Black Fabric

[Southmead]

I am considering working a crossstitch design on black evenweave. Can you give me some tips on working on black as the only colour other than cream/white is dark grey that I have worked on before. I have been crossstitching for over 30 years. Thank you.

[Athalie]

The two things I do when working on dark fabric are to put a white cloth across my knees which helps the holes in the fabric show up better. I also stand a small lamp on the floor shining up through the fabric, this helps a lot.

[Southmead]

Many thanks for the tips Athalie.

[mig-3]

I picked up a goose-necked LED reading light with a clamp at the base for US$10.00. The clamp is large enough to fit on a Q-snap or hoop. I adjust the light to shine at an oblique angle under the fabric. It shows the weave well enough to stitch without blinding you. You can adjust the light to concentrate on the area you're stitching w/o problem.

HTH,

Jarvis

[BookNerd]

I picked up a goose-necked LED reading light with a clamp at the base for US$10.00. The clamp is large enough to fit on a Q-snap or hoop. I adjust the light to shine at an oblique angle under the fabric. It shows the weave well enough to stitch without blinding you. You can adjust the light to concentrate on the area you're stitching w/o problem.

HTH,

Jarvis

I'll be investing in one of these.

If you happen to stitch during the day, I've found that natural light along with a white cloth on your lap works well too.

[Southmead]

Many thanks to you all for your tips and suggestions.

[mig-3]

[quote=If you happen to stitch during the day, I've found that natural light along with a white cloth on your lap works well too. [/quote]

Natural light? What's that? I still haven't taken down the blackout curtains from when I worked graveyard shift.

[BookNerd]

Natural light? What's that? I still haven't taken down the blackout curtains from when I worked graveyard shift.

Pull back those curtains and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[mag327]

Black fabric and I had a bit of a negative start, but it can create a really nice finished project. Mine is sitting in the work-in-process file and it is actually the next on the list to turn from WIP to finished, I hope. My two biggest tips are ----
1 - LOTS OF LIGHT!!!!!
2 - Light fabric on your lap or around you wherever you stitch

It is just harder to find the spaces between on the dark fabric unless you have light and white behind it to help them stand out.