A Stitch in Line
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 08:00 Written by Ward Tipton Monday, 08 June 2009 17:21
Non Fiction Writing Samples - Arts and Crafts
Some subtle issues should be noted in regards to cross stitch patterns. Whether they are based on somebody’s artwork, a photograph or other types of art, there will be some subtle differences in how they appear. Most of this depends on how you do your cross stitching or needlepoint. While that may sound obvious, the subtleties are often only noticeable when you have completed the pattern. I do not know about you, but that is a little late for my tastes.
There are two traditional styles … at least two styles that I am going to lump into categories in order to attempt to make some sense … regarding the making of cross stitch or needlepoint wall hangings. One school uses more strands of thread and strives for complete coverage of the squares. Mind you, I am not an expert and certainly not one of the people doing the custom work that we do, but that is personally the result that I strive for. In my case, I still have some aida cloth exposed and it actually seems to work well enough for my tastes. Since all of the patterns I have made to date hang in my office, that is fine by me.
Still, some people will want to have much nicer work than I do. This brings me to the other style of cross-stitching that many people also enjoy. In this case, the idea is to have the proverbial “cross” in their cross-stitch wall hangings. They generally use fewer strands of thread (and we still strongly recommend the DMC Threads) and allow more of the cloth to remain exposed after the completion of the pattern.
The reason that this is important enough information to bring up on this site is that it will have a major impact on the results of many of these patterns. Some of these patterns will look just as lovely no matter which school of thought you subscribe to. Still, some of the others will look better with the fuller needlepoint coverage and others will look better with the simple and lighter threaded X stitch to complete the cross stitch patterns.
I wish that we had the staff, the time and the money to complete at least one final project for each pattern that has been submitted here. Still, that does not seem to be very likely even for the hundreds of patterns we are currently working on, much less for the number of cross stitch pattern contributions and individual cross stitch pattern stores that we hope to have up once we get up and running well.
Therefore, before you begin making a substantial effort to complete the patterns you have selected, it seems wise to try a small experiment. If you are creating a pattern for your store, it may be a good idea to try the view with both “stitch” and “solid” views. When the pattern is viewed, you will see the difference. Still, since not everybody will be contributing patterns, many of our readers will not have that option. With that in mind, it may be a good idea to take a small section of the pattern and begin working on that first. No matter which of the other methods you will find on this site; that should be a possibility.
Try a sample section and using the traditional X Stitching, see what that portion of the pattern looks like. It will always be possible to go back over it and if you want to remove the thread altogether, the fewer number of strands will be much easier to remove as well. If you feel that the pattern is going to accurately reflect everything that you want in the sampling, continue to complete the pattern in that manner. If you do not like the results, try using more strands to gain the desired results.
Good Stitching!
