Stitch by stitch

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motherof4
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Stitch by stitch

Post by motherof4 »

I am very interested in how people do their stitching, stitch by stitch, row by row, column by column, cross country, etc. People who do row by row do you use one colour or do you do individual stitches. Sorry if this has been asked before but I seem to be watching more videos just to see how people stitch, weird or what.
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mauveme
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by mauveme »

Depends on the chart. I go row by row, usually with the colour that has the most stitches. I do stitch by stitch with fill in stitches that are spread over several rows and run the thread under finished stitches to avoid long loose threads on the back , but only up to 10stitches in length. I do individual stitches in cases where it's the only way to go . Hope that makes sense.
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Nicola Main
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by Nicola Main »

I try and pick the colour nearest the centre and stitch from there. I usually work east to west than north to south and I work my cross stitches coming up at top right to down bottom left and up at top left and down to bottom right. I find these give a nice even stitching and the back is lovely and neat (I realise no one is going to bother with looking at the back but I like it to be as neat as the front). I use the loop method. If there is a face in my cross stitch (I stitch a lot of animals) I tend to try and do that part first as if I see the face it spurs me on to finish it (my profile picture shows this with the Barn Owl chick). I've never worked a project big enough to warrant doing cross country and I do backstitch as I go and don't leave it til last which a lot of people do :)
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rcperryls
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by rcperryls »

When stitching on even weave (usually Lugana or Jobelan), I start in the upper left corner. I've been doing this for years (long before I knew HAED even existed) and am pretty much a cross country stitcher. Depending on the design I will start with the first square and depending on where that color takes me, I might stitch across a row (backgrounds for example) or do individual stitches (confetti for example). I prefer to not skip more than 10 or 12 stitches in a row or column, but have. I also will run the thread under any finished stitches between the ones I work on. I do try to choose colors based on which color is the next in the first row of the first page but not always. I don't know if this makes any sense at all, but, I think its mostly a case of "whichever way I am feeling at the moment" so it is very difficult to explain. :tizzy:

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richardandtracy
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by richardandtracy »

Cross country for me. I tried parking, but it didn't work out for me when confronted with 35 colours in a 10x10 square. I was down to 11 stitches an hour, which was hopeless.

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mysterystitcher
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by mysterystitcher »

Well....My needlepoint...It depends. But usually I stitch the border part first, if there is one. Sometimes there is no border, so I must make it myself. Sometimes there is a border, so I just stitch it and make sure the corners meet where they should.
After that I may stitch - and usually do stitch - the outer border.
Why?
To prevent the "running" of the fabric. The Penelope canvas may "come apart", and I am not in good terms with the sewing machine, so stitching the outer border is the only way.
If the canvas is big, I may stitch first the outer border and then the picture itself. Sometimes the picture is upside down, sometimes not. But the stitches find their place and that's what matters to me.
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Podolyanka
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by Podolyanka »

My method depends on the design, but usually I start in the centre and go cross-country trying to make as short "legs" as possible, but if need comes, just hide them under the stitched area.
No parking for me. No multiple needles, even though I do have that wonderful organizer for two dozens of needles or so where you write the numbers of threads above the stuck needles.

With long pictures, I begin stitching in the right bottom corner. I dont overuse one colour at a time, as I hate frogging. There is a nice Belorusan song, " Yas was cutting down clover"- I hear it in my ears every time when I go too far with one colour, which is a warning that it is time to change the thread and return to completing the certain small piece of the picture. Happy stitching everybody!
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BizzieLizzie
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by BizzieLizzie »

motherof4 wrote:I seem to be watching more videos just to see how people stitch, weird or what.
Well if you're weird, so am I! :lol: There are certain stitching videos I watch over and over again just because I find them relaxing.

My stitching style has constantly evolved since I've been on this forum but I've finally found what I think is the ideal method for me (until it evolves again!). I do my crosses from bottom left to top right, then from bottom right to top left. I work row by row across the entire width of the design (to avoid boundary lines) from top to bottom and I park. I thought about trying cross country but it made me shudder so I've stuck with parking. I pick up the parked threads from right to left so that I'm not 'stitching into' a parked thread. I make each full cross in turn (rather than doing ///// then \\\\\\) going from right to left. I start a new thread for each section of a colour (even if it's the same colour) so on HAEDs and Golden Kites I have a LOT of parked threads but it means I'm not carrying the thread very far at all so it keeps the back neat. I start and end my threads on the front using a modified pin stitch, and this helps keep the back neat too. Clear as mud? :D
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motherof4
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Re: Stitch by stitch

Post by motherof4 »

Thank you all for your replies.
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