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Hi
I'm looking at a mirabilia letter project but want to do all three of my initials together. So I need to grid the fabic first which I've never done. I was wondering if anyone has used 18 count linen or 20 ct evenweave before and how it looks? Especially the linen. Does it look big and open? How about the 18 or 20 count evenweave? I don't like the grid look of aida so I'm concerned that this will look too boxey but on the other hand the 32 ct linen is going to be difficult to grid.

My carousel is on 32ct linen. The holes are not big and open, but the slub in the weave does make counting ahead tricky. It doesn't look at all boxy though as the HPI is so high.

You could grid it though. You'd have to concentrate more than with evenweave, but it's very do-able.

BTW I have just finished Nora Corbett's 'J' on evenweave. It should come back from the framers today so I'll post a pic, but I was happy with the way it looked on that fabric.

Doing all three of your initials together will look stunning!! Can't wait to see progress pics!

Linen of a low count is likely to look more open, although it partly depends on which type of linen you get -- Permin/Wichelt is stiffer and more open, Zweigart is softer and les "holey". Zweigart do a 20ct linen called "Cork", available from Sew and So.
If you want a nice "full" look I'd go for an cotton-modal evenweave such as Jobelan, which besides the more usual 25, 28 and 32ct is also available as 16ct and 19ct from Tandem Cottage; Zweigart's Lugana fabrics (the 20ct is called Bellana) are also cotton-mix but have a slightly more open weave than Jobelan and are just a little stiffer. Zweigart's Jazlyn is as soft and full as Jobelan but I think only comes in 28ct and 32ct. Their Davosa is 18ct 100% cotton, a little less pliable than the cotton-mix ones.
Hope this helps!

That's great Mabel. I've got some davosa in my stash. I'll dig it out and take a look
I'm also of course looking for all this in water lily....this could be a difficult task
I know

Ah, I hadn't realised it had to be a specific colour -- that may be difficult, as the less usual counts tend to come in far fewer colours. I do know that Jobelan 32ct comes in Waterlily -- perhaps over two? It would come to the same as 16ct, probably a bit bigger than you intended but it would look lovely and not a hole in sight

I've nearly finished the letter 'N' bar a few more beads to put on for my daughter. I've stitched it on the recommended 32ct Waterlilly linen from Wichelt. If you look in my gallery you should be able to see a pic of what it looks like. I hope that helps.

I actually have the right sized waterlily in 32 in my stash and was planning on using it but just thought gridding the linen would be difficult. I may just stagger the letters and eyeball it. All three are slightly different sizes.

Do the letters stitch up fast?

lacemaker2004 wrote:Do the letters stitch up fast?

Yes, the one letter I've done did stitch up fast - there's not much to it really

It's the beading which took a while.

Have had mine back. Will post pics soon ...