Parking and needles

[Ruthi]

As I get to the complicated bit on my Koi I am having to be much more disciplined about parking, and I have switched to working from the front. But I am spending my time threading and unthreading needles. Its wearing the threads and my patience!

Does anyone leave their parked threads on the needle? Are there any pitfalls? I watched all the YouTube video on parking, and read several guides, but not found any mention.

[cairee]

Im rather new at parking, but I found that needles on drove me crazy if I had more than 5 threads going, they got tangled all the time. my parked threads are needle free, I just got quicker at rethreading. what I found to be a real time saver is using a needle organisor, threads that have been ended while there is still usable length go on the needle organisor. 90% of the time when I have to start a new thread there is already one (or two or six...)on a needle ready to go.

[littleturtlegirl]

I am new to parking and doing a large project for the first time. I think you have to find what works for you, but this is what I am doing:

1. Threading the needles almost drove me over the edge. So I thread the needle and when I am finished and park the color I put the needle at the bottom of the thread so it touches that fabric and I leave it there. The needles bothered me at first, but threading over and over was liable to drive me crazy so I learned to deal with them.

2. I was having issues with tangled thread, so I went to the dollar store and purchase hair clips. I got the ones that are metal that clip, like these: (http://www.amazon.com/Snap-Clips-1-52in ... B0091TDQR0" target="_blank). I then group two or three 10x10 squares of thread together and put them in the clips. I have not had a single tangle since then.

3. To keep the clips in place I went to the craft store and purchased the circle magnets. I washed them in water and placed them on my fabric. The hair clips are metal so they stick to the magnets and keep them still.

4. I use a scroll frame, so when I move on the piece and I roll up the fabric, I find that I do need to move the needles up the thread so that they are not caught in the rod. You don't want it to puncture the fabric. That is the only down fall I find.

I know it seems like a lot of work at first, but I can not stand threading a needle over and over. So I do the work upfront and it makes my stitching so much faster!

[Allyn]

I've been parking for a few months now and feel like I have a good handle on it. It drove me nuts trying to use one needle and thread it each time, so I use multiple needles. . . so far, up to 26 at a given time. I use magnet strips to keep the needles organized.



I went to Lowes (like a Home Depot -- big home and garden store) and bought a roll of magnetic strip with the adhesive back. I also bought a tube of shower rod cover. I cut the cover to length -- I use 30-inch scroll rods so I cut the cover about 18 inches long -- and then attached a strip of magnet to it. I put one of those on the top scroll rod and one on the bottom scroll rod. Then I cut a length of magnet strip and left the backing on the adhesive so it wouldn't be sticky. I laid this strip on the fabric and put round magnets on the back to hold it in place. This gave me three tiers of magnetic strips to 'park' my needles on -- sort of a needle parking lot. It works really well for me. I have a choice of places to 'park' the needle so they're out of my way and the rod covers can stay in place while I roll the scroll rod up or down inside them when I adjust my project on the rods.

[Rose]

Wow that us amazing if I tried to work on something with all those threads all over the place I would be pulling my hair out.

It was very well explained and also quite inventive. We stitched can come up with some rather well thought out inventions.

[Allyn]

Wow that us amazing if I tried to work on something with all those threads all over the place I would be pulling my hair out. ...

Actually, with the needles parked this way, the threads are out of the way. In spite of the fact that it looks a bit chaotic overall, when you focus in on a specific area to stitch, it's quite organized.

[fccs]

Actually, with the needles parked this way, the threads are out of the way. In spite of the fact that it looks a bit chaotic overall, when you focus in on a specific area to stitch, it's quite organized.

Very impressive system! Thanks for sharing.