Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

Hi everyone,
I'm Alison I just joined the forum today and cant wait to get some great tips and tricks. I have only ever stitched on aida before but I'd really like to have a go at stitching on evenweave for my next HAED QS. Would be fab if I could get some tips on using it as I dont have a clue

Hi and welcome

Evenweave isn't really any different to aida, it's just smaller. Aida generally goes up to 18ct (ie 18 holes to the inch), evenweave can go up to 36ct. With evenweave, you can either stitch over one - which is exactly as you do with aida - and you'll end up with teeny tiny stitches depending on the count of your material. The alternative and where people sometimes get confused is you can stitch over 2.

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

So in the above, if you think of each number being a hole on your fabric, if you were stitching over 2, you would start your stitch coming up at 7 and going down at 3 and then the return leg coming up at 9 and down at 1. Basically instead of going one hole across and one hole up, you've gone two holes across and two holes up.

If you stitch over 2 on 28 ct evenweave, it ends up being the same size as if you stitched on 14ct aida. Over 2 on 32 ct = 16ct and over 2 on 36 ct = 18 ct.

For a HAED, I'm guessing you'll probably opt for stitching over 1 given the size of the pieces.

Also, if the jump to evenweave is not comfortable for you, remember that HAEDs can be stitched on Aida, and although the finished project will be bigger than the suggested one, it will still look fantastic. There are several people who do HAEDs on 18ct or 20ct Aida instead of evenweave.

The HAED BB forums have examples of projects stitched in all sorts of counts and number of threads to help one decide which way to go.

Either way, I suggest you get some sample fabrics before you start your HAED, make some test stitches on different counts to make sure you're happy with coverage and ease of work.

Oh Thanks so much for your replys I was getting kind of confused with the 1 over 1 and the two over 1 etc but ive got it now. I think i will get some sample fabics and just have a go at them all to see which one i prefer.
The HAED QS i'm currently stitching is on 18ct aida and it looks fab, but on most of the pics iv seen and blogs i read people use evenweave, so I thought I'd have to give it a go as most people say they prefer it!
The other thing was I read somewhere about stitches rolling to the other side of the fabric when using evenweave, I'm not too sure what this really means and would I have to worry about it?!!

Stitching on evenweave is nothing to be scared of - it also opens up a lot more stitchy options for you. A good place to get some samples is Cross Stitch Heaven (UK site).

As you mentioned - when stitching over 1 on evenweave the thread may slip under the weave of the fabric - when you see a piece of evenweave you'll see why, it is made up of single threads that cross each other at right angles that go over and under each other. If your stitching tension is not too tight this won't necessarily be an issue - but a way to solve it is to complete each cross fully before moving on to the next rather than row of /////// and then back \\\\\\.
It's more complicated to explain than it actually is - there are probably some excellent diagrams on the forum that explain it much better somewhere!!!

Thanks mrs milkybar kid! I usually do each stitch individually before going on to the next so hopefully I wont have a problem with it. I'll just remember to watch the tension isnt too tight.

I think that is is not as hard to make the transition to evenweave as it is to think about it. For years I thought I was stitching on Aida because I was doing afghans that were 18 ct and discovered, after I joined the forum, that it was an evenweave fabric. I thought it was the count size that made the difference, because for me that is a bigger obstacle than the weave itself. Getting samples is a great idea and I really would encourage you to do that. HAED charts are like all the others except maybe tend to be larger than most and probably have a lot more confetti (single stitches of color rather than a lot of big blocks) although I immediately thought of plenty of other designers who's charts I think are more complicated with fractional stitches and blended threads. What matters, and I say this all the time, is finding what works for you so that you enjoy your stitching.

Carole

Thanks carole, I cant wait to give evenweave a go now I'll have to order those samples from cross stitch heaven, only thing is I'll probably end up ordering other things as well, well you cant just expect me to order fabric and nothing else can you.... lol!!!

kornflake.stew wrote:Thanks carole, I cant wait to give evenweave a go now I'll have to order those samples from cross stitch heaven, only thing is I'll probably end up ordering other things as well, well you cant just expect me to order fabric and nothing else can you.... lol!!!

Heck no!

Good luck with your experimenting with evenweave! I've found the transition to be pretty easy and love all the options I have now.

It took me a while to transition to evenweave, now I wouldn't use anything else. Like you intend to, Alison, I practiced on some sample pieces of fabric and that helped a lot. Good luck.