Cross Stitch Cafe 2012

Flat_Eric

Well my cross stitch holiday officially began yesterday but I didn't manage even a single stitch!

Instead I was busy finishing the tidying up from Sunday (you know when you get bored of (the pre-xmas) tidying up and get one of those bag for life (bags) and throw everything in it (out of sight, out of mind... :rotfl:) until well you can't get in the spare room anymore....

Anyway, once I got bored of the tidying , I decided to sort through my cross stitch projects, assemble threads for charts I would quite like to do and generally plot who I want to stitch for, when its needed for etc. So now I have a better idea of what I shall be stitching this year. Unfortunately I think I have picked too many projects so I still can't decide what to stitch this week....

lancs-lady_2

Humphrey10 wrote: »

I love doing cross stitch with beads - it makes the finished piece look great!
Are all the beads the same colour or do you have a mixture? If you've got different colours sort them out before you begin.
It's easier to pick the beads up if you put them in little trays or pots or ramekins or similar, it gets very fiddly if you leave them in plastic bags.
This is probably obvious, but if you want all the beads to lie in a uniform way, you need sew them on in the same way eg all //// or all \\\\ .
If you want them vertically or horizontally, then sew them on with individual cross stitches - if you do a row of //// then go back to do \\\\ I find they all go wonky, sewing them one at a time with cross stitches works better.
Hope this is of some use!

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated :j

There are quite a lot of different colours, and what seems like literally hundreds of beads!

Can I ask a really stupid question? I've never stitched beads on before, so how do I physically do them?? ie do I make a knot at the back of the material, put the bead on my needle and then what? I don't know how to physically attach them to my material if that makes sense?!

Flat_Eric

lancs-lady wrote: »

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated :j

There are quite a lot of different colours, and what seems like literally hundreds of beads!

Can I ask a really stupid question? I've never stitched beads on before, so how do I physically do them?? ie do I make a knot at the back of the material, put the bead on my needle and then what? I don't know how to physically attach them to my material if that makes sense?!

I never knot the thread when adding beads - instead, I would either catch the thread by running the thread under existing stitches first or simply hold the thread in place before poking the needle through where I wanted the bead to be and once the bead was added (which I would do as soon as the thread was in place) would be to simply secure the bead by stitching through the material a few times so that the bead was properly secured. (a bit like securing a button). its best to use a thread colour similar to that of the bead colour and you will need a beading needle - normal cross stitch needles are too big :mad:

sk00bie1

Flat_Eric wrote: »

I never knot the thread when adding beads - instead, I would either catch the thread by running the thread under existing stitches first

This is how I do it too! I also catch stitches between beads if they are more than a few stiches apart. To finish I'll run the thread under a few stitches again. Good luck with them lancs-lady

I made good progress with Dear Santa last night, I'm itching to pick it up again but am stuck at work I have a christmas card kit to do in my lunch break though :T

Sorry you didn't manage any stitching yesterday Flat Eric, although it is nice to get a bit organised. I made a list of all my planned projects and definitely fell less panicked!
Hope you get some stitching today, didn't you say you're planning to do Fizzy Moon? Which one is it? If you don't decide on that I'm sure we can help you pick something else!

lancs-lady_2

Flat_Eric wrote: »

I never knot the thread when adding beads - instead, I would either catch the thread by running the thread under existing stitches first or simply hold the thread in place before poking the needle through where I wanted the bead to be and once the bead was added (which I would do as soon as the thread was in place) would be to simply secure the bead by stitching through the material a few times so that the bead was properly secured. (a bit like securing a button). its best to use a thread colour similar to that of the bead colour and you will need a beading needle - normal cross stitch needles are too big :mad:

Thank you, thats really helpful :beer:

Just one more stupid question. When I put the thread through the material from the bottom and secure the bead, won't the thread then go over the side of the bead to put the thread through another hole? I hope that makes sense, I just can't figure out how to put the thread back through the same hole without it all coming off again, if you see what I mean??

Sorry I know I'm sound really dim now!

tellmeitsfriday

Up through the middle of the bead and then into the hole down the side of the bead... you will have thread showing, but if you match it carefully, or use clear thread it won't matter

Flat_Eric

sk00bie1 wrote: »

This is how I do it too! I also catch stitches between beads if they are more than a few stiches apart. To finish I'll run the thread under a few stitches again. Good luck with them lancs-lady

I made good progress with Dear Santa last night, I'm itching to pick it up again but am stuck at work I have a christmas card kit to do in my lunch break though :T

Sorry you didn't manage any stitching yesterday Flat Eric, although it is nice to get a bit organised. I made a list of all my planned projects and definitely fell less panicked!
Hope you get some stitching today, didn't you say you're planning to do Fizzy Moon? Which one is it? If you don't decide on that I'm sure we can help you pick something else!

Yes its good to have things organised and I have plenty of projects to keep me busy over the next 12 months :T

Yes I have decided on my project - its a Home is where the cat design from an old issue of cross stitcher

edited to add - here is what I shall mostly be doing this afternoon. Its the small cat design in the corner.


Materials all ready for my project of the day by Flat Eric on Flickr, on Flickr

PS in answer to fizzy moon question, its the design that was featured recently in the WOXS mag (I think)

brednall

Can anyone offer any advice on starting a design from a magazine? I have only stitched 'kits' before. OBviously I can buy the relevant fabrics and threads but I have no idea about what lengths to cut them too or how to make it more like a 'kit'.

Regards

Emma

lancs-lady_2

tellmeitsfriday wrote: »

Up through the middle of the bead and then into the hole down the side of the bead... you will have thread showing, but if you match it carefully, or use clear thread it won't matter

Thats great, thank you very much. I'm a little more confident now, but no doubt I'll be back on when I starting screaming HELP!!! :rotfl:

blue_eyed_girl

Love the latest pics everyone.

Heres Tulip Fields finished and framed - just waiting to be hung on the kitchen wall - its quite a dark red so it should look ok.



I've started the cat in a tea cup kit (free with mag recently) just to keep my fingers occupied.

Will catch up with all your posts properly later.

b_e_g