How do you choose a fabric?

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Tesha
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How do you choose a fabric?

Post by Tesha »

Hello everyone!
Today I saw a very special fabric in a shop and I need your advice.
Do you always stitch on special for stitching fabric or canvas or you use what you have?
I also found the linen cloth but not Zweigart one and I can't decide wheither it is possible to stitch on or not. How do you choose the fabric?

And the second question is: What subject, from your point of view, could suit the fabric?
Image
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Denise
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Post by Denise »

the fabric is gorgeous, i would say either christmas, wedding or christianing would be good way to use the fabric

DEnise
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mauveme
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Post by mauveme »

You'r right, they would suit a special occasion. And yes I beleive you need to use fabric that has the same stitches per inch on both the length and the width otherwise you will distort the look of your subject. Linda
Linda
purple-footprints
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Post by purple-footprints »

goodness that is gorgeous fabric.

I agree with the others, anything you want to make a bit more speacial.

I picked up what I thought was 28 count eveneave recently, and it turns out it wasnt, it was more like 27 count. It did the job absolutly fine. So all I would say is as long as the holes are square so you get even cross's when you stitch it would work fine. The only difference will be the overall size of the finished design.

The fabrics youve shown, are lovely pastel colours, which I wouldnt have thought would be too hard to find a pattern to suit.

But I have a question regarding fabric that has slightly stronger colours. Im not very creative when it comes to making changes. So if i have a chart that says to use white fabric then I stitch it on white. I was looking online the other day at some of the lovely colours that are available. How do you choose what would work well on different clours. If a chart said to use white, how do you decide what other colours would look nice?
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Rose
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Post by Rose »

The way I usually chose a color other then white is I match or try to match one of the fewest used colors. Like if you are doing a pattern that is mostly blue then the blue that has the least stitches is the one I try to match.

Sometimes it also depends on the person you are stitching for.

I always take a color picture of the pattern to the store with me and lay it out on top of the material to see if it will work out, just like matting your work once it is done different colors pull out different aspects of the picture so you have to decide what you want to focus on.
lindagibb
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Post by lindagibb »

I agree with most of the other reply. I would use the fabric for a special project for something like a baby sampler or a wedding sampler.
Tesha
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Post by Tesha »

Well, I agree that the shown fabric is good for Wedding or Christmas, thank you all , I'll choose a subject according to your advice. :D

I still want to try stitching on linen with square holes, as purple-footprints said, and see what happened when someone choose not special canvas. :lol:

Thank you Rose for detailed recomendations with the colour of canvas.
I should say that I don't like white canvas and always try to change the colour especially when the stitched character is white, for example, a bear or geese. When I stitched the white garden bear by Dimensions I choose ecru canvas and when I had it framed I saw that carver and gilder put under the stitched picture green paper so the canvas changed the colour. It became greenish but it looked fine because the frame was also green. The white bear stand out against a background and looks even whiter.

I absolutely agree with purple-footprints, that it is harder to choose the bright color then the pastel one. Naturally you can just try to imagine the finished pattern and to see where you will hang it up. There is such concept as cold and warm colors. And you changing the background can make the picture suit your flat design :o. And also there are some designs which colors you can't change, for example this one Image
A word is dead when it is said, some say.
I say it just begins to live that day.
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Tesha
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Post by Tesha »

One more thing, if you come acoss a design on green or red canvas, would you please tell me? :roll: :!:
A word is dead when it is said, some say.
I say it just begins to live that day.
Dickinson E.
purple-footprints
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Post by purple-footprints »

Thanks for the comments everyone.

And thats a nicely stitched design there!

Im just curious to see in practise what fabric colours you would all use for different designs.... I have just been looking in the internet sites link, and looked at one of the free downloads http://www.scarletquince.com/pat.php?pat=RED001 This one reccomends stitching on white fabric, what would you all actually use, white or something different?

I myself tend to stick to whatever is recommended or shown in an assosiated picture, including threads, fabric, mounts and frames.... This is where I am not good at changing things or being creative on my own.

I have a small design I would like to stitch, it is of a little yellow duck (with orange feet) and a brown coloured chipmunk (with white strip down its back, shading under a green leaf (as an umbrella) in a shower of rain. Rain drops and puddles being blue, and the same for the writting. It has a couple of light pink flowers with green leaves/fronds. It suggests stitching on white, and I dont want to do it on white, I thought about using pink coz of the flowers, but wondered if even a pastel pink would then drown out the flowers.... plus the rain and the duck are not strong deep colours, but more pastel also. In the picture it all stands out well on white, but just looks plain because its white.....
Tesha
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Post by Tesha »

I sugeest my favourite ecru or pale yellow or pale pink (the rose will look more gentle and green leaves'll be brighter) :)
Thanks for the link, very interesting patterns!
A word is dead when it is said, some say.
I say it just begins to live that day.
Dickinson E.
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mauveme
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Post by mauveme »

I usually stick to what they recommend. The pic in my album "Mondicino Twilight" called for light blue fabric, I dont understand why--The entire thing is covered in stitches, no fabric showing through, so why not use white?? :?:
Linda
fairie56

Post by fairie56 »

Well, I guess I've missed out on quite a bit! I've always wondered about changing fabric colours, too. White seems to be the preferred colour all around, but ivory or antique white (?) are also good choices, just as long as you don't have too much pale yellow in the design. I like ecru, also. It's such a gentle colur.
about choosing a type of fabric, as long as you can see the either the holes or the threads, then anything goes. Just remember to count the same over , such as 2 over 2, or whatever. I have yet ti try my hand at linen, because it's so fine, a bit hard on the eyesight, but I do intend to do something soon.
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Rose
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Post by Rose »

Purple-footprints your question about the rose picture just my opinion but I think I would do it on a very light pink there is a fabric here in the states that they call blush it is lighter then baby pink but I think it would really bring out the colors of the rose and also make a nice contrast to the green leaves. If you wanted to be very dramatic you could do it on black this would force the colors out and focus your complete attention onto the rose.


:roll:
Just my 2 cents.
laydenwithstitches
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Choosing Fabric

Post by laydenwithstitches »

But I have a question regarding fabric that has slightly stronger colours. Im not very creative when it comes to making changes. So if i have a chart that says to use white fabric then I stitch it on white. I was looking online the other day at some of the lovely colours that are available. How do you choose what would work well on different clours. If a chart said to use white, how do you decide what other colours would look nice?
here's a site that's lots of fun and may help stitcher's choose fabric colours.
http://www.stitching.jekdesign.com/FabricChoices.html[/url]
Elaine Layden
of
Layden With Stitches

Blog- http://laydenwithstitch.journalspace.com
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harsha
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Post by harsha »

I usually play around with the link Elaine gave above before purchasing any special hand dyed fabric. But I will always, almost always use what I have in hand if I'm stitching a small - medium sized project.

That fabric you shown us .. Gorgeous! I'd say they're perfect for festive stitching or even something mythical/magic!
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