Cross Stitch Direction

[Jacki]

I have always worked the stitches by coming up in the bottom right stitch space and back down in the top left and then up in the bottom left finishing in the top right. However, my daughter does it the other way round. Does it matter which way it is done? I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Many thanks.

[RosemaryH]

My daughter does it your way and I do it your daughters way, both are correct, the most important thing is to always do your stitches the same way and not swap from one method to the other.

Rosemary

[Mystonique]

I do it both ways (only one way in each project) depending on how the project's lines fall.

[stitchingmae]

I may switch from bottom to top or top to bottom depending on wher the previous stitch was located due to if I try to go from top to bottom it may be coming up through a whole I just went down... Are you all totally confused now??? But my stitches are always end in /.

So either top first or bottom first my stitches go... \ then / does this help any way.

[Serinde]

As long as the top stitches all go in the same direction, how you tackle the stitch doesn't matter.

[Jacki]

Thanks for that. I notice that the magazines I have do it the opposite way to me.

I have been reading about "parking" which sounds a very sensible way to manage and will try it on my next project to see if it helps with counting errors I (ahem) occasionally make. I followed a link that Rose had posted about a guy in the States called Gary who has spent the last 10 years completing a project. It is absolutely amazing and inspirational.

[Vega]

I stitch your daughter's way.

I read somewhere that it could depend on if you're left or right handed. I'm right handed...don't know if it makes a difference though.

[Mystonique]

I stitch your daughter's way.

I read somewhere that it could depend on if you're left or right handed. I'm right handed...don't know if it makes a difference though.

I'm fairly ambidextrous so that could well explain why I've always stitched quite happily either way (based on the lines of the project) whereas most people seem to have a preferred way.

[rcj176]

Never thought about doing it either way...but I stitch left to right and right OVER left. My last stitch is \

[Corey.G]

The way I do mine is similar to yours. What I do is I come up on the bottom right and go to the top left, and then I come from the top right down to the bottom left. It doesn't matter as long as your stitches face the same way on the top. It helps with lighting.

I've heard people say that it makes a difference with it looking neater, I didn't really notice it too much at first but now I do. My fiance does it whatever way, it's different for each stitch that she does. It drives me bonkers.

I keep mine the same at all times, I never change the way that I stitch. And if they call for half stitches, I just follow the design. Even if they don't flow the same way as my top stitches do.

[rcperryls]

I also fold the strand in half and then loop it in the back so there are fewer knots. At least when I am starting a new thread. Otherwise, I lay about a 1/2 to an inch flat and then cover it in the back with the new stitches. Does that make sense?? Sometimes there isn't a loop because I have used part of that thread before. I keep each color I am using threaded in a needle because so often I am only using a few stitches of that particular color and I dread the thought of running out of a color.

I stitch first coming up bottom left to top right / doing a row or however many stitches in a row and then come back bottom right to top left ending \ . I think as long as the top stitches are all facing the same direction it doesn't matter. I've tried doing stitch by stitch but I think I have developed such a routine that it is hard to change.

Hope what I said makes sense.

Carole

[kell]

I may switch from bottom to top or top to bottom depending on wher the previous stitch was located due to if I try to go from top to bottom it may be coming up through a whole I just went down... Are you all totally confused now??? But my stitches are always end in /.

So either top first or bottom first my stitches go... \ then / does this help any way.

I do the exact same.

[LadyS]

I go either way when starting a project, and then keep that direction to the end.

On my WIP this time I did encounter a bit of a snafu. I started as usual and per chance my top stitch is \. But turns out that the shadowing on the entire piece is done in half stitches, and looking at the finished picture it's all /. Since it looks better this way and I was already well into it by the time I did some shadowing I ended up keeping the entire full crosses ending \ and the shadowing as /. It doesn't look bad at all, but I'll pay more attention next time I'm doing a project that has half stitches.

My last one had a full background of them and it didn't matter which way they went, so I just followed whatever direction my top stitches were in.

[BrownEyedGirl]

I do it your way on all my projects, have since I was a little girl. I don't really think it matters as long as you use the same one from start to finish.

[purvislets]

I do mine bottom left-top right, then bottom right-top left. Essentially, I do all my stitches this way first ///// then go back this way \\\\\

As long as the top stitches are all going in the same direction then I don't think it really matters!

[curly sue]

All of my top stitches go the same direction, but I do what ever I need to do to achieve that direction. I really prefer to make the complete x, but don't make a habit of it as it seems to use more thread. I work //// then go back across with \\\\.

I find that in most needlework the final outcome is what is most important for me.