Keeping floss neat while parking?

[amandadawn]

So, I've just started parking on my SQ Starry Night, and I really like it....except all those threads hanging down is a bit of a pain in the butt! I'm working on a q-snap thingy, but I don't have a stand, so I'm constantly flipping it over to tie off threads when I'm changing colors (which is still pretty frequently even with parking). So for those of you that are parking, what do you do with the dangly threads to keep them out of your way while you're working? Something that won't get them all tangled?

[Mrs Milkybar Kid]

Well I have a stand and use a scroll frame which makes it a bit easier. Usually the threads that are not in the 10x10 I am working on get pinned out of the way with a spare needle or little hair clips. I work a 10x10 block at a time going across the whole page and just unpin the next batch of threads when I am ready for them.

[amandadawn]

HAIR PINS! You're a genius! I just used a bobby pin and it's perfect.

Another question for people who park: how far down will you carry a thread to park it? Just down to the next 10x10 square? I get a little queasy about carrying a thread, say, from the top of one square down to park it at the bottom of the next one. It seems like a waste of floss?

[slinky_malinki]

Hi

I only park my threads into the next 10x10 square, whether it be above, to the side or below. I also use a spare needle to pin them out of the way & undo as I need them. I used to think it was a waste of floss as well until I looked (on average) how far away I was parking them. I think taking into consideration the 'tail' needed to secure a finished colour and possibly a knot to start, it's no biggie - and a LOT easier.

I have to say, I fell in love with parking on my HAED

Enjoy!!!

[JazzeyBear]

I use paper tape. It sounds weird, but the paper tape is what's used in hospitals that isn't too sticky. It tears like paper, and sticks to the fabric just enough to hold. Sometimes it starts to lift, but no matter how long it stays on the project it doesn't leave any sticky residue behind on the fabric or threads.

[Serinde]

I use a thicker needle inserted into the fabric, and wrap the threads from a square of 10 around it in a figure of 8. Pull out the needle and hey presto, you're set to go.

[franacropan]

I never flip my work. I start and finish all threads from the front, even on one over one, so my parked threads are not a problem.
Re. how far to carry a thread, I have a sort of self made rule that if I am spending more than the time it takes to search a 2 block area for the symbol then it is quicker to finish the thread and start it again later if needed. I've got a bad connection at the moment - will try and come back and post a photo of the back of my non flipped work. Link http://www.morecambesands.com/morecambe ... erson.html

[BizzieLizzie]

I park in 10 stitch wide columns, i.e. 10x10 blocks working downwards. If I have a relatively small number of threads, I leave the needles on and park them by sticking the needle through an unstitched part of the fabric to hold them in place. If I have lots of threads, I take the needles off because it's harder to untangle them with the needles on.

I've tried finishing threads by bringing the tail up at the front, waiting until it's secured at the back by subsequent stitches and then snipping it off at the front, but I couldn't get the hang of it. Now what I do is this:

If the thread I'm ending is short, I bring it to the front under a stitched area (so it won't be caught on the back by subsequent stitching) and leave it there for the time being.

If the thread I'm ending is long enough to use again, I flip my work and run it under some existing stitches, then wind the remainder back onto the relevant bobbin and then run all the short tails under while I've got my frame flipped. That way I only flip when I'm ending a longer thread and it's drastically reduced the amount of flipping I do.

If I'm using two strands, I start with the loop method from the front (there's a thread on here about it somewhere). If I'm using one strand, I start with a waste knot without the knot, making sure I start it in a hole that will not be needed for parking later (i.e. not the first instance of a symbol in a row) and that reduces the amount of flipping even more.

Sorry it's long, but I hope it helps!

[amandadawn]

Ok wait, how do you ladies never turn your work over (because that would be AWESOME)? Even with a waste knot, don't you eventually have to flip it over to cut the excess thread? And does that work on BAPs?

[JazzeyBear]

When working on my HAED Libra I use the parking method as mentioned before using paper tape to hold my threads down. I park in 20 by 20 squares and start from the front. I pull the needle through a hole below the area I'm working and leave a tail. When I'm finished with that color I pull it through the next stitch it suppose to be at and tape to hold. Since where I'm working at has a lot of one color that one color is the last one I do. When I'm finished in the area I'm working at I go undo the tape that's holding my starting tails, flip over and cut. The way I do it all my threads are held down and nothing comes undo. I can post pictures later today to show you what I'm actually saying since I'm pretty sure that doesn't make a lot of sense.

[Skittles]

I recently started parking on my HAED and use many of the tips I picked up from this site. I work in columns of 10 and stitch all the way down the page, one row at a time and park the thread in the subsequent row. I leave the needles on the thread, although until now I have not come across any confetti heavy areas so the most threaded parked needles I have had on the go at one time has been around 6 which I still find manageable.

When I get to the bottom of the page I unthread the needles and use a hair clip to hold the parked threads tidily together (as they are going to be parked for a VERY long time - I'm working from left to right colum by column and page by page so seeing as Page 1 took me nearly four months and I have 6 pages to complete the top row, I expect my page 1 parked threads to sit there for nearly 2 years at my current rate!!!)

I also start and finish from the front - when starting, I pull the thread from the front to be back around 15 stitches to the right of where my first stitch will be. Then, as I am stitching in columns of 10, I stitch over the thread for those first ten stitches to secure it and just leave the end sticking out at the front - this doesn't get in my way because it is to the right of the column I am working on and I only park going downwards. When a thread gets short enough to finish it, if the next stitch of that colour is towards the left hand side of the column I am working on, I will do the first leg of the stitch and then pull the thread at the back across about 15 stitches to the right, pull it to the front, unthread it and leave it there. Then I rethread the needle with the same colour, start by also pulling this through around 15 stitches to the right (usually one stitch the the right of the thread that I am finishing), do the second leg of that stitch and continue to stitch across the column of 10. This way both the starting and finishing threads are being secured at the same time. When I get to the end of the entire colum of that page, then I do flip the work, gently pull the ends through to the back and snip off the excess. This way you only have to flip the work once for every column.

Of course, if I need to start a thread on the right hand side of the column that I am stitching, then I get stuck and just flip the work to run the thread under existing stitches. I'll figure away around that in time though hopefully.

Blimey, that's a long one - bit bored at work today:-)))

Heidi

[amandadawn]

@JazzeyBear No, that makes a lot of sense- I was wondering especially how the tails you leave when you start don't get mixed up in the parked threads, but I guess the tape would help keep everything separate. I would love some pictures, though

@Skittles That method of parking the starting tail to the right never occurred to me-I've been completing 10x10 blocks from left to right instead of up and down, so I was confused about how you would avoid a mess with all the starting tails. But your method sounds much simpler than what I'm doing with all the flipping. Maybe I'll try going up and down instead of left to right...

[Stitch]

I've only just started parking, but my method has been working well. I stitch left to right in 10x10 blocks, but I park vertically. So when I reach the bottom of a square, I park the color in the box directly below that if needed. Then, when I move to the block to the right, I start a new length of that color if it is needed and wrap the parked threads around my needle magnet to keep them out of the way.

I also start and end threads without flipping. To do this I just go to the right a few stitches from where my first stitch is and come in from the front. I only leave about an inch of thread so it's impossible to get it confused with parked threads. Then I stitch and when I reach the short tail I pull it tight and snip it off as close to the fabric as I can, and then I usually use the eye of a second needle to push the little fibers through the hole if necessary. I end the same way, and I never have to flip unless I make a mistake.

[JazzeyBear]

I only have one picture right now. But will post more later.

This is showing the threads that I've started being held down with paper tape, the longer threads are my working threads.




Edited to add: I do my confetti stitches first and than the color that has the most stitches so that the confetti stitches are held down before I cut. I don't think this way will work when I have all confetti stitches and not a lot of one color in each box I'm working in. When I come to that I'll be looking to change the way I stitch.

[MaudL]

I recently started parking on my latest HAED start and I do just like Skittles described.
It's working great for now, but I can't help to wonder how I am going to handle the starts and ends once I reach the rightmost column of the rightmost page... Any suggestions?

[Stitch]

I think on the right-hand side the only real option is to flip to end threads. That's what I will be doing anyway. Although I suppose if you really want to avoid flipping you could try bringing the threads down rather than to the right and going over the tails vertically.

[tgnd]

I know this is an older thread, but I've been reading back and found this information amazingly useful. After sampling a bit on 28 ct fabric, I've realized I'm going to have to park, trying to work one color at a time absolutely does not work for me when I have to fit a stitch into an enclosed space, and I've been stressing about how the heck to deal with all the starts and stops in a confetti heavy area. Using the loop start isn't an option since I plan on sewing 1 over 1. I'm going to try out both starting the block below where I'm working and 15 spaces to the right (or maybe to the left? I'm left handed and find sewing from the bottom right corner up to be easier sometimes) Either way, before I actually start a project, I need to pick a technique and decide which direction I want to work in. Though since I use a scroll frame I suppose if I start in the top left corner and decide I prefer the bottom right, I can just turn my work upside down! There's no rule that says I have to sew my work right side up! And up close all those tiny stitches don't really form an image any ways, the picture appears when we hold the work several inches away from our faces and look at the big picture instead of the individual stitches.

[BizzieLizzie]

If it's any help, this is the method of parking I use: http://www.scarletquince.com/parking.php" target="_blank. You'd have to adjust it for stitching left-handed from the bottom up, but it works well for me.

[tgnd]

If it's any help, this is the method of parking I use: http://www.scarletquince.com/parking.php" target="_blank" target="_blank. You'd have to adjust it for stitching left-handed from the bottom up, but it works well for me.

That's the same tutorial that I used to figure out what to stitch when. I'd love to do all the instances of a single color in a 10x10 square before moving on to the next color, but then I end up with closed off spots where I have a hard time getting the needle in without splitting the thread. I don't know how some of you do it!

[kinley626]

I've been trying different methods of parking recently and had the same worry. I tried keeping the threads out of the way with a hair pin, but couldn't get comfortable with it. Like most parkers, I'm working in 10x10 areas. My parked thread parks in it's next place in the next 10x10 square. Then I pull the thread straight down the front and stick it in an unstitched area of fabric. So the tail ends are dangling from the back. Works well because I'm stitching from the top down.