Help with pet fur?

gelflin · Post by **gelflin** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:38 pm

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on pet fur infesting your stitching? I have two cats both of which are house cats, and I am assuming this is why they both seem to be permanently moulting! We hoover the house every other day including all the soft furnishings, yet no matter how much I try I end up having to de-fur my project every few stitches. Now while I may be stitching a Snow Leopard and can appreciate my cats enthusiasm on a realistic finish I would love any advice you can offer.

It probably doesn’t help that they seem drawn to my sewing box as a comfy cushion, suddenly want to be fussed on my lap only when I am stitching or just cant resist that trailing thread disappearing through the fabric. Is it only my cats that have these quirky natures or is anyone else suffering? At the moment my sewing box, threads box, and finished or WIP projects get sealed in plastic then bunged in the cupboard in an attempt to keep them clean and safe.

Any tips, advice or sympathising welcomeâ€¦..

Serinde · Post by **Serinde** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:44 pm

Don't fight it. Most of my stitching has labrador hair in it. It'll wash out eventually. With luck.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 9:53 pm

hehe and mine has bunny fur! *despaires as they're going to start malting again soon*

I think masking tape, not cellotape, but that weak pathetic stuff you wonder why you ever bought. I think that would work, not sticky enough to pull threds but strong enough to attract hairs. I'm not sure mind you, so do test it out on something first. But you know those rollers you can get for clothes? I think masking tape is the same stuff. And I know those clothes rollers are saints. I wear a lot of delicate hand embroidered clothes and silks and such and those rollers get the rabbit hair off but don't damage the clothes.

gelflin · Post by **gelflin** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:35 pm

Yay for the sticky roller things

Both me and my Husband are romantic goth (all that lovely historical dress, sumptous velvets and soft swishy silks.......

) nearly everything we own is black, I really must remind myself that next time we get pure black cats!

For a mad insane moment I nearly put the roller to the cross stitch, then I had a sudden memory of the roller snagging on one of my dresses...... disaster avoided!!

@ Jayms_fallen_angel:
Are your bunnies house rabbits? we have two house rabbits, we arent sure of their breeding (we take on rescued animals). We got them as babies and they could fit on our hands, now they are as big as our cats. They are so beautiful, we love bunnies here my Husband goes all squishy over rabbits

The grey one is Myst, she feels like a chinchilla and the pattern of the fur is the same....sooooo soft. The fluffly white rabbit is Imladris though we all call her Miffy and she is my baby, very much a mummys girl.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:44 pm

It's kinda hard to see from that picture, but does myst resemble this? There's a breed of bunnies called Chinchillas. They have the same fur pattern and there's some people who believe that the rabbits are softer than chinchillas.

Yes, mine are both house bunnies and rescues. These are mine:

Charm is the Harlequinn. He's a French lop (That's 2ft long and over 14lbs). The black one is Destiny, she's only a fraction smaller than charm as she's a French Lop Cross. I rescued Charm myself (Your heart will break if I tell you what they did to him!) and I got Destiny from a rescue centre.

Ooooh I love romantic goth. I don't really know what I count as other than a tight lacer. See I'll dress in Lolita, 12th centuary, victorian, rennaissance, and still go out in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. The only thing that really stays consistant is my corsets. Which I tight lace. I love feeling beautiful and feminine, but other than the swishy floaty sleeves and corsets I don't really have a prefference for one style over another.

Jilly · Post by **Jilly** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:06 pm

Love the bunnys Gelflin

I had a bun very like Myst, she was from a pet shop, they had her in with a guinea pig so we had them both, she cleaned that little lad till he gleamed, the happy noises he made when she cleaned him were so funny

gelflin · Post by **gelflin** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 11:56 pm

Myst does look like the photo in the link Jayms_fallen_angel, she has that same sort of striped flecking. One of her hairs has at least six shades of grey (hmmmm a good cross stitch study me thinks

). Her fur is unbelievably soft, like a slight brush of air on your fingers.

Your bunnies are adorable I love lop ears and they have the best natures, perfect for house rabbits. Charm certainly looks like a character and Destiny looks like a cuddly sweetie. Its nice to chat with fellow rabbit lovers.

I dont like labels on style but sometimes its easier to brand yourself for others to understand. I LOVE corsets they are a passion of mine, we should be revelling in our beautiful feminine figures, men should be gentlemen, women strutting like peacocks in their finery .......*mental note I must remember not to get my soap box out*

I have stopped rambling now

it really is nice to talk to others with similar loves and passions, for the last year I have been housebound and even then wheelchair bound in the house. I miss talking to nice people like yourselves and I want to thank you for returning that important part of life.

lacemaker2004 · Post by **lacemaker2004** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:15 am

Hi
To answer your original question. I have two dogs and three birds so I find fur a lot of the time in my stitching and my lace. I keep a pair of needle nose tweezers that I bought at a fishing and hunting store for picking out the ones as I catch them going in. In our lacemaking we also use those rubber jar grippie disks for picking up the strays on the surface. It's does a pretty good job of getthing the surface ones and doesn't leave any residue or catch on anything.

Shirley, Nym, Nika, Ellie and Lila have all contributed to my stitching in one way or another.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:18 am

Then in all licklyhood Myst is probably a chinchilla breed, I can't help you on Miffy though. I'm not very good with uppy ears (I know three breeds). I ADORE lops though and Charm was listed as a drawf lop *snorts in laughter* so I had to reserch into lop breeds to find out what he was.

I'm doing a chinchilla cross stitch for my mom. Standard grey, so the same colours as your Myst. There are a lot of greys in it. A LOT! I sat there

when the threads came. They're so similar too.

Charm is my cuddly bunny. He had a habbit of jumping onto my bed and demanding fusses and if you didn't fuss him he'd pee. He's never more happy than when he's getting nose scratches or eating his herbs (That bunny is seriously addicted to herbs). Destiny is referred to as either scamp or trouble. She's always scampering and getting in trouble. I love talking about pets. So yeah, feel free to talk about pets all day with me.

hehe I'll get on the soap box with you! Men should be gentlemen, with respect and manners and honour! Women should be delecate beauties embracing their femeninity! That is how it should be. My mom get's soooo rilled when I say that though, she has no idea where my "Strange ideas" come from

It was great during classical civilizations class in college, when I had a femenist teacher and was sat there agreeing with the classical attitudes ^_^ It got pretty funny.

Oh ramble all you like, I do. And I'm glad to talk to you, you seem like someone Ill end up calling a friend. Why are you in a wheelchair? Is it that M.E in your signature links? Yes, Angel is a nosey cow, tell her to shut up at any point.

gelflin · Post by **gelflin** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:43 pm

No its fine â€˜nosey’ is good

. yes its my M.E. that has left me wheelchair bound. We are trying to raise awareness of it, so its great when someone asks. In this country it is wrongfully put under the term CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), our government refuses to accept the WHO (World Health Organisation) classification that â€˜M.E.’ is a neurological and physical illness. M.E. sufferers are afflicted with more than just chronic fatigue.

I am one of the unlucky ones that has gone on to the late and most severe stages of M.E., I have developed POTS, Fibromylagia, severe cardiovascular dysfunction and a low immune system. It also causes cognitive dysfunction which is probably the thing that has made me feel it is a soul destroying illness to live with. Its effects, pain and disabling effects are comparable to M.S. No one has yet found the cause of this illness and research funding has been cut to one of the groups that has had the most success in understanding M.E. There is no cure and sadly due to the governments stance the medical professions are denied the facts further adding to the lack of understanding for sufferers.

Anyway I should probably stop there before I get out my soap box and go all political â€¦.. I will go and calm myself down with the therapy that only a bunnies love can offer

Serinde · Post by **Serinde** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:13 pm

Thanks for all that info. It's not unusual, as I'm sure you are all too well aware, that patients sometimes have to educate their GP. There aren't enough hours in the day for doctors to keep abreast of all developments in any particular specialist field. My experience has been generally good, however: with GPs willing to take seriously suggestions for approaching health issues. It's in their best interests to figure out what's going on -- if only because it saves the practice money. Not a nice way to think, but "follow the money" is often sage advice.

Glad bunny-love comes to the rescue!

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 6:08 pm

Oh yes! Bunny Love! the cure for all that ails the heart.

I've nver heard of M.E. before, but I do like to broaden my knowledge. Thank you. It sounds really hard for you. I hpe one day there's enough awareness out there for them to make a change for the better.

Alexanie · Post by **Alexanie** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:26 pm

Well, just wanted to post my opinion to your original question.

Generally, I'm washing my finished projects and all my cat's hairs are going off or I'm using such a roller with tape on it.

Most time, I can stitch without being interrupted but my cat tells me when I have to stop and play with walking over my project.

PaulaH · Post by **PaulaH** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 4:40 pm

When we had our late puss she usually left her 'mark' on my work and I found the sticky rollers did the trick!

Paula xx

Mabel Figworthy · Post by **Mabel Figworthy** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:03 pm

Our ginger tom Alfie (him who has been immortalised in my avatar) tends to get most affectionate the moment I curl up with a hoop and threads. Dear pussycat... As my projects tend to be small I use tweezers (or my nails) to get hairs out of stitching.

Dazbo666 · Post by **Dazbo666** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:17 pm

I've occasionally even had a vacuum cleaner hovered over the front of a design to get the cat and dog hairs off it.

...I'm continually amazed at how much surplus fur is generated by a border collie and three cats

Serinde · Post by **Serinde** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:34 am

Well, you certainly will have to deal with the fall out!

coffee_freak · Post by **coffee_freak** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:46 am

my dog ues to shed a lot..i would use a lint brush...or vaccuum..
now we don't have a dog..but my hair falls out so I'm pulling long strands of hair out of my stitching at times..LOL