Share you favourite cross stitch tip or trick

[xstitch1]

I thought we share our tips and become better stitchers.

My tip is the following: Lately I get patterns by email and I open them from my itouch (you can use your iphone as well if you have one). It is very easy to enlarge it by touching the screen. Only problem is you can't really mark the rows you have stitched with a marker. So this method is good if you are stitching a small design like a card but I wouldn't recommend it for bigger projects as you will get lost!

[Nachstenliebe]

I dunno if this counts.. it's not a tip or trick so much as advice:
Don't make it a chore.. sometimes we get to wrapped in deadlines and making gifts that we sometimes lose the joy that comes from stitching..

That's cool about the itouch!!!! It's like a portable trapper keeper!
Faith

[kell]

use a washable fabric pen to mark a grid before you start - it'll keep you right and you' spot mistakes quicker so less frogging.

[xstitch1]

Nachstenliebe, I completely agree. If you 're making it a chore, it looses all the joy and fun

[rcperryls]

Mine is a bit cumbersome and I'm not sure how to explain it, but once I thread a needle with a color that will be used again, I keep it that way in a seperate square in my plastic bobbin boxes (what do you call these things). It really helps with the confetti and when I have blended threads too. Needle organizers help with this also, but I'm not sure how they work. With HAED's and more complex patterns, it keeps me sane.
Faith's advice however is the most critical. Have fun.

Carole

[xstitch1]

rcperryls,good advice. I tried that once. I was stitching a design with 125 different colours. So I threaded all the needles with the different colours and then I was stressed looking at all these colours I had to use and ended up never completed the design! Maybe if I had a thread organiser would have been less stressful, most likely!

[karen4bells]

After dealing with a most vicious last week, my tip would be to make sure to mark the top of your fabric, so that you don't accidentally start stitching on the wrong direction. I am now determined to either mark the fabric itself with a spare needle or to do the same with the qsnap cover--I do NOT want to ever have to unpick that much stitching again

[MaggieM1750]

My tip would be to not skimp on the prep work.
Make sure your fabric is preped- edged, gridded or center lines found. I wash mine before I start. Do your math again and make sure its the right size.
Get your pattern ready- photocopied, enlarged, in plastic sleeves, however it will make it easier for you to work on.
Get your thread ready and organized. Gather all the colors needed for the pattern or page you are working on. Copy symbols onto bobbins, fill up Stitchbow binder pages, pre-cut thread, make up thread cards, prethreaded needles in an organizer.. whatever your system is.
Do a quick inventory of tools- needles, pencils, highlighters, threaders, all the little extras you use in a project.

Taking time with prep work will make it easier when you are working on your project.

[xstitch1]

MaggieM1750, you are very organised! By the way, why do you wash your fabric before you start stitching? I usually wash it after I finish all the stitching (and not always).

[MaggieM1750]

Hahaha.. Thank you. I try to be organized. I start out organized and try to keep it up throughout a project- some projects are better than others. I think there are people better organized than I. But I do like the prep work on a new project. Getting everything together, labeling, copying, working out in my head how I will work the pattern, etc.

I wash fabric before, I usually wash it during, I wash it once, maybe twice at the end. I use this Fabri-Care soap.. after having a project where the dye from my thread ran. I also wash thread I think might run before using it as well. This is supposed to help dye not stick. Not sure if it does.. or if I have just been lucky.

I think aida is too stiff to work on without washing. And I think fabric gets dirty and dusty from being on store shelves.. and who knows how many people have touched it while flipping through the stack to find the size of color they need. I buy my items from a shop that has a wall of fabric separated by type, count, and color- but its all loose. None in bags, none in tubes, just folded on the shelf with a size and count sticker. And I know some of it has been on the shelf for a while. As I don't stitch fully stitched, HAED type designs, I try and keep my fabric as clean as I can. I try not too.. but sometimes I am snacking on something while stitching.. and I really really really do not want do have a project discolor because of my bad habits (I give most away as gifts)

[Ketta]

Thanks for all the tips so far! Some I already use, but others I haven't and I'll definitely put to use.

I have two tips I'd like to share. The first has to do with washing finished items, the second with knots in thread.

I learned this trick for preventing bleeds from my last job, 5 1/2 years at a massive fabric store. Use a solution of 1 part vinegar, 10 parts cold water to set dye. This goes for ALL clothing (ever buy a new pair of jeans or cotton corduroy and have it ruin a load of laundry, even in cold water? ACK!!!). Vinegar is a fixative, which means it 'fixes' dye and stops it from bleeding and setting on new surfaces. So, before you actually wash your finished piece, soak it in the solution for about an hour.

For knots, I figured this out on my own, as many of you likely have as well. When you get those knots that have a 'loop' (this may be difficult to explain...) along the thread, you can pull them free by using your needle and some tension. Place your needle in the loop, and hold the thread near the base of the loop. Using your needle and where you're holding the thread, pull gently in opposite directions. Your loop should get smaller, and once it does you can pull the needle out, then pull the thread in opposite directions from the knot (by holding the thread on each side of the knot) and it should pop out. If your loop doesn't start to close at all, keep you needle in the loop and try pulling from the thread on the other side of the knot. I'm sorry if that sounds confusing, and if there's a name for that, I'd love to know. I'm almost completely self-taught and have learned a lot just being on these forums, but there are still things I've learned on my own that I know others must know about!

[xstitch1]

I love this thread, so many useful tips, keep it coming

[CuriousKitty]

My tip would be to not skimp on the prep work.
Make sure your fabric is preped- edged, gridded or center lines found. I wash mine before I start. Do your math again and make sure its the right size.
Get your pattern ready- photocopied, enlarged, in plastic sleeves, however it will make it easier for you to work on.
Get your thread ready and organized. Gather all the colors needed for the pattern or page you are working on. Copy symbols onto bobbins, fill up Stitchbow binder pages, pre-cut thread, make up thread cards, prethreaded needles in an organizer.. whatever your system is.
Do a quick inventory of tools- needles, pencils, highlighters, threaders, all the little extras you use in a project.

Taking time with prep work will make it easier when you are working on your project.

I blew up my pattern as needed on the copy machine, but I never thought about putting them in plastic sleeves. I keep copying them crooked though...

Thanks for all the tips so far! Some I already use, but others I haven't and I'll definitely put to use.

[Washing Tip]

For knots, I figured this out on my own, as many of you likely have as well. When you get those knots that have a 'loop' (this may be difficult to explain...) along the thread, you can pull them free by using your needle and some tension. Place your needle in the loop, and hold the thread near the base of the loop. Using your needle and where you're holding the thread, pull gently in opposite directions. Your loop should get smaller, and once it does you can pull the needle out, then pull the thread in opposite directions from the knot (by holding the thread on each side of the knot) and it should pop out. If your loop doesn't start to close at all, keep you needle in the loop and try pulling from the thread on the other side of the knot. I'm sorry if that sounds confusing, and if there's a name for that, I'd love to know. I'm almost completely self-taught and have learned a lot just being on these forums, but there are still things I've learned on my own that I know others must know about!

I know what you mean, I do it all the time. The kit always tells me to cut all my thread in half before I use it, but I never do.

So my tip, concerning neatness in the back:
When I first started cross stitching, when I had a section like:

XXX>>XX++XX>>XXX
XX>>XX++++XX>>XX


I would stitch across so I'd make these long x's in the back. I decided to try going vertical than horizontal, and it makes the back so much nicer looking.

Big messy X's:


You can see the light-purple down the middle that was stitched in after the blue-purple X's.

Vertical Lines, Nice and Neat:


Looks a lot less messy. Instead of doing all of the lighter-purple all at once and make all those messy X's, I started stitching down in vertical lines. It wastes less thread when going horizontal and makes it easier to follow the pattern when doing the giant skirt on my current project.

[kimkat_tkl]

For those annoying single stitches that sit in the next row up/down combine them into the row your stitching

For example:

XXXXXXXXXXX
DDDDDDDXDDD
DDDDDDDDDDD
TTTTTTTTTTD

I would stitch the first row of X including the single X in the second row while coming back along the row. Then stitching D I would do the 7 D on the left, skip down to the next row stitch the bottom leg of the D then jump up and stitch the 3 D in the second row, jump down and stitch the single D, then finish the top legs of the D in the third row. Then lastly I would stitch T.

Confusing? Probably but it works for me

[xstitch1]

thanks for the tip about the backs, my backs are always so messy

[Lessa54]

Well, my all time favourite tip would have to be come onto this forum whenever you have a question/need encouragement as you're sure to find it here

Otherwise, on the actual mechanics of stitching side -

1) Don't make your lengths of thread too long as this only encourages it to knot when stitching

2) Always pick projects you enjoy and want to stitch

3) When working with blends, try "railroading" the threads - by that, I mean that when you've got two strands of thread in the needle, when making your stitches, put the needle into the fabric between the two threads, so it goes in - Thr Needle Thr - into the fabric. When you pull the needle through, this helps the two threads in your needle lie neatly flat on your fabric rather than being twisted. It can be a bit of a pain, but it does make an improvement on blended thread work.

[JazzeyBear]

I think I'll share my tip and it works for me. Since I'm self taught and had no idea about anything when I first started cross stitching. I didn't know there were easier ways to keep your threads when they aren't in use. When I first started I used index cards, I wrote the color name and symbol on the card, and hole punched one hole to hold my thread. That worked for my smaller kits with just a few colors. My second project I used bobbins and I don't really like the bobbins, maybe because I don't really know how to use them. Whatever the reason is now to why I don't like them I'm hoping that with time I'll grow to like them. My favorite way to hold my thread now is to have an index card that's just big enough to hold the name, thread number and kit name inside of a snack ziploc baggie. If anyone is not familiar with a snack baggie, they are half the size of a sandwich baggie, and the perfect size in my opinion to hold threads. Each thread has it's own baggie with the index card in front of the thread so the name is facing out.
Once I finish a project the extra thread goes into a show box while still in the baggie, unless I already have a baggie of the same color.
I'm hoping that by the time I start my first HAED I will like bobbins, because my current system of storing my thread isn't going to work very well.

[galeadenise]

Hi. Im new here but been stitching for 6 years now. Im 29 years old and from Malta. I stopped stitching for a few years because i got tendonitis because of excessive stitching Here are some tips of what works for me

Tip 1: i do precut my threads into long lengths and then cut what i need at the moment from them. The lenght i cut them is hand to elbow and back. I cut them so long because i do not knot in the beginning; i start with a loop and i stitch the thread into it at the back of my fabric to start. I dont know if its understandable.

Tip 2: i always photocopy my patterns into A3 sheets, that way the pattern is bigger and i always mark it with red felt tip pen so that there are no mistakes where i still need to stitch.

Tip 3: Before i start stitching i don't stitch the ends of my fabric to prevent it from running. I take the lazy way out and just use paper tape all around. I dont even remove it before i frame it. Never had any problems whatsoever.

Tip 4: Again, before i start i fold the fabric in half and then in half again to mark the center. Then i take a pencil and dot the center to make sure that i don't make a mistake when i start

Small Tip 5: I always stitch in front of the tv. It helps eliminate the risk of eye strain due to changing focus every once in a while

Hope these are helpful and thx for all the tips!

[JA Fan]

My tip is to always make sure you have good lighting, and, if necessary, magnification.
I use a lightstand that has a daylight bulb and magnifier. It has proved invaluble.
I can't mix up threads that have very similiar shades, I can see the holes better and I find I can stitch longer without risk of eyestrain.
We are only given one pair of eyes for our lifetime. It's up to us to take care of them.

[CuriousKitty]

My tip is to always make sure you have good lighting, and, if necessary, magnification.
I use a lightstand that has a daylight bulb and magnifier. It has proved invaluble.
I can't mix up threads that have very similiar shades, I can see the holes better and I find I can stitch longer without risk of eyestrain.
We are only given one pair of eyes for our lifetime. It's up to us to take care of them.

Amen. My eyes decided to demand glasses in 5th grade. My eyes are off the chart of "bad." After that, I stopped using the computer at night without external light. Now it irritates the heck out of me if I don't have sufficient light. Which kind of sucks where I live, the couch I like to sit on has no overhead ceiling light. All I have is a desk lamp about a foot to my right. It works, but I'd prefer one of those standing lamps that you can adjust the neck on.