55 Helpful hints for Cross stitchers from the stitchers at 123 MB

55 Helpful hints for Cross stitchers from the stitchers at 123 MB

In September 2009 the stitchers of 123 Stitch Message Board contributed their best hints to make up this list.

1. Always dry your washed hands on a paper towel when getting ready to stitch. Never use your kitchen towel.
2. Place a white cloth on your lap when stitching on a dark cloth.
3. Loop method for stitching with two strands of floss. This improved the backs of my works and knotting by 100%!
4. When ending off a thread, run in vertically instead of horizontally. It's a much neater look.

5. When stitching with a single strand use a knotless away knot. http://home.comcast.net/~kathydyer/nf_xstitch_tut.html#how_start
6. When you are stitching a long straight line, every 10th stitch, finish it. It helps you count and you make less mistakes.
7. If you're running out of a specialty thread, and won't have enough & can't find it again - you can use a plain DMC that matches for all the bottom half of the stitches & do the tops of all the x's with the specialty thread.
8. When finished stitching for the day, park your needle with floss in it and it will not fall out of the fabric.

9. Better to use plastic hoops than wooden. The wooden may leave natural oils from the wood on the fabric.
10. When stitching on linen or evenweave, always start next to a vertical ( up and down ) thread. I stitch \\\\,
so my needle comes up to the right of a | thread, then goes over it.
11. Keep a stitching journal of patterns, fabrics, flosses, threads, and gift recipients
12. For large projects, put a piece of tissue paper or paper toweling over your fabric and in the hoops where you hold the hoop, to prevent marking your fabric.
13. Make a "working copy" of your chart and use a highlighter to mark stitches that are done as you go along. This has saved me from many mistakes and MANY hours of frogging!
14. If you're doing a large area of all one color, half cross stitch the entire thing when you are at home and with the chart. Then you can easily take it with you anywhere to cross the stitches without having to refer to a chart or count. (you only need a needle, your floss and scissors with you)
15. Just like a white cloth on your lap helps when stitching on black or other dark fabric, a dark one helps on white and light fabrics. Some people make a reversibe lap cloth for this purpose.
16. ENJOY your crossstitching!!!! = )
17. Consider gridding your fabric before you start stitching. (Or when you get lost!) There are ways to do it that take very little time.
http://pinwheelponders.blogspot.com/2009/01/some-thought-on-stitching-cross-stitch.html#gridding
18. NEVER have food or beverages anywhere near your stitching.
19. Do not be afraid to change colors, use different fabric, or modify a design to suit your own tastes. The "floss throw" method is very helpful when changing colors to match decor, etc.
20. Invest in a daylight lamp to help you see your work better. I just bought one and I'm amazed at how easier it is to see my stitching!
21. Stitch all of one color within the 100-stitch grid, starting with the upper LEFT corner. Then stitch the next color in the same fashion, until all the colors in the grid are stitched. Then work an adjacent grid the same way, making sure you mark the stitches done on the working copy.
22. Make several working copies of your chart. Cut them up into smaller pieces so you can pin them to an area of your fabric where you are not working. Makes a much shorter distance to look rather than looking back at your chart each time.
23. Use a regular (sharp) sewing needle instead of an embroidery needle for backstitching. Separates the threads so much easier for better placement.
24. Cut a fairly long length of the metalic floss, then added the regular floss. I KNOTTED them both in the eye of the needle, because they were slipping out so bad. When I got finished with color #1, I cut if off and started with color #2 and obviously the metallic blending floss was stiff there and I didn't have to struggle to put more on. And so on and so forth.
25. When doing a lot of confetti stitches, use 1 strand of floss and go over each leg of the stitch twice. It takes a bit longer to do it this way, but there isn't as much floss to run between the stitches, and it also doesn't show through as much.
26. When stitching from a more complicated chart, with your working copy, highlight the symbol you're going to do in one colour, and then use another colour when you've stitched it. It's much easier to find the stitches you need when you go row by row looking for a symbol, than when you're trying to find them while stitching.
27. When using bright or dark floss and white floss in the same piece, stitch with the white floss first. Otherwise, the white tends to pick up the colors from other flosses all ready used around it.
28. If you're using a chart with intricate/abundant backstitching for over-one, (such as a chart that was designed some years back), use a plain sewing thread that matches the thread color called for-- it lays flatter and believe it or not is thinner than even one strand of DMC!
29. Never count on that next skein of floss exactly matching! Use one strand of the old skein and one strand of the new: this makes the change gradual when you are starting a new skein. It is especially important in large blocks of color.
30. As you begin a project, pretend you're a carpenter. Measure, count, and then measure and count again before you begin so that your project will end up centered on the fabric. If it ends up off kilter, it is often difficult to frame or otherwise finish your project -- that you invested so much time in. :-)
31. If your Q-snaps don't hold the fabric as snugly as you'd like, cut strips of non-slip shelf liner to place over the edges of the fabric before snapping on the Q-snaps.
32. Use thread heaven, especially with metallic floss.
33. If you want to stitch when flying, have a working copy of your chart and a peice of blu-tack, easy to attach the chart to the seat in front of you and stitch!
34. Keep a small pair of scissors with each project. I use the Fiskars for kids. They're small and if I lose them, I haven't lost much.
35. "Stitch in the Well" when using both embroidery hoops and Q-Snaps. That means, I do not have my fabric over the top of the solid part of the Q-Snap, but the Q-Snap sits on top of the right side or stitching side of the snap.That way, my hand does not touch the Right side or stitching side of the fabby. It touches the backside of the fabby. Keeps your fabric cleaner. It also makes it easier to run the last of your floss under stitches as you finish.
36. It is very helpful sometimes to turn your work upside down, turning the chart as well... I prefer to start my cross stitch projects at the top left corner of the fabric and work my way down... stitching going down from one row to the next will create more even stitches and cleaner holes... I never stitch going up to the next row - before I do this, I will turn the fabric top to bottom (180 degrees) and stitch upside-down (flip your pattern too)... Try it - make a cross stitch on your fabric and then turn it upside down and look at it... It looks exactly the same as it does right side up...
37. Keep a needle threaded with every color in the project; saves time in having to load a needle.

38. Keep a travel size bottle of hand cleaner right in your travel stitch bag.
39. A music stand makes a GREAT chart holder, I have a magnet board on mine to 'stick' the chart to, it also holds my scissors and a couple of bobbins of floss
40. End the threads underneath the same color threads on the back of your project. I do this with everything I cross stitch, but especially with things like towels, breadcovers, bookmarks, afghans, etc.
41. I drop my needle every so often while stitching to let the floss "unwind". This helps the threads to lay smoother and untwisted.
42. When working on a project with either alot of color changes in one area, or even just a checkerboard that has only two colors, I'll thread up my needles with those colors. After I've stitching as far as I can go with one color, I'll "park" the needle off to the side and pick up another needle with a different color. Then run my needle underneath the stitches on the back of the project to get to the new area where that color starts again (as long as it isn't too far away). "Needle Parking" makes things go a little quicker because you're not constantly threading and rethreading one needle.
43. If you have a large chart and don't want to cut it to put it on a holder - use a large 'new/clean' cookie baking pan as your holder. Magnets will hold the chart to it and you can prop it up anywhere. The ones with sides will provide a little ledge to hold your marker, floss, scissors, etc.
44. When stitching a design that has a lot of backstitching, make one working copy for the design itself, and another just for the backstitching.
45. When working with solid color threads, i use a moistened makeup sponge to dampen the threads as i separate them, this takes out all the crinkles and helps them lay flatter and fuller.
46. Not all needles are created equal. Try out different sizes, styles, and brands to find what works best for you. If people are raving about needles (as they do for Piecemakers and Bohin) there is probably a reason. Experiment with your needles and ignore the 'rules' that say you shouldn't use a size 24 on 20 count, etc. Do what works for you. Needles tarnish easily for many of us, so even if you don't think you have a problem with tarnishing you should change your needle occasionally and see if your stitching doesn't suddenly feel nicer and easier. My needles tarnish rapidly. I have a pack-a-week habit of Piecemakers #24s (which cost around $5 a pack here in New Zealand, when you can find 'em). I'm not ashamed. They make my stitching so much more enjoyable than any other kind I've tried, and I've tried many.
47. If you start a project from the center and work your way down, turn both the chart and your project UPSIDE DOWN to finish the top half.
48. If your chart calls for mixing metallics or Krenick with your floss, stitch the stitches with floss only, then go over the last leg of the stitch with the metallic or Krenick.
49. Speaking of needles, if you find your floss is being shredded when you thread your needle, turn the needle around and see if it threads easier. Apparently there is a left and right side of the needle hole. One side is usually rounded (right side) and the other side has a bit of a sharper edge (left side) and that is the edge that tends to shred the floss. Not sure if this applies if you use a needle threaded though.
50. Keep a new toothbrush with your stitchy stuff. It works to get get off frog turds easily.
51. Always double check the count of your fabric (the package says 22, the design size disagrees).
52. To check if the needle ur using is the right size for the fabric count, 'drop' the needle through a stitching 'hole'. The eye of the needle should make as small an impact on the fabric as possible. Using too large an eye can make a hole that your floss won't fill, and leave your finished design with unsightly gaps at the corners of each stitch!
53. I would *not* recommend using non-slip shelf liner in your Qsnaps. I used to use it in the joint of my Gazelle floor stand and it leaves a very oily stain behind. I also laid a stack of cd's on a piece for quite some time, and when I removed them, the pattern of the shelf liner was etched into the cd case (and never came off).
54. To separate the strands of floss, tap the end of the thread, it will separate them enough you can get a grip on one.
55. To separate the floss strand into the # of threads you want to use pull the strand apart with the threads and attach a spring clothes pin to the end and let it unwind...Just enough weight to hold it steady even separation.