Hiding thread ends when doing half crosstitches

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pekay
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Hiding thread ends when doing half crosstitches

Post by pekay »

I am working on a cross stitch design which uses half cross stitches in part of the design. I am having trouble with the thread ends showing through and looking untidy and being seen through the design if that makes sense. I am not having a problem starting, just in finishing off the threads. The problem is occurring as the shape of the half cross stitch part of the the design is irregular with some of the stitches being single. Any ideas on how I can make the ends less noticeable would be appreciated.
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richardandtracy
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Re: Hiding thread ends when doing half crosstitches

Post by richardandtracy »

I am not a highly experienced stitcher, but as no-one else has answered, I will try.

Can I suggest that you thread the end of the cotton under stitched areas until you reach an area that is fully cross stitched and then finish off as normal there? It could work. The alternative would be, at framing time, to slip little fabric coloured bits of card between the visible treads and the back of the fabric.

I suspect, though, the tails won't actually be as visible as you think when not really closely looking at the work.

Regards,

Richard.
http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk
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Allyn
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Re: Hiding thread ends when doing half crosstitches

Post by Allyn »

Where are you anchoring the end tails? I guess I'm not clear on exactly what is showing. Are you making half crosses and then carrying the thread over to the nearest full crosses to anchor the tail? If that's the case, instead of doing half-crosses, do a tent stitch. It looks the same on the front, but you have more 'material' on the back to anchor a tail without carrying it.
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pekay
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Re: Hiding thread ends when doing half crosstitches

Post by pekay »

Thank you for your suggestions. The half cross stitches form clouds in the design I am doing and some of it is close to completed work where threads can be hidden but much of it is not. I am able to start rows without having a thread to hide, so I am thinking that if I start the rows where the clouds are in thin air so to speak, I can then hide the thread ends under the completed work, however this will not be the solution in some places. The length of the clouds is quite long so does at times necessitates changing thread midway, so that is where the main problem lies as far as threads showing. So far I have been anchoring the threads under the half cross stitches but this is what is appearing as unsightly so I plan on unpicking what I have done so far and trying again. I am stitching on Aida. I do not know what a tent stitch is.
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richardandtracy
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Re: Hiding thread ends when doing half crosstitches

Post by richardandtracy »

I think the type of tent stitching Allyn is talking about would be as follows (trying to describe in words what a diagram is best for)

When working from left to right in a horizontal row, starting at the leftmost stitch square:
Bring needle up to front of fabric from through top right hole.
Put needle down through bottom left.
Move to stitch 2, needle up through top right hole, and back through bottom left. This leaves a longish diagonal thread on the back, which when you have a number of stitches next to each other, gives somewhere to anchor the threads.

Regards

Richard.
http://www.chestnutpens.co.uk
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