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Reverse side

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:23 pm
by vtwin
Hello everyone,

I have finished a kitty starter kit from dimensions and have since started a petite gold kit called Eagles. So far, the back of my new project is neat, however, I can see it getting very messy as the stitching progresses and more colors need to be used and confetti stitches are needed. My questions are:

1) How messy does the back of your project look?

2) Can someone please post pictures of the front and back of the finished project? or of a work in progress? So I can get an idea on how the reverse side compared to the finished project should look. Especially a project with a lot of confetti stitches in it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:29 pm
by LadyS
You can search in the tip ands trick forums for a topic on backs, but finding those willing to share the back of their projects is not an easy task. Most of us go with the motto "If you're framing it, the back doesn't matter". :P

But there are topics on how to make the back cleaner and in the end it's practice that makes perfection.

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:34 pm
by Fljotsdale
When you have larger areas of a single colour, it's no problem to keep the back neat... however, confetti totally alters the story! And with LOTS of confetti the back will look more like a rug than anything else, regardless of tips on how to minimise the mess! :shock:

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:39 pm
by LadyS
So true, Fljots, on Starry Night I think there's more thread volume in the back than in the front of my work, it's SUPER thick. :shock:

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:36 am
by rcperryls
Backs, unless they are on something that will be seen, are generally irrelevant in my viewpoint. And if there is a lot of confetti they will be messy almost as a given. As Laura said you will find some threads here in the tips and tricks forum. I really think it depends more on the pattern than anything.

Carole
:D

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:11 am
by Rose
I agree with rc, the back is the back for a reason it is not suppose to be the same as the front.

I hold to the idea, that as long as a bird does not mistake the back of your work for it's nest then it is good and no one should be looking at it anyway. :D

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:20 am
by rcperryls
Rose wrote:
I hold to the idea, that as long as a bird does not mistake the back of your work for it's nest then it is good and no one should be looking at it anyway. :D
@rotfl: that is the best answer I have ever seen about backs.

Carole
:lol:

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:02 am
by spinnerbeck
OMG - a bird's nest...that IS so funny!! I agree with Carole though and several others. Stitching is something to be enjoyed and as long as you can carry without getting tangled up in stitches coming through the front and you are going to frame it, then go for it! Too many years I stitched for everyone else's approvall now I just stitch for me!

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:28 am
by Mrs Milkybar Kid
Rose wrote:I hold to the idea, that as long as a bird does not mistake the back of your work for it's nest then it is good and no one should be looking at it anyway. :D
Rose, you make me laugh - I almost spat out my coffee when I read that @rotfl: so true! I'm far more concerned about what the front looks like - no one is going to be seeing the back when it is hanging on my wall!

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:01 am
by Serinde
Rose, very true!

There are reasons to try to minimise "birds nest syndrome", of course. The main one being that a truly impossible back full of knots makes it difficult to frame the finished work flat. Neat backs also use less thread, which might be a consideration (my new HAED calls for 31 skeins of black :shock: ), and the costs of specialty threads are eye-watering enough.

But suffice it to say that the front is the point. We're not running a Victorian girl's orphanage, after all.

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:20 am
by LastingAllure
Serinde wrote:Rose, very true!

There are reasons to try to minimise "birds nest syndrome", of course. The main one being that a truly impossible back full of knots makes it difficult to frame the finished work flat. Neats backs also use less thread
Yes this is the main reason I try so hard to finish off my backs neatly...I usually succeed too! I try to finish off my threads in different surrounding areas than in the same spots or I park my threads until there is enough surrounding area to finish them off completely! And if I have to skip a couple spaces I try to run the thread under a few threads in the back even if it is just a few spaces....anything more then 4 (Unless another color is for sure being stitched in the gap).

I know I don't have much confetti in this piece I am working on now but I will post my backside of it! Image

It is partically a mirrored image of the pattern...even in person you can see the shading of the face :shock:

Hope I helped a little!

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:28 am
by Fizzbw
Lasting Allure, no it didn't help at all! You must be an alien to get a back that tidy!!! Wow wow wow! Well done!! :dance:

My backs are pretty nesty, in confetti places. Even starting with the loop start I have a bad habit of tailing threads a wee bit too far...

Niki xxx

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:19 pm
by Fljotsdale
As Serinde said: knots and lumps are BAD! BAD! BAD! cos the pic will never sit flat in the frame. So be careful not let the threads knot up (let the threaded needle hang loose to untwist every few stitches, or it will knot), and be careful not to end off a thread, or slip it under other threads, in the same place - if it can be avoided - or you will get a lump.
And as others have said - DO look in the hints and tips section for ways of minimising the problem. You won't eliminate it, but you CAN minimise it!

The loop start is one useful method: http://www.better-cross-stitch-patterns ... start.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

I noticed in this explanation something called 'fray block' which looks useful. Anyone used it? Is it any good?

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:34 pm
by jocellogirl
I'm a bit OCD about the back :oops: I try and pass the thread underneath stitches and don't really carry for more than 4 or 5 stitches if I can help it. This is the back of Gazebo which is just pure confetti.
Image
I haven't got Rhyme & Reason with me at the mo, but it's a bit more congested, as it is 2 over 1 full stitches on 25 count, whereas Gazebo is 2 over 1 on 14 count. The extra room makes all the difference. I'm learning to be a little less hung up on the back being a mess though, as with R&R I'd be a nervous wreck if I was striving to make the front a mirror image of the front, but like Rose and so many others have said, it's the front that matters the most.

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:36 pm
by Lessa54
Serinde wrote:But suffice it to say that the front is the point. We're not running a Victorian girl's orphanage, after all.
@rotfl: Just imagine if we were!

I do try and minimise nestiness, but even with the pinhead start and the loop start, some backs are more rugs than anything else.

Jo - you are a freak :lol: :lol: :lol: If I get brave enough, might take a piccie of the back of Sunday Island

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:42 pm
by jocellogirl
Lessa54 wrote:Jo - you are a freak :lol: :lol: :lol:
@rotfl: Aww, thanks :wub:
You guys say the nicest things!!!!!!

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:06 pm
by Fizzbw
Well, I'll be brave and post a picture of my current back! Areas of lots of colours and confetti, and others of one colour....

Image

I tend to frame things with wadding under them, but even without there is no real issue about flatness. I don't start with knots, although I do put a wee knot in the end of the thread when starting with a pinhead as otherwise I pull the thread too far!

Niki xxx

Eta: it actually looks worse than it is, some look like knots which aren't.

Re: Reverse side

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 2:16 pm
by louisb1304
Fizzbw wrote:Well, I'll be brave and post a picture of my current back! Areas of lots of colours and confetti, and others of one colour....
Image
I like fizz' backside :oops:

Mine look like this one too :roll: