Stitching Demo
Once you've been cross stitching a while, you'll probably get bored going from the front of the material to the back, then back to front again. Isn't there an easier way? Where's the shortcut key? In this wee tutorial, I'll let you in on the secret.
 |
 |
 |
||
|
ONE:
Following the pattern, first
make half-stitches where each X
will
go. Instead of going from front
to back each stitch, we're going
to
be working mostly from the front
of the fabric.
|
TWO:
Instead of going straight
through the material with each
stitch,
bring the needle through
and to the front again. Make
sense?
|
THREE:
Then, pull the thread
through -- it's basically staying on
the front
side of the fabric, see?
|
||
|
|
 |
||
|
FOUR:
Tighten up the stitch.
Do half-stitches like this for an
entire letter or, as you get more
advanced until your thread runs
out.
|
FIVE:
Now, go back and make the
other halves of the cross stitch.
Start
with the needle behind the
fabric. First, pull the needle
through
from back to front, starting
at the bottom right side of the
stitch.
|
SIX:
Basically, we're just doing the
opposite of the half stitches we
did
before. The goal is to keep the
needle on the front of the fabric
as
much as possible.
|
||
 |
 |
The reason to work stitches in this way is because it's much faster. Plus, it streamlines the process, since you're not constantly switching your hand from the front of the fabric to the back with every single stitch. This might have already come naturally to you if you're always looking for shortcuts like me, but if not, it's a handy little trick that'll let you crank out a lot more work in about half the time. Go get it! |
||
|
SEVEN:
Here's the thread going
through...
|
EIGHT:
...and the stitch tightened
up. Now, on to the next one.
|