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I'm the same as the original poster. I think we're a minority, but it really doesn't matter as long as all your stitches in a project are going the same way.

I always go //// first round all the color I'm using in that area. I find it so much easier to unpick if I make a mistake. Than I go back round and finish the stitch.

darlenes wrote:

corby_stitcher wrote:I do it this way, - /////// followed by \\\\\\\\\ i find it easier this way being left handed.

I am right handed and do it this way also. I start my piece in the very middle though.

That's how I work too.

I stitch big projects from the middle up and then the middle down or roundabout. Gives me more choice with colours to use from here I find. with smaller projects i stitch from the bottom up from right to left . This is because i was taught to stitch like this /////// and then \\\\\\\\. i stitch in blocks of colour but also fill in the gaps in the rows as I go with the next colour. so long as all your stitches lie in the same direction ie left over right or right over left and not alternating it will look great.

As Jphill11 mentioned: So long as they're going the same way that's what matters I am with the majority.. I start /// and end \\\. What does everyone do for half stitches? I usually do my half stitches the way I start /// but since my full crosses end as \\\ it doesn't feel right..
Faith

Interesting question about the 1/2 stitches. I usually do them /// but its been a while and seems to me that I have had charts which have indicated \\\\ instead. I think //// makes sense because its supposed to be 1/2 and \\\, especially on the higher count fabrics would not always give you the same effect. I think.

Carole

I was always taught you went bottom left to top right first and then come back and go the other way... so.. /////// and then come back \\\\\\... not sure why, it is just what I was always taught to do. Maybe because when you half stitch, you usually go / / / / ....

If I have half stitch and full cross in the same pattern, I just do my half stitch in the same direction of the top leg of the full cross.

And I believe the rule is simply due to the fact that you're supposed to go down where there's a stitch already and up where it's clean, so you don't snag the thread when pulling the needle up through the hole. So if you usually stitch from top to bottom on the fabric, you'd go up on the bottom left and right and down on the top left and right, and if you stitched from the bottom up, then you'd do the opposite.

In the end, as long as the stitches are all in the same direction within a single project, it really doesn't matter which way a person stitches.

I go in whatever direction the pattern takes me and to use the least thread possible.

So if the pattern mostly slants left I stitch \\\
If I'm going from left to right I come up top left and go down bottom right.
If I'm going from right to left I come up bottom right and go down top left.

If the pattern mostly slants right I stitch /// and reverse the above.

Does anybody make stitches by starting top left to bottom right them top right to bottom left or am I doing it all wrong?

Like most others it seems I stitches my /// first followed by the \\\. I start my stitches at the bottom of the leg and go to the top. Thinking about this as I read the posts, I think I also figured out why when I stitch 2 handed, I have my non-dominant hand at the back of my work. I am left handed and while I CAN stitch with either hand at the back, I find I prefer to do so with my right. Looking at the way I form my stitches, on the front it is left to right, so I am always angling my needle when it is in my left hand towards the right hand, and when the needle is in the back of the work in my right hand, the stitches I form point to the left, so the needle is angled to wards the left hand as it comes up through the hole. This just feels more natural as I work.

I think the reason most of us stitch /// first followed by \\\ is that we start at the left side of the work, and this way gives us backs that look like ||| the way they're 'supposed' to. I mean that the first run of stitches would look like /|/|/| if you could see front and back together, and the return stitches would look like \|\|\ .. with the | on the back overlapping each other.

Now I'm wondering.. for those of you who stitch their \\\ first followed by the /// .. are you stitching from right to left or left to right?

I start at the top right of my fabric. Work / from bottom left to top right. Coming back with \ top left to bottom right. I know my backwards stitching came from working on plastic canvas because that's how I worked that.

I'm right-handed and according to directions I've seen I'm also backward when stitching with both hands. Right on top, left hand underneath. I can switch hands for a short time now.

It's what's comfortable for me and staying consistent with the stitches.

I don't think there is any right or wrong way to stitch. Bottom to top or top to bottom or right to left or left to right is IMHO a personal choice. What you are most comfortable with. I usually stitch in what seems to be the "traditional" system of /// bottom to top and then \\\ bottom to top. I also tent stitch some of my HAEDs. As far as I know the only "rule" is that your stitches face the same way. Either //// followed by \\\\ or \\\\ followed by ////. That is one of the best things about cross stitching. Practically no rules!

Carole

I have one project that the stitches are going \\\ then /// Im actually stitching it sideways, bottom to top rather than left to right. the back ( once its turned right way up) is ======
the reversed crosses was unintentional, I noticed it after a while and decided to stick with it rather than frog and restitch.

my usual stitching is ///// folowed by \\\\\ wlth the back going ||||||||

pippahall wrote:Does anybody make stitches by starting top left to bottom right them top right to bottom left or am I doing it all wrong?

the only problem with this method is if your next stitch is directly below the stitch you just completed, as your needle would have to come up the hole you just went down.
it would work ok if you were starting your pattern on the bottom and working up.

rcperryls wrote:I don't think there is any right or wrong way to stitch. Bottom to top or top to bottom or right to left or left to right is IMHO a personal choice.

This is what I think as well. I don't know if I stitch backwards or forwards. The "right" way or the "wrong" way. I've never bothered to figure it out- and I don't care either way. I stitch the way that works for me.

I cross stitch eachnstitch at a time. I go \ then /
Backwards too lol but I have been told it doesnt matter as long as your top stitch is the the same way.

I was taught ////// \\\\\\\ . I generally stitch from the bottom hole. The rest depends on the pattern. I may xxx or start a stitch in the top hole. I have even rotated my fabric a quarter turn, but I always cross my stitches alike. I make half stitches which ever way I need to get the curved edge. I may go up or down on my rows. It just depends on the pattern.

pippahall wrote:Does anybody make stitches by starting top left to bottom right them top right to bottom left or am I doing it all wrong?

I stitch this way too its whatever works for you

Lulu22 wrote:

pippahall wrote:Does anybody make stitches by starting top left to bottom right them top right to bottom left or am I doing it all wrong?

I stitch this way too its whatever works for you

I do i do i do

I also stitch top left to bottom right, then top right to bottom left. I taught myself how to cross stitch and that's just the way I've always done it! The only time I change how I stitch is if I want to go directly below the last cross stitch, so then I start bottom right. If that makes sense! But it's not a problem, and I tend to go wherever the pattern takes me