Thread for various types of needlecraft.

Help! I started getting into sewing a few months back and after sewing a very simple Renassance Faire dress and having it look great I decided to try sewing a pair of gloves. I think I got a little over-ambitious. I have all the pieces cut and am currently trying to pin in the fourchettes (the little wedges that go up the sides of the fingers) and the thumbs. Anyone got any tips?

Edited to add:
I just realized that I might get better help if I included the pattern I was using:
Modern Glove Pattern

I think I would be inclined to sew up one side before pinning the next bit, I wouldn't attempt to pin around corners.

They look interesting, I wouldn't mind trying that myself - glovemaking.

I think this is the place for cross-stitch
I'm a keen cross stitcher. Nowadays I work on "minature projects", I used to work on massive ones, the ones you buy in kits (for example the Disney Pooh bear ones etc). Then, Mum either stitch them onto a quilt which has lots of embroideries i've stitched over the years, stick it onto a card, or make it into a bookmark/coaster. I used to frame embroideries but run out of wall space
Apparently the "professional cross stitcher" does a row of half cross stitch one way then makes the full cross stitch by doubling bak the other way. I do this when I remember
About the perfect french knot. I have never got the hand of them so usually use tiny beads for the eyes etc

The bookmark you sent me for Christmas was really lovely Jane, I use it all the time.

Mrs TW has done some beautiful cross stitch work. In fact Mrs TW is one very talented lady when it comes to all handicrafts.

Miss Marple, I also do cross-stitching as well as quilting. I am most certainly not "professional," but I do do half the stitch in one direction and then return to complete the rest of the stitch (ha - just like an old Royal typewriter without the bell). I found that the stitches just seem to be happier and the back of the project even looks pretty good. In some kits that is the way the directions read for stitching instructions. But I think however the stitcher is comfortable making the stitch is the way to go.

Jane, how do you start and finish your thread? Do you hide it behind other stitches?

My very first project was about 16 years ago and it was a very complicated Christmas pattern. The project came out lovely, beadwork and all. I suppose it was the challenge, but you know the old saying, "ignorance is bliss." Little did I know there were easier projects to do. I then found out it was much easier to start at the beginning with something much easier.

And Dragonkin, good luck with the gloves. It looks to be a very complicated project to me. The pattern (for what reason, I don't know) reminds me of the gloves with the seams on the outside. I remember wearing white gloves to church each week. And elbow length gloves for dressing up. My mother and I had quite a variety! Needless to say, in my youthful ignorance all but about two pair were given away as the wearing of gloves faded. Sure wish I had them now! I could give them to museums!

I'm also a cross-stitcher. I do lots of them, and am working on a lighthouse, right now.

Jar, I hide the thread behind the other stitches when I start and finish. That way, no messy knots to worry about.

Morrigan

I was wondering if anyone had any hints on the best way to frame cross stitch correctly. I am always worried about stretching it too much e.t.c. Is it best to thread or staple?.. that sort of thing. I have several very large projects on the go and I wouldn't want to spoil them by framing them incorrectly. I wish I could afford professional framing! I'm not even sure how much that is.

I am a cross-stitcher, too, although I'm terrible when it comes to finishing up projects. I've got several pieces where I've finished all the embroidery, but somehow never got around to framing it or sewing on the backing or whatever is supposed to happen. The only truly finished piece I have is a ring pillow I made for my wedding -- and even then I didn't do the finishing! I'd put in the last stitch the day before the wedding, at which point my sainted soon-to-be-mother-in-law declared that I didn't have time to worry about it any more than that. She and her mother-in-law turned it into a pillow that night.

I'm interested in any answers to shavsy's question, though, as I'm working on a piece that I would like to frame!

One other cross-stitching question. In the next couple of months, I'm planning to make the opposite of JaneMarple's transition: going from relatively small projects to epic ones (I've got my eye on a pattern that will be about 3'x4' when it's done). Trouble is, I never learned to use an embroidery hoop; on a small-ish piece of cloth, I've always just found it easier to manage the tension with my hands. I suspect I'll really need the hoop on a larger piece of cloth, but I have no idea how to start. For example, what size hoop would be good to start with? Do you prefer wooden or plastic? Are there any particular brands that you can recommend (or un-recommend)?

Jar,
I also love to cross-stitch. I hide the stitches when i start and stop because it makes the back a lot neater and alot easier to stitch without abunch of little knots everywhere.

CD, I like a wooden hoop about four to five inches across - wooden because they are cheap and hold well, and that size because it is big enough that you can work for a bit without having to move it all the time, but not so big that it is uncomfortable in your hand. I have one hoop that is about 8 inches across, but find I never use it. I don't do a whole lot of cross stitch, I prefer to embroider so I can choose the stitch texture I like.

Try to hide my thread ends, but sometimes just say "Oh, who cares!" and make a knot. If it's something that will go in the washing machine, such as a pillowcase or (when the kids were younger) a t shirt, a knot works much better.

Jane, how many wraps around the needle do you do for a French knot? I get best results with three.

I came across the magazine "Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home" somewhere - it is not your usual quilting magazine! Ads for ironing board covers where the hot guy pictured on the cover loses his towel when you iron over it..... Anybody read this magazine?

Having been roped in to helping out at the school's first ever Christmas fair, this is what I've produced after one evening's work. I have a fair way to go yet to create a couple of dozen bears in Christmas fabric, but at least I've made a start. Will three weeks be enough to finish???

Teddy bears

I'm using a Free pattern, but it's a little off (one leg is noticeably longer than the other, the arms aren't well balanced and the ears are a bit wonky). It's workable, but if anybody has a link to any other free pattern I'd be grateful!

Edited to remove photo

Thanks for the hoop tip, agony! I just went out and bought my first embroidery hoop, a 6-inch balsa wood ring. I'm still pretty awkward putting cloth on it, but it does look like it will make things easier. It seems as though I lose a lot of tension as I stitch within the hoop, though -- is that normal, or does it indicate a problem with my method?

I just started last night on a massive wedding sampler (for myself and my husband, but very late!) that will be 14.5" x 24" when done, on 18-count fabric. It will be beautiful, but it is very daunting to have only a part of one curlicue on one letter done after an hour's work.

I've also just located and bought a kit for a wedding sampler for my best friend's wedding (which is, luckily, a year and a half away). Most wedding patterns I've seen are very centered on New Testament verses (like mine) or on Christian wedding vows, and she is Jewish, so it took a bit of effort to find something beautiful that would work for her. It's an 11" x 11" pattern in shades of blue, with a large Star of David and quotations from the Song of Solomon in English and in Hebrew.

Both of these are way bigger and more intricate than anything I've ever done before, so I'm pretty daunted by taking them both on at once.

Do you mean the cloth is not tight inside the hoop, or your stitches are loose when you take them out? Either way, this just means you are not yet happy with the tension on your hoop. It may be too tight, which plays havoc with your stitch tension, or too loose, and not really holding. I'd experiment on something that doesn't matter, until you find a tension that you are happy with.

When I was a girl, I kept my hoop very tight, because that's the way my mother taught me. When I look now at work I did then, the stitches are very loose and "poofy" - I don't really like it. Now I keep it just tight enough so the fabric is secure - about as tight as if I were holding a section of fabric firmly between my fingers. You'll find a tension you like the feel of, if you play with it a bit.

The stitches look fine when I take the cloth out of the hoop. The cloth starts out taut, but as I work, I must be loosening it a little, because the cloth becomes loose inside the hoop. It's a little frustrating, but I guess I'll figure out how to work with it. It takes some getting used to!

It'd probably be a great idea to experiment on something that doesn't matter, but I find that when I'm excited about one project it's very, very difficult to make myself work on anything else. I will muddle. By the end of the second curlicue, the tension will probably be perfect!

I figured out what I was doing wrong with the hoop, by the way -- in case anyone else runs into the same problem. Since I'm so used to controlling the tension myself with my left hand (I stitch with my right), I was holding the fabric inside the hoop with my left hand. Naturally this gradually worked the cloth loose from the hoop! I didn't even realize I was doing it, so it's been a challenge to teach myself to hold the hoop itself and not the fabric inside. Both projects are looking good, though!

I'm going to start teaching my 8 year old grand daughter embroidery this year, and have been looking for simple designs that involve lazy daisy, rope stitch or similar.
Trouble is, they don't have them in Australian shops any more.
Has anyone seen them in other countries ?
Or am I going to have to trace pictures from a colouring in book and start with them ?
Any suggestions appreciated,

So nice to hear you are going to teach your grand daughter to embroider. Seems not many people do anymore.

Try googling embroidery patters - there are many sites which offer free downloads. Good luck Tezza.

Thanks Lady.. hadn't thought of googling !
Interestingly, she wants to learn.. has been pestering us for around a year now, and is coming to stay again these holidays, so I want to be prepared.

What wonderful memories you will make for her. Last week my daughter who is 26 told me she remembers me making her smocked dresses when she was little and told me how much she liked them. It was a touching moment.

I have a piece done by my grandmother at the age of seven.. over 120 years ago, one done by my mother aged 10, one of my own at around the same age, a contribution from my daughter aged maybe 12, and when Izzy does a piece, I will have the whole lot framed as a collection.
I love smocking, but haven't done much..Mum's sister in Scotland used to love it, but had only sons, so I used to benefit.

I have just listed a whole load of Vogue (and other makes) dress patterns on ebay today, most are unused and all dating from 60s and early 70s. Since none cost as much as £1 so long as I cover my postage costs it doesn't matter what they fetch, it is just that I cannot bear to throw them away.

When I was in my teens and early 20s I made most of my clothes, including suits. The job that I had meant us visiting various companies and often they permitted us to buy at staff rates and permitted us to buy on behalf of our colleagues and one of my friends had to work in the Vogue/Butterfield factory so brought the latest pattern books for us to choose from, as they were so cheap I bought loads of patterns, I just didn't get around to making them all up, in fact I didn't make many of them.

Sue, I understand perfectly.
After my adopted mother died, I was "pushed" into getting rid of many of her patterns, and quite a bit of the fabric she had spent a lifetime accumulating.
I often think..oh, I could have used Mum's pattern - most recently when I needed a hat.. Mum always bought fabric to make hat & handbag if she didn't have something suitable in her wardrobe already, each time she bought dress fabric.
Hope you find someone to love your patterns.

There is a bid on one of them so far and it is the first day, better than a poke in the eye.