Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

Ah, Christmas! The downfall of many a stitcher! Who can resist??

Man, I wish I'd had that when I first started... My first one actually had the knots on the back of the project.

Ohhh, good times, good times...

I was surprised to find out that you weren't supposed to...

Meh, I'm certain everybody has silly stories of when they first started out.

Hiya and sorry for the late hello, I'm from Bradford so not too far away hope you've got all the answers you need, we're a firendly bunch on here

heh kitsune, don't feel bad, my first piece has HUGE knots on the back of it because i kept tying knot after knot scared that the thread would come out

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I'm also very glad that I got out of the habit.

So, what does your new project look like? Do you have a picture?

Thanks pebbles, im from Dewsbury, work in Hudds.

Its great on here, I posted, and didnt really expect a reply, everyone is so friendly and helpful.

natc wrote:Hi, thanks wendywombat, I work in huddersfield.

Hows France today?

Sunny here today! Quite warm, had lunch outside!!

Sorry, am not rubbing it in!

Ha, thanks for that, im freezing!

Hi and welcome I hope you have lots of fun here

Hello again everyone!

I went out and got 6 small christmassy cross stitch kits, also got aperture cards to make them into christmas cards, ive started my santa one, looks good so far, im really enjoying it. My boyfriend is a little fed up because ive been sat on one sofa doing my cross stitch and hes sat on the other with the dog most of the week! ha.

Anyway, the instructions on most say that you stitch from one corner to the other of a square until you get to the end of that line, and then go backwards stitching the opposite corners. I read somewhere on a thread that someone actually completes a cross before they move on, which is what I have been doing with my first kit, is this right? I was wondering how any of you do it?

nat

This seems to come up all the time. Some people cross as they go along, and others do half cross in one direction and finish the stitch on the return journey, which is what your instructions tell you to do.

I cross as I go because it helps me keep my place on a chart (and as you do increasingly complicated designs, you might find this helps, too). I also think that the tension is better on a piece if you stitch as you go. The exception to this (there's always one ) is metalic thread, which I do tend to do as a half cross and then finish on the return journey. The thread just seems to behave better. Now, that might say more about my stitching than the vagaries of metallic thread.

Short answer: do what you feel comfortable with. The REAL no-no is to have the top thread crossing in different directions! As long as all the crosses are going in the same direction and it's reasonably neat, it doesn't necessarily matter how you got there...

I will have a go doing it the instruction way, see how i feel with that as well.

I have kept the crosses going in all the same direction, but i have found it difficult in places. when i get to the end of a line of completed x stitch, i have gone to the next cross down and started from right to left, which is slightly different from going left to right, does this make sense? is that how you do it?

Just find very good site for beginner:



http://www.cross-stitchingcharts.com/Beginner.html

Thanks Viktoriya

The directions are from way back when cross stitching first started to become popular and be put into kit. One company came up with some general directions to put into a kit and over the years just for convenience they have been copied with a few modifications here and there.

Both way are acceptable and right. It is the preference of each individual what you do and how it is done. Some designers say it makes the back look neater if you do it all the way across and then come back to finish the second leg of the cross. I don't agree and no matter how I do it at the end my backs are a jumble, but who cares it is the back.

I say try it both ways and as you become more comfortable with your stitching you will figure out what works for you. On some patterns I have done both ways I don't see the difference once it is finished and I have never had a complaint.

There are only 2 absolute rules to follow.
1) you needs a needle, thread and material.
2) needle goes through the material one way and back through the other

Thanks Rose, thats a good way of looking at it! I will just have to have a play around with it.

Rose wrote:
There are only 2 absolute rules to follow.
1) you needs a needle, thread and material.
2) needle goes through the material one way and back through the
other

I would add a third rule;

Make sure that the top stitch of the cross all lean the same way as Serinde has already said.

Experiment and ENJOY!!

have you tried the Dutch, or Ebenzeer, method? You seem to be doing it that way, but when you find that one of the stitches can't be completed with the top "leg" crossed in the same direction, then slip the needle UNDERNEATH that stitch.
for example: \\\\\\ then you come back and cross them //// and they look like this: XXXXXX
but, you have come to this : \\\\ /// ...so to make all the stitches crossing the same way, slip the needle under those stitches in particular.
Hope you can understand this. If I can find the site that explains this method, I'll be sure to put it up.

You know, Personally, I've tried going under like that... I find my tension gets shot. But then, I break every other rule in the book! At least, the ones that you won't notice from the front. I go across areas, have threads sitting across 1/2 inch of space... The back of my works usually bear almost no resemblance to the front.

And that's how I like it...

For my two cents, make certain the crosses all go the same way on the front, make certain that you catch mistakes quickly, or can fix them so only you know they're there, and have fun!

My fiance gets irritated at me, when I've been ignoring him as well... But he usually gives me week before truely getting irritated.

Serinde, thanks for the tip for metalics... I have some of the gold wire stuff to use in my roses, and it's impossible to use... The only thing worse are the Krenik metallic threads (they always break apart on me )... But I'll try your trick and see if it helps. I'm also going to be looking for this Thread Heaven stuff I've heard you guys talk about on here... See if it helps at all.

I dont really understand about the under thing?

But I feel better now that you guys dont mind how its done as long as it looks nice at the front! Thats what I think when i do it, but its nice to know how other people do their stitching. And at least i know now there is no right or wrong way!