Hiding Travel Threads

Here is an example of a couched thread (blue/green metallic) with a red couching thread that holds the metallic thread in place.  Red thread is so great to highlight problems in your stitching.

Comparison of Two Couched Threads

Which sample looks better, 1 or 2?

Sample 1 is a typical sample that most stitchers create.  Let me point out a few problems and then I will show you how to change Sample 1 into Sample 2.

Sample 1 With Problems Pointed Out

The black arrows point to travel threads showing through to the front and the blue arrow shows a sag in the couched thread.  These issues are not visible in Sample 2.  

If we look at the back of Samples 1 and 2 we will see why this is the case.

Comparison of Backside of Couched Threads

The backside of Sample 1 shows a vertical stitch, then a diagonal line of thread then a vertical stitch.  This diagonal stitch is why you see the thread showing through to the front.

The backside of Sample 2 shows two vertical stitches followed by a horizontal line of thread then two vertical stitches.  I have used sewing thread in the same color as the canvas thread to tie the diagonal line of thread to the vertical stitch in order to hide it behind the couched metallic thread.

Looking at the backside of Sample 1 only,

Fixing Sample 1 With Sewing Thread

I have placed a black line where I tied the threads on the backside together with the sewing thread.  I did a simple buttonhole knot with the sewing thread.  This simple step will clean up any travel threads that show through to the front from the couching.

There is one more issue to mention, the blue arrow is pointing at the metallic thread.

Another Problem with Sample 1 - Thread Sag

Do you see how the metallic thread dips here?  That is because the couched thread is not taut.  Always pull the couched thread taut prior to placing the tie down stitches, the couched thread here should lie straight in the channel between two horizontal canvas threads.

Compensating Diagonal Stitches - Part 2

This blog post is a continuation of compensation of diagonal stitches (on the true diagonal) for unusual shapes - arguably one of the more difficult areas of needlepoint.

Here is my shape that I want to fill.  And this is important - I want to fill this shape.  What does that mean?  That means I want to cover all those lines that are drawn on the canvas.  Many times the stitcher wonders if the lines should be covered or not.  Ask yourself, are you filling the shape or surrounding the shape or stitching next to the shape?  If you are filling the shape, cover the lines.  If you are surrounding the shape, or stitching next to the shape, do not cover the lines.

Initial Shape - To Fill

As said in the previous blog post, Compensating Diagonal Stitches - Part 1, begin stitching in an area that will give you a long enough line of stitches so that you can establish the stitch pattern.  Again I am using the Diagonal Scotch Stitch, though this technique will work for any diagonal stitch on the true diagonal.  So here is my first row of stitching:

First Row of Stitching

Notice that I am covering the lines.  The second row begins below the first row, and I choose to stitch the small tent stitch underneath the longest stitch of the previous row to start my stitch pattern.

Second Row of Stitching

The green arrow above indicates my starting point.  I don’t want to start where I need to compensate, I want to start where I know it is easy to establish the stitch pattern.  

Let’s look at the third row:

Third Row of Stitching

OK, now in this third row I have encountered my first real problem - indicated by the green arrow.  How long should this compensating stitch be?  Well, I”m not really sure.  This is where a lot of angst comes in for the stitcher.  Here is my advice, err on the side of caution - place a shorter stitch here if you are not quite sure, or skip this stitch for now and see how the curve develops with further rows of stitching.  If you skip this stitch, just remember to put it in later, if you place a shorter stitch and you really feel that to achieve a nice curve, a longer stitch would have been better you can fix it.  How?  

Shhhh... Don’t tell anyone, but place a longer stitch over the top of that tent stitch.  Watch the tension of the stitch so it lies nicely next to the stitches on either side, but in the end, no one will know what you did.

Does that surprise you?  

Confidence in knowing what to do in these situations is a difference in experience.  Learning tips, tricks and techniques for different complicated issues will allow you to gain confidence and tackle these problem areas without hesitation.

Another thing about this row, I stopped stitching when the next stitch is not contiguous with the previous stitch - I’ll just add those stitches later.  Notice this curve bends inward.  If I drag my thread to the next stitch in this row, I may have that thread run behind an open area, or an area with a lighter thread in color and it may shadow through.  Safer to fill it in later.

OK, let’s look at the next row:

Fourth Row of Stitching

The green arrow in the fourth row of stitching points to my starting point.  Am I concerned that I did not start lower down, because there is all that canvas below the green arrow that needs to be filled with this row of stitches?  No, I want to start stitching where I know that I can accurately begin my stitch pattern, and for me that’s the first tent stitch underneath the longest stitch of the row above it (here the longest stitch is a compensated stitch, so perhaps I should refer to it as the corner stitch.)

Let’s look at the next row:

Fifth Row of Stitching

Nothing very interesting here, just notice that I am at the bottom of the shape and the last two stitches are compensated, that’s what the green arrow is pointing to.

Filling in the last row of stitches:

Sixth Row of Stitching

I am now at the end of my regular stitching, defined as stitching below the previous row, and I need to fill in those open areas, most will be compensating stitches.

Where do I go from my last stitch?

Here is what I would do if I still had thread in the needle with which to stitch.

Seventh Row of Stitching

I have three arrows included in this diagram and they indicate where to place tacking stitches on the back of the canvas.  Remember that you want the pull of the last stitch to be consistent with the stitch before it so after stitching the last blue stitch in that corner, I place a tacking stitch at Arrow A.  This tacking stitch will maintain the downward pull on the last stitch in the corner.  I then travel up to number 1 and place those two tent stitches.  (There is really no good place to put a tacking stitch before placing the stitch at number 1, and my thread is coming from below that point so I will let it go.)  I need to place a tacking stitch at Arrow B to maintain the downward pull on that last tent stitch (ending at number 4) prior to moving to the stitch starting at the number 5.  However, I need to change the direction of the pull on that thread traveling across the back of the canvas, and need to place a tacking stitch at Arrow C.

Got that?  Sometimes one tacking stitch will do, but sometimes you need two tacking stitches.  Always look at the pull on the last stitch before traveling to a new location, and then again, look at the pull on the first stitch at your new location.  Both of these stitches must match the pull on the stitches as if there was no break in your stitching from one diagonal row to another.

OK, now the eighth row:

Eighth Row of Stitching

Oh dear, here is another compensating stitch in which there is not a definitive answer to the length of the stitch (green arrow.)  However, I am looking at the drawn line and it looks like it is pretty straight along this area, and I want my stitches to follow the line, not stick out from this line.  So I think that a stitch over one canvas thread will work well here.  Again, I will not know for sure until I stitch the whole area.

Moving on to the next row:

Ninth Row of Stitching

Remember to place tacking stitches!  OK, now I have moved down to the bottom of the shape and put in the brown stitches.  The green arrow is pointing at a last compensating stitch that needs to be placed.  Again, it is not completely obvious that the stitch goes there, but if I want to have a curve there I had better put that little tent stitch in - which is shown in the next diagram.

Tenth Row of Stitching

I have now filled in all of the compensating stitches for the bottom part of the shape and now must move to the top part.  My advice is not to pull your thread on the back all the way to the top, but end your thread at the bottom and begin a new thread.  

I am showing all the rest of the stitches that fill in the shape in the final stitch diagram:

Filled in Compensating Stitches for Top Part of Shape

At this point you can look at your filled in shape to determine if you have achieved a nice curve or need to adjust some of those compensating stitches.  We will look at that issue and a way to smooth out curves in the next blog post.

Herringbone Stitch Compensation

For this blog posting I am going to concentrate on the Herringbone Stitch.  There are many variations of this stitch, depending on the slant of the stitch, the width and the height of the stitch, as well as the numbers of threads in the separation of each “v” of the stitch.  Compensation must take into account all of these variations, there is not one way to do it for every variation of the stitch.

Let’s look at the Herringbone Stitch that is two threads high and two threads wide:

Herringbone Stitch - 2 wide x 2 high

The red lines show the compensating stitches.  Since this stitch follows the 45 degree diagonal of the square grid, the compensation is straight forward and no guessing is needed.

Here is a stitched sample:

Herringbone Stitch - 2 wide x 2 high

Looking at the back of the canvas:

Herringbone Stitch - back of canvas

There is not much thread on the back of the canvas to weave in ending threads.  In fact the stitches on the back of the canvas are over one thread. 

Let’s look at two difficulty issues that the Herringbone Stitch may cause:

1. It is hard to end threads on the back of the canvas.
2. The step back stitch (as in going from 2 to 3), the thread goes back one canvas thread and many times it can be pulled under the thread that is supposed to separate where the needle went into the canvas (at point 2) and where it is brought out of the canvas (at point 3.)

For Point 1:

The first piece of advice that I can give about weaving in ending threads is :  get a sharp needle - a crewel needle or an embroidery sharp needle is better than a sewing needle, but that will work too.  The embroidery sharp needle is the easiest to use because the eye of the needle is as large as a tapestry needle.

Let’s look at a stitched Herringbone Stitch sample:

Herringbone Stitch ending threads showing through to front of canvas

The arrows are pointing to ending threads showing through to the front of the canvas.  Let’s look at the back:

Red arrow - ending threads diagonally on the back of canvas

Blue arrow - ending threads horizontally on the back of the canvas

This is the back of the sample and you will notice that you do not see the ending threads on the left side of the stitching where the ending threads are woven into the stitches on the back (and I had to use a sharp needle because there is not much thread on the back of the canvas.)  Notice that ending the threads horizontally means that the ending threads show through to the front.  It is much better to end the threads on a diagonal on the back, meaning you have to weave through a top stitch, then a bottom stitch, then a top stitch, etc.

Other options for ending threads - weave them into stitches next to the Herringbone Stitches.  This is an option, but unless I absolutely have to (like for darning stitches) I always try to end threads behind the stitches that the thread was used to stitch them.  Why?

First, I don’t have to worry about thread shadows showing through stitches with lighter colored threads.  Second, if I have to rip out stitches, I don’t want to disturb stitches in surrounding areas - this just makes it easier for me.  If you’ve ever ripped out stitches and had all these ending threads in them from other areas you’ll know that this can really be a problem.  Maintaining stitch tension on those stitches from surrounding areas is nigh impossible.

Now for Point 2:

Having threads slide under the intersection of the canvas thread is a pain.  Let’s look at the canvas:

Canvas thread on top is vertical

When the top thread is vertical, any stitch over one horizontal canvas thread (as in the Herringbone example above) may slip under that vertical canvas thread.  This usually happens when the area you are stitching in has been disturbed (as in ripping out stitches and stitching over the area again.)  Canvas has some starch in it and that makes the canvas threads “stitck” a bit to each other when you first stitch on the canvas.  However, if you break this bond, then threads can easily slip around, as well as disforming the canvas threads with tight stitching tension.

This is a problem with a linen ground fabric also.  People who work on linen have to take more care in their stitching tension than canvas stitchers.  So watch your tension.

Try not to start a horizontal run of Herringbone Stitch that has an over one canvas thread stitch across the back of the canvas with a vertical stitch on the top.

If you are stitching Herringbone vertically, the opposite is true, don’t have the top canvas thread be a horizontal thread if you have an over one stitch on the back of the canvas.

Canvas thread on top is horizontal

Now let’s look at a variation of the Herringbone Stitch that is not square.  

Herringbone Stitch - 3 high x 4 wide

The important issue with respect to any stitch that is not a a true diagonal - the compensated stitches must have a slant as close to the slant of the original stitches.  I drew the compensating stitches in the diagram in red using the same angle as the original stitches to find where they would enter the canvas.  Let’s look at a stitched sample to determine if the slant is correct.

Herringbone Stitch - 4 wide x 3 high - Arrows pointing to compensated stitches

The compensated stitches are executed with white thread so that they stand out.  I will look at the slant of these stitches to determine if they are correct.  With this sample, I am happy with the slant - that is the only way to know if a compensated stitch will work - look at the slant of the stitch and compare it to a previous whole stitch. 

Those Pesky Ending Threads

I was recently at a needlepoint exhibit and I came across a needlepoint piece that had an error in it related to ending a thread.  The piece had a lot of white stitching in it and there was a section that had a red metallic thread that was couched down.  Surrounding this red metallic thread was all white threads.  Where do you end the metallic thread with all that white thread around it.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:

The arrow is pointing to the ending part of the red metallic thread showing through to the front.  The problem is intensified because the two cashmere stitches end right at the point where the thread is pulled across the back, showing through to the front.  I don’t quite remember what was above and below the metallic thread, just that whatever stitches were there were not suitable for ending the metallic behind either.  So I put in some herringbone stitches in white so that I could make my point.

The back of the canvas looks like this:

The arrow shows how the ending thread is pulled away from the red metallic thread on the front and through the white cashmere stitches on the back.  This is why you see the red thread from the front of the canvas.

The correct way to end those threads should not reveal any metallic threads showing through to the front, as shown below:

The black arrow points to the location that the red thread is taken to the back of the canvas and you can not see the any thread shadowing through to the front.  Just how did I end that thread without any red showing through?   Look at the back:

The black arrow points to where the red thread is brought to the back of the canvas and pulled behind the red thread on the front of the canvas.  I used a length of white sewing thread to tie down the thread on the back directly behind where the thread lies on the front.  Furthermore, to make sure that thread does not wiggle out, I pierced the metallic thread with the sewing thread in more than one place.  That thread end will not loosen or wiggle out of place - it will keep the front thread crisp and solidly in place.

Do not hesitate to whip or couch threads in place on the back of your canvas piece.  Piercing the ending thread will hold it stable.

Red thread stitched near white thread is notorious for causing troubles:

• red fibers may shed onto the white thread
• red ending threads show through to the front very easily 
• the red color may rub off onto the white thread

Always stitch the white thread first and the red thread last in these circumstances.  And always end the red thread directly behind the red stitches on the front of the canvas.  Now you know how to end that pesky red thread behind the red stitches on the front of the canvas even when it first appears that there is no way you can do it.

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.