spaced and symmetrical. However, you can see the fabric more clearly in your background.

For more detailed projects, you might want something a little more sophisticated. This may call for a smaller weave fabric like linen or, one of my favorites, Jobelan. Having a smaller weave fabric keeps the background of the design smooth and fresh-looking. Also, creating partial stitches is easier with a smaller weave because you don’t have to try to poke your needle through a mass of fabric – the hole already exists. However, you must be more careful of the tension of your stitches to keep them neat and even.

Uneven weave linen can be more difficult to stitch on because the thread rows are not the same. Distortion of your project may occur. I have not had the opportunity to work on such fabric, so I can’t give a personal account. (Quite frankly, it scares me a little!)

Color
There are so many colors available in fabric choices. Of course, there is the standard white and antique white, but you can work on red, blue, black, pink, or virtually any other color of the rainbow. Your choice may depend on many factors:

1. the color of the room where you will put the final product
2. your choice of complimentary or contrasting color of the design
3. whatever scraps of fabric you have in your inventory

To add to your choices, you not only have solid colors, but hand dyed fabrics as well. These can come in opalescent and other marbled colors that really add texture to your finished piece. A hand dyed blue may be a great look as a cloudy sky on a landscape piece. Here is an example of Silkweaver’s Expressions “Blue Fusion” on Lugana.

Pre-printed fabrics are also available that have a small screen-print design, like hearts, gingham, or stripes.

My tip on color revolves around darkness: dark colors are much more difficult to stitch on so make sure you have plenty of light. It also helps to have something light-colored behind your fabric, on your lap or other work surface, so that you can more easily see the holes.

Fibers
Popular Aida fabrics are created with cotton fibers. Plain, easy to wash, and durable. But there are others: metallic, silk, rayon, perforated paper, and waste canvas.

The softer rayon/cotton blends have a nice sheen to them and are very easy to handle. Many also do not wrinkle easily. Linen and a new piece of Aida can be a bit stiff until you’ve worked with it a while. Metallic is usually a cotton fabric with a few strands of metallic thread woven through to create a look that shimmers. You have to see this style in person, pictures don’t do it justice.

Perforated paper is exactly that: thick paper with holes in it. This is often used to create ornaments or bookmarks because of its durability. It comes in either a plain sheet or pre-cut designs like hearts or doilies. Go to the Kreinik Tokens and Trifles website to see more examples.

Waste canvas is used as a guide for stitching on a piece of fabric that is not made for cross stitch, like a shirt or table linen. You stitch the canvas on top of the shirt just as you would any other project. Upon completion, you simply wet the fabric and gently pull out the waste canvas from the under the stitches, leaving your image untouched.

So, as you can see, it’s not just the pattern that makes your work stand out. The fabric is the foundation of your masterpiece.

Tuesday Tips - Patterns, Patterns Everywhere!

There are so many cross stitch patterns (a.k.a. charts), kits, and designs out there. How do you choose?

What to stitch may be the most difficult question. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you want to create something for yourself or a friend?
2. Do you want to create a picture or other home décor item?
3. For the image, do you want natural scenery, animals, people, or words?
4. How big do you want the item to be?

Once you get an idea of what you want to stitch, determine your experience level. For beginners, there are many kits available. I like kits because they come with just about everything you need to start stitching – chart, needle, thread, and fabric. The only thing you need to own is an embroidery hoop and scissors. You might even find some that come with a hoop you can use for stitching as well as finishing.

Usually beginner projects come as small ornaments since it is easier to do a small project when you are just starting out. Lots of good examples can be found here at 123stitch.com.

There are also weekend kits, designed to be completed in a weekend. These are a little more detailed. You can find all sorts of kits at WeekendKits.com.

Then there are the more advanced charts and kits. Dimensions Gold kits are some of my favorite kits. Some have metallic threads and beads for accents. The thread sorter cards are also a real timesaver, after you finish sorting that is! Putting in a little extra organizational time before you start stitching will really pay in the end. Most colors are pretty straight forward, but make sure you have good lighting when sorting. “Light gold” and “light yellow-orange” may look very similar but serve very different purposes in your pattern!

Now that you have your pattern, how do you read it?

Charts are printed to look like graph paper. Each square contains a symbol that represents a specific thread color. Some graphs are also color-coded, making it easier to read. There is a key included that shows the symbol, color (and number), and number of strands to stitch with. If you are using your own thread, then you are probably using DMC or Anchor brand embroidery floss. Each of these threads are identified with a number. For example, black in DMC is 310 but in Anchor it is 403, so make sure you are using the right brand indicated in the pattern or you could get some interesting color combinations!

If you are using Aida fabric, the most common cross stitch fabric, each square corresponds to a square on your chart. For higher count fabrics where you are “stitching over 2,” a square in the chart is essentially 4 tiny squares in your fabric. (We’ll get to the tougher stuff like this at a later date.)

So there you have it. A few tips on getting started choosing a pattern and what the chart looks like.