A Look at Eyelet Stitches

Have you ever given thought to how your eyelet stitches look?  Sometimes they do not look very good because of how they are executed.  Let me explain.

First let’s take a look at a typical eyelet stitch and how it is executed:

I stitched this eyelet with #5 perle cotton on 18 count canvas.  I did not enlarge the center hole and I followed the stitch diagram to the right of the stitched sample.  If you look at this sample, and it is more evident if you look at one that you stitched yourself, you will notice that the stitches start to build up on top of each other as you go around the circle of the eyelet (esp. stitches 25 through 31.)   That is because you have 15 stitches all going down into the same hole in the center and there is just not enough room for them all, especially if you do not open that hole a little bit.

So let’s compare this first stitch sample with one stitched the same way except that I opened the center hole prior to stitching.

By enlarging the center hole I have eliminated most of the thread build up towards the end of the eyelet stitch.  One thing that you need to be careful of is that you enlarge all of your holes exactly the same size.  The tension that you stitch with will also affect the hole size, you do not want different center hole sizes with your stitches.  I enlarge my holes with my laying tool, a very large needle will also work.

Now, let’s say you really do not want to increase the hole size, that is fine.  But you want to eliminate that thread buildup.  Here is a way to achieve a nicer looking stitch without increasing the size of the center hole:

I have changed the way I have executed this stitch.  I am now going around the circle of the eyelet 3 times, instead of just once.  This produces a nicer looking stitch.

As a final note, remember to execute stitches consistently.  Here is an example of stitching eyelet stitches with 2 different starting points.  After stitching the first one, I decided to stitch the next one (to the right of the first stitch) and wanted to start as close to the first stitch as I could.  This saves me thread and also I do not travel across open canvas with the thread on the back, which I am concerned about too.

You may wonder, just what is wrong with those concerns?  The concerns are justified, but you are sacrificing how nicely your stitching could look if you stitched consistently.  Remember about thread buildup - the first eyelet has thread building up as you approach the first stitch which is the vertical one on the top of the eyelet.  However, the thread build up on the second eyelet is at a different location.  It looks different.  You want all of your eyelet stitches to look the same.  So start all of your stitches in the same place.  

If you are concerned about thread travel on the back, run the thread underneath the first eyelet to the right most edge of the stitch then place a tacking stitch in an area of the canvas that will be covered by the second eyelet.  As for saving thread, you won’t, but there’s not that much extra thread used with this method.

Also, placing a tacking stitch underneath an eyelet, even with perle cotton, is not a problem, because the tacking stitch will easily be covered with all of the thread used with this stitch.

Laying Threads

Anytime you are stitching with more than one thread in the needle you should use a laying tool.  However, while this is necessary to ensure threads are layed smoothly and evenly, it is not sufficient.  Many people wonder, do you stroke the thread?  How do you guarantee that the threads will lay nicely?

There are several things that you can do to ensure that your laid threads look their best.

1.  Make sure that the threads in the needle are not twisted.

If your threads are twisted, pull the threads out of the eye of the needle, smooth them out, or let them untwist by letting the thread hang free.  You may want to separate strands if they kind of stick together - this may happen with cotton floss.  Then put the threads back into the needle.  The problem of twisted threads usually happens after you have been stitching for awhile.

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   2.  Try to position the canvas so that you are laying threads away from your body.  

1. Turn the canvas if necessary.  This technique is especially important when you are laying long lines of threads in the same direction - especially in a border.  Stitch problems in border areas really pop out at you.  Here is what I mean:
   
   

3.  Stroking the thread.

1. Place your laying tool underneath the thread at the hole it came up through the canvas, stroke it in the direction that it is being stitched.  Do not stroke back and forth, this may cause wear and a little fraying of the thread, especially some short staple silks and cotton floss.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   4.  Maintaining tension on the thread you just laid.
   Use the laying tool to maintain the tension on the thread by placing the tool at the place where the thread went through the canvas to the back.  Keep the laying tool there until you bring the thread to the front of the canvas through the next hole and can apply tension on the thread.  Obviously, those who like to use extremely long lengths of thread may find this difficult - another reason not to stitch with really long lengths of thread.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   5.  Turning the corner
   If you are turning a corner - turn the canvas so that you are laying threads away from you.
   
   
   6.  When threads need to be laid in several different directions for a stitch.
   It makes sense to turn the canvas if you are laying a long line of threads all in one direction (I’d say more than 2 to 3 stitches.)  However, if you are stitching a cross stitch, there is no way that you can turn the canvas for each stitch.  So use common sense.
   
   
   
   
   
   Some people ask about 2 threads in the needle, do you need a laying tool?  Is using your finger or thumb sufficient?  What about railroading the threads?
   My advice is - use a laying tool.  The more you use it the more used to it you will be and eventually it will be more natural to use one than not.  And the threads look best when you use one.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Thread Shadows - Part 2

This blog entry will be a discussion of travel thread shadows.  This is the picture of travel threads shadowing through to the front of the stitching.

In the above picture the stitcher can not start and stop the thread at each stitch because each stitch is one vertical stitch.  So just what do you do in this instance?

Here are a few suggestions:

1.  If you must carry threads across an unstitched area, travel diagonally (as opposed to vertically or horizontally), as this may hide some of the travel threads.

2.  Baste white muslin to the back of your fabric prior to stitching anything.  The white muslin will hide any travel threads.

3.  Mount your needlework on a mounting board the same color as your thread that you are pulling across the open areas.  I have not seen this technique with black mounting board and white fabric, but I have seen it done with a medium green mounting board and tan fabric.  It worked beautifully and did not detract from the piece.

4.  If there are a few stitches in each isolated area then you have enough thread to start and end threads in the back of those stitches.  Use a sewing thread to further hold down these threads if necessary, using the techniques I went over in the last blog post.

Here is another example:

What you see here is the blue metallic threads being dragged from one stitching area to the next.  Above this stitched area are laid violet threads.  The blue metallic thread should have been hidden behind the laid metallic thread by placing a small tacking stitch above the point created by the two blue metallic threads coming together, then dragged behind this line of stitching, another tacking stitch right above where the next point created by the blue metallic threads is made.  Here is a diagram:

The blue thread will be taken to the back of the canvas at point 2.  Instead of pulling this thread over to point 7, bring your needle up at point 3 and down at point 4 (first tacking stitch) then take your second tacking stitch at points 5 and 6.  Then bring your blue thread up at point 7 to start the next stitch.  These tacking stitches will be covered by the violet thread that is laid across this horizontal channel in the canvas.

The compensated cross stitch placed at the points where the blue threads meet will cover the irregularity caused by pulling the thread from point 2 to point 3 and from point 6 to point 7 (thread pull on the back of the canvas affects how the stitches on the front will look.)  

Look for these types of opportunities (hiding threads behind other threads) to hide travel in open canvas work.

Thread Shadows

Here is a picture of one of the most common faults in needlework with unstitched areas- threads shadowing through to the front.

The red arrow points to a thread end shadowing through to the front in an unstitched area while the blue arrow points to travel threads shadowing through to the front.  This blog post will be about the former, the next post about the latter.

Threads showing through from the back are unfortunately too common in cross stitch, counted thread and needlepoint in which there is unstitched fabric or canvas.  Borders and isolated motifs are the most common areas that this type of error occurs.  

I have thought about this a lot and I think that most people know that these ending threads should be secure, and they were correctly ended in the piece when it was initially stitched.  However, with washing of fabric or blocking of needlepoint and the stretching of fabric or canvas in preparation for mounting some of these ends pop out.  

Here is my advice:

1.  While you are stitching:  The end of whipped stitches are highly susceptible to unwrapping and popping out.  These stitches are perpendicular to the thread on the back of your work.  You want the thread end to lie in the same direction as the stitches on the back of your work to hide them better.  After you whip the stitch to secure the thread, slide the needle inside the stitches on the back in the direction of the stitching for about 1/4 inch if possible, then cut.  If you do this and the thread loosens it will simply slide further underneath these stitches.

2.  After you stitch:  After stitching and washing/blocking but before you mount the needlework, check the back again for any ends that are coming out.  Take a length of sewing thread the same color as the fabric or canvas and whip the thread end to the stitches on the back.  Then slide the sewing thread in the stitches on the back along the direction of the stitches.  If this sewing thread loosens, it will simply slide further underneath the stitches.  If the sewing thread comes unwrapped it most likely will not be seen if it is the same color as the fabric or canvas.

3.  Prior to framing:  After you mount your needlework, inspect it.  See any thread ends shadowing through?  If so, take the needlework off the mounting board and follow the instructions in #2 above.

4.  After giving it to the framer:  What if the framer mounts it?  You may ask your framer to view the needlework after mounting it and prior to framing to check for any thread ends.  You will need to pay to have it remounted though.  If you don’t want to pay this fee, learn to mount the needlework yourself or live with it.  

If it will be judged - fix it!  Judges look very carefully at needlework when they judge.  You will not be able to sneak this error past a judge.

Scotch Stitch Tips

Many stitchers could stitch Scotch Stitches better if they know two things, and both have to do with thread tension.  These two techniques may also be used for Cashmere Stitches and Pavilion Stitches, basically any stitches that have short stitches and long stitches.

Both issues can be seen in this example.  The first issue involves that short stitch - it really needs to be plump or else it will be buried by the stitch next to it.  This is due to too much tension placed on the (typically) first stitch executed in the Scotch Stitch, though I have pointed out the first stitch on the right and the last stitch pointed out on the left.

To solve this problem, ease up on the tension for that diagonal stitch over one canvas thread.  This should leave that small stitch plumper.

The second issue is that the middle stitch wants to lift up higher than all the other stitches, basically  because it is longer and the tension is just not maintained well.  

The picture below shows one stitch in the upper right hand corner that pulled up, while the other three are not raised.  You may find that placing a tacking stitch just before stitching the longest stitch will solve this problem.

The tacking stitch is underneath the Scotch Stitch and therefore hidden.  Remember the thread type may mean that you can not use this technique, only those threads that will lay low enough to be hidden when stitched over will work.

Here is a stitch diagram of a typical Scotch Stitch:

These two stitch diagrams show where to place the tacking stitch during the execution of the Scotch Stitch:

Next time you see these two issues with your Scotch, Cashmere or Pavilion Stitch, try one or both of these tips.

Be Consistent

One of the things that will keep your stitching looking its best is to always be consistent in how you stitch.  What do I mean by this?

Recently, I taught a class and one of the stitches was a Large Upright Cross Stitch that was spread out, I diagrammed the stitch to be executed diagonally.  Here is a portion of the stitch diagram:

Traveling diagonally down, the first two stitches include numbers for execution.  What happens when you travel to the next diagonal up row, the red arrow points at the next stitch in the progression.  

Interestingly, many people wanted to start this stitch with this numbering sequence, stitching that first vertical stitch from top to bottom:

This actually caught me by surprise because the previous stitches were started at the bottom of the stitch.  When I asked about it, one of the students explained to me that she chose the shortest route to begin stitching.  OK, this makes sense - BUT, we are back to How the Stitch  Lies on the Back of the Canvas Affects How it Looks on the Front.

I wanted the stitch to be executed like this, which is the way all of the other stitches were executed, stitching the vertical stitch from bottom to top:

What actually made things worse, is that after stitching the first stitch of the second diagonal row with the vertical stitch executed from top to bottom, most of the stitchers switched back to stitching the vertical stitches from bottom to top.

Here is how each one looks actually stitched, side-by-side (18 count canvas, 2 strands Impressions):

Let’s look at just the inconsistent stitched sample in depth:

The red arrows point to the tops of each vertical stitch.  When the stitch execution is from top to bottom there is a little hole space between the top of the thread and the upper canvas thread (tighter tension means more space between stitching thread and canvas thread.)  If you look at the bottom-most stitch, the vertical stitch has a different slant to it than the vertical part of the other stitches in that diagonal row.  That’s because the thread pull on the back of the canvas is different from the other stitches.

Further, if I change back to executing the stitches from top to bottom after the bottom-most stitch, (the stitch to the left of the bottom-most stitch), I have the same issue.  It would have been better to stitch all of the stitches in this diagonal row with the vertical portion either going from top to bottom or bottom to top, but not changing after the first stitch.  A tacking stitch underneath where I am going to place that first vertical stitch would be best if I want to change the execution of the vertical stitch from bottom to top to top to bottom.

Here is what I mean by a tacking stitch (the tacking stitch will be hidden by the actual Large Upright Cross Stitch):

So, going from top to bottom or left to right is not the issue, the issue is changing from top to bottom for one stitch and the next stitch from bottom to top.  Same thing if you change executing the horizontal stitch from right to left to executing the horizontal stitch from left to right.

I admit that this is a subtle difference.  Remember that your eye will discern that there is a difference.  This difference makes the viewer look more closely at that spot to try to determine what is different instead of gliding smoothly over the entire area.  Magnify this difference by many rows and your eye will look at the edge of the stitched area more closely than usual, which is not what you want.

Be consistent in how you execute your stitches and your stitching will look better.

Straight Stitch Compensation and Canvas Coverage

I am updating the blog postings to have labels attached to each post, it is at the bottom of the post underneath the comments.  The labels will indicate the general topic of the post.  For this post the labels are stitch compensation and canvas coverage.  Now, if you want to see all the posts about stitch compensation, then click on the label “stitch compensation” and all posts with that label will be displayed.  In this way you can view the posts in a more organized manner.

This post will discuss the issue that befalls everyone who compensates straight stitches, in particular, straight stitches over one canvas thread.  We’ve all been there, and here is an example of stitching the Parisian Stitch with just such compensation (2 strands Sheep’s Silk on 18 count canvas.)

The stitched sample shows two problems with compensating straight stitches over one canvas thread.  The first problem is that the stitches are not as plump as the regular stitches while the second problem (caused by the first problem) is that the canvas shows between this compensated stitch and the stitch next to it.  Here, row 3 is the compensated stitches and the canvas shows between the long stitches of row 2 and the stitches of row 3.

Many people have heard that you just stitch over the compensated stitch and that should solve the problem.  Yes and no.  Yes, it will solve both problems most of the time if done correctly.  And no, if not done correctly, it just exacerbates the problem.  

Here is an example of a correctly overstitched compensation stitch:

Notice that the compensated stitches are as plump as the regular stitches, and there is no canvas showing next to these compensated stitches.

The correct way to overstitch these over one canvas thread straight stitches is to stitch the row of compensated stitches, here shown as row 3.  If you follow the numbering (black lines) you will be traveling from left to right.  Then take a tacking stitch on the back and stitch over the top of row 3 again, following the lettering in red (and lines in red), traveling from right to left.  

Do not stitch the compensated stitch and then stitch over that stitch as your next stitch.  This simply wraps the thread more tightly around that canvas thread.  Have at least one stitch, or a tacking stitch between the compensated stitch and the overstitched stitch.  This extra work will prevent the wrapping of the thread, providing a plump stitch with better canvas coverage.

Difficulties arise when you are using a variegated thread.  In this case you may need to take a tacking stitch after every compensated stitch, then overstitch the compensated stitch.  This is more tedious, but it will maintain a correct color flow from the thread.