Where to start a big project?

[stitchingmae]

well I bought a fabric marker. I think i am going to start a small like book mark or something and try the top left start...before i work on my bless this home just so that if i mess up its not on my good project..ya know?
keep your fingers crossed for me LOL. I have only started in the middle..
yet again...looking at you guys pictures are both encouraging and discouraging..b/c i don't think i will ever be as neat/even/fast as you guys are LOL

[Arianwen]

I always start all my projects in the centre. It was how I was taught by my nana when I learnt to stitch.

I don't grid or anything, I can't get my head around that and I dislike preparation. I just want to get straight into the stitching.

I mark out the centre by folding the fabric horizontally then vertically (so you make a cross in the fabric) then pick a cross that is roughly in a centre. I pick a colour that has a few stitches in the same area and start there. I used to tack along the horizontal and vertical lines before i started but its easier for me now not to.

I've only looked at the HAED's so far, I have way too many pieces waiting for me to think about another big piece. I think I would get so lost and confused if I tried starting from anywhere else

[Rose]

I am exactly like Arianwen.

Except for when I stitch a phrase then I start at the top of the phrase and work down.

[xstitch1]

I always start in the middle, even I am doing a large project. I made a mistake once ...never again! I started at the top and then realized the fabric was not enough and I had to start again in new fabric. What I do now is fold the fabric in two and then fold again and then find the center stitch where the center fold is. Hope this makes sense

[alx008]

Lol thanks! I have started the dimensions 'galloping horses' - I couldn't decide between that one and the Dimensions 'horses by the stream' one, so I bought both! That's me sorted for the next 12 months!
Perhaps I should put some posts up in the WIP bit, everyone is always so encouraging!
(And I am a big big Dimensions fan too!)

[moonchild7903]

I always start on the lower left corner because I like to stitch going up and to the right. I didn't use to grid but now I do -- it's something I picked up from this forum!

see? I learned something from you guys here! That's how valuable this forum is!

[stitchingmae]

I too just started griding and once i am complete with this project I will post a picture!! ALmost there!!

[Pengwenn]

For smaller projects I start them in the middle. It just seems easier that way especially if the edges of the design are ragged and not square and the pattern fits on a page or two.

I have two HAEDs started (one doesn't have a SAL yet) and I've started on page 1 (top left). For me that feels a little awkward and topsy-turvy. I have two other big projects (not HAEDs) that I decided to start in the bottom left corner instead of top. That's my Balloons and a fractal (no SAL yet). I like to stitch my Xs starting in the lower left hole so it made a little more sense to start my patterns in the lower left corner. It makes my stitching feel so much more natural.

What I've found is that if a pattern goes over multiple pages and some lines repeat on the next page (to aid stitching) they usually assume you'll start on the top left. That means page 2 (middle top) will have duplicate lines from page 1 (top left). When you get to the bottom pages they might have duplicate lines from multiple pages. When I started at the bottom for those two patterns I have to make sure I don't duplicate those duplicate lines as I move backwards through the pattern. Does that make sense?

[stitchingmae]

do they mark which ones are duplicates???

[Dazbo666]

do they mark which ones are duplicates???

In my experience the duplicate rows/columns are usually shaded grey

[Nightstitcher]

I always grid , partly because I'm a bit of a perfectionist and partly to keep track of where I am, especially as there's a chance I'll get interupted in my stitching by the phone ringing at work.

I also find it gives me a sense of satisfaction to strike off a block of stitches on the chart (photocopied version) as I countdown to completion.

Nightstitcher

[kellyJune]

I usually start in the middle. Can anyone tell me more on doing a grid. I can see where this can be better on bigger and/or more complicated projects. Thanks!

[tragedyackt]

I've never done a HAED because I tend not to like the style of them but I think that in a project like that (so many pages), it does make sense to grid. I think the shape of the finished project kind of determines what method I use. For something square or rectangular, gridding can be nice but I don't think I do it like you guys do. I've heard something about doing it in 10 by 10 squares no matter where the colors go? I don't think I could bear doing that but I do start in the top left corner sometimes if a project is square. For things without backgrounds and that aren't square, starting in the middle seems to be easiest even if there's multiple pages. Maybe that's just because it's how I learned, but I'm more comfortable working out from the middle with a light focus on the pages. I do whatever page has the middle first and then work from there. I also highlight and sometimes colored pencil my chart (and sketch over backstitching with a black pilot pen) depending on how big it's printed and the colors the symbols are in. I go through a lot of highlighters but I haven't misstitched something in a few years, so I'd say it's working pretty well.

[ali]

Gosh - I ALWAYS start in the middle without fail regardless of project-size. I'm scared I'd run out of aida if I miscounted!

For the girl (below) I had a 24 page chart over A4... I would hate to have had to have counted up or down from the middle for that one!

I also mark off everything that's stitched on the chart - although I don't use highlighters - I nick my kid's felt tips (much to their annoyance!) & change to a different colour every time I sew - so I can see what I've done & exactly what I'm sewing now. I too have found this to be a pretty fail-safe system!

[moonchild7903]

I usually start in the middle. Can anyone tell me more on doing a grid. I can see where this can be better on bigger and/or more complicated projects. Thanks!

Hey kelly. Gridding is actually really simple. I just follow the bold lines on my pattern (it's usually 10x10 squares) and draw the lines on my fabric. Gridding just makes it so easy to find your way around the pattern. It also makes it easier to divide your stitching into "manageable chunks"

[tragedyackt]

Gosh - I ALWAYS start in the middle without fail regardless of project-size. I'm scared I'd run out of aida if I miscounted!

For the girl (below) I had a 24 page chart over A4... I would hate to have had to have counted up or down from the middle for that one!

I also mark off everything that's stitched on the chart - although I don't use highlighters - I nick my kid's felt tips (much to their annoyance!) & change to a different colour every time I sew - so I can see what I've done & exactly what I'm sewing now. I too have found this to be a pretty fail-safe system!

Yeah, I really do prefer starting in the middle, and for a project like yours that's circular, I don't think starting anywhere else would have been wise. It's only for very specific sorts of things (huge and with all straight edges) that I think starting in a corner might be better for some people. As for using felt-tips, I did that for a little bit but decided I preferred the highlighters and colored pencils, partially because they were cheap and partially because they were obvious on the chart but still allowed me to see through them to the symbols easily, which has come in handy a few times to find my place. Seeing the shape of the already stitched part is handy to find your place but seeing that the part of the stitched area you're looking for is dark green makes it even easier!

[tragedyackt]

I usually start in the middle. Can anyone tell me more on doing a grid. I can see where this can be better on bigger and/or more complicated projects. Thanks!

Hey kelly. Gridding is actually really simple. I just follow the bold lines on my pattern (it's usually 10x10 squares) and draw the lines on my fabric. Gridding just makes it so easy to find your way around the pattern. It also makes it easier to divide your stitching into "manageable chunks"

Wait, you actually draw on the fabric? I wouldn't have the guts to do that no matter what I did it with. *shiver* Have you thought about maybe doing it in thread or something like that, with a running stitch and then pulling it all out when you're done?

[moonchild7903]

Wait, you actually draw on the fabric? I wouldn't have the guts to do that no matter what I did it with. *shiver* Have you thought about maybe doing it in thread or something like that, with a running stitch and then pulling it all out when you're done?

Yup, I actually draw on the fabric... It's my first time gridding so I've never really thought of doing a running stitch on the fabric. I saw an example somewhere where the grid was actually drawn with dressmakers chalk, so that's what I followed.

[tragedyackt]

Hmm, you may want to do the thread thing next time. I've heard all sorts of horror stories about people being able to see those grid-lines forever even once they've been washed away. It might be one of those things they're just imagining but I've never been able to risk it because of their warnings. I've never been big on gridding because my way works so well for me, but the one time I did it for a small project I designed as an experiment, I did it in bright green thread so I could find them easily to pull out. I was going to use red but I thought it might run from having my hands all over it all the time. It worked ok I guess.

Anyway, if you like gridding I really would try thread if I were you. It'll take a little longer but it's never a good idea to mark up a cross stitch. There's so much work involved and it would be terrible to do all that work and then to see the ghosts of the grid-lines forever every time you look at it.

[carolynbb]

If you use a water-soluable fabric pen (made specifically for this purpose), the lines come out 100%. I grid all of my projects with my blue pen and after washing, it's totally gone.