Cross-stitch cafe 2010

kezbradley

(shudders to self) urgh have been shopping at the Boots scrum today, will never go again, have never seen so many determined women with buggies shoving people out of the way, and now everything is on Ebay! Knew should have stayed in stitching

MrsM so does laguna just refer to the fact the evenweave is 25ct rather than 28ct? have not come across that before, thought it must be a particular type of fabric.

Louise love that whole range, took my daughter and me ages to decide on Pixie Dust but now have seen the whole range together am thinking that one on its own might be quite lonely and that two together would be a lot happier.....when you think about it, its saving money in the long term on postage etc, hmmm can talk myself into anything (scuttles off to have another look at the website:) )

ERICS_MUM

Dear all,

I've just read through all your posts so I feel like I know you, I hope I can join you. I've been stitching for over 20 years and thought I was quite good at it, but seeing the high standard of your stitching, I am in awe.

Someone share your secret with me - how do you get your stitches to lie so flat and so smooth ? I never manage to keep the fabric (usually aida) taut enough for long enough in the hoop, which I suspect has something to do with it.

I must have over 20 completed works waiting to be framed; I'll find a couple of decent ones and post pictures.

Thanks for such a lovely read and great links, don't you just love craft-shopping :rotfl::rotfl:

Linda xx

kezbabybabe

If you are using a hoop with a screw tightener on the top, use a flat head screww driver to tighten it up a bit more and I then wiggle the fabric round the edges a bit more until it's taut.

Hope this helps.

harley1

Hi linda, and welcome.

for larger pieces I use a scroll frame as these tend to be easier to keep the fabric taut. I am currently stitching on evenweave and since it is quite small it's in a hoop and I don't like it at all. I'm finding I need to keep pulling at the fabric even when I can't tighten the screw any further.

I'll be glad when this last one is finished.

xxx

shelly

Whether using a frame or a hoop I always loosen off the fabric when I put my work away for the day because a kit I have finished recently, I didn't loosen it off and the fabric and stitches in one area have kind of been stretched away from each other.....if that makes sense? Though admittedly it was taut on the frame for quite some time before I noticed the problem.
I have done a few small kits in years gone by and only held the fabric by hand, no hoops or frames used and they have come out fine.

I don't know of a secret as such to smooth, flat stitches.....they just seem to end up like that. If anything I tend to pull them too tight and have to pull the thread back through the hole a little.
My only advice to make your work look very neat is to have the top stitch of the X's going the same way. For years I just stitced willy nilly and thought it looked fine. Then I read on here about making sure all the stitches ended up going the same way and it looks much better.

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Kez-I have been having a nosey at "laguana" and I THINK its a brand as I have seen more than 25ct -so the same as you can get Zweigart fabric etc -..... I have never worked on it though -but it appears to just be like evenweave. How about emailing Jayne at sew-along -she will probably be able to explain if there is a difference

Hi ERICS MUM -Im another one that always uses a hoop - And I have been known to break 1 or 2 by keep tightening them with a screwdriver :rotfl:...I find that folding the extra fabric into the hoop before tightening helps (sometimes with evenweave I think the fabric is to fine for the hoop to grip properly)..plus it keeps the excess fabric out of the way
Keiss -glad you got most of your goodies :j-Im sure the chart won't be long -I had to wait when I ordered 1 of mine -but Jayne explained that because they offer such a large range it would be so expensive to hold 1 of each -so quite a few have to be ordered..Im sure it will be worth it once it arrives:D

Right -off to get some sewing done -its update time in the morning... not done as much as last week -but Im still happy with how much I have got done as its loads of single stitches in this n that colour again
Happy sewing everyone
Shelley -Im another one who has to have all the crosses going the same way -I looked at one of those that was posted on here that was for sale -and I thought something looked odd -when I zoomed in the Xs were in different ways :eek:-it would drive me nuts:rotfl:

shelly

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Shelley -Im another one who has to have all the crosses going the same way -I looked at one of those that was posted on here that was for sale -and I thought something looked odd -when I zoomed in the Xs were in different ways :eek:-it would drive me nuts:rotfl:

I *think* it was one of your posts from awhile ago that said about stitches all going the same way, I replied to say I stitched willy nilly and you were surprised because you thought everyone stitched with x's going the same way

Must admit though that usually kits say to have the stitches going the same way, but I have ignored it. Wasn't until it was mentioned on here that I thought I'd try it and was very pleasantly surprised at the result.
Must admit further to not really bothering to read instructions that come with the kits I just usually find the centre of fabric and get on with stitching.
Have learnt a lesson there too....thankfully before any harm was done. I have a kit that's to be stitched on evenweave and having only ever used aida I didn't realise there was a difference in the way you stitch on them.
I think it was a comment Louise made when we were discussing aida and evenweave a while ago that made me realise you don't stitch on evenweave in exactly the same way as you do aida.
If the comment hadn't ever been made I wouldn't have been any the wiser because I would have just stitched on the evenweave as if it was aida

*Louise*

^^Just goes to show how all the little comments and tips can help various people...I have picked up most of my know-how from magazines over the years, if this thread had started 10 years ago I could have saved a fortune and just asked online!!:rotfl:

Re: the hoop question, I never use one of those wooden ones with the screw. I tried it once and got so sick of the fabric loosening all the time I threw it across the room in a grump Now for smaller pieces I always use a plastic hoop - it's a devil to get the stiff fabric in at first, but once it's loosened up it's a doddle.

Nothing beats my lap frame though - wish I had bought it years ago instead of wasting money on standing frames and suchlike which I hardly used.


Currently not able to get on with my Lake piccy I have run out of DMC647 and the thread order I placed a week ago still isn't here yet and I don't want to start a new section until this one s done.
The postie must think I have a thing for him, I've been hanging about waiting for his deliveries all week to look out for my threads :rotfl::rotfl:



PS - Erics mum - welcome to the thread, always nice to see new people. Looking forward to seeing some of your finished work x

*Louise*

Postie's been - still no sign of my threads. It's really unusual for the company to take so long about sending stuff.

Swithering whether to sweet talk hubby into making a detour past Hobbycraft on his way home.....hmmm

MRSMCAWBER

*sat here wondering if Mr Louise has had to make an emergency stop on his way home*:rotfl:

Well my hubby came home earlier ...and he had my fabric from sew-along in his little mitt :j..don't know why Im so excited as its not as if Im getting to use it yet ..... Im stuck now though as I ordered a piece of black and a piece of blue for my "santa star" chart.... Its suposed to be done on black, but I thought dark blue would be nice (but wasn't sure if the blue would be dark enough)... but looking at it -I think it will -so I think that when its time I will get the threads out and put them against both and see if one looks better than the other -then the other I can use to make xmas decs for the tree ..
With this talk about how we all do things in certain ways ... I was thinking about Santa star -and they suggest that you start on the top left hand corner :undecided... I will be starting in the middle as always

Anyway -back to a bit more sewing -in time for tomorows update....
Hope your hubby has been sweet talked Louise :rotfl: