Step-by-Step How To Keep The Back Of Your Stitching Neat

Don't underestimate the importance of keeping the back of your stitching neat and tidy. No knots. No long expanses of thread between stitches or colour changes. No mess!

I'm using my current stitching project to provide some tips and to demonstrate the technique.  

Tip 1 Loop Start - No Knots 

Here's how to start stitching without using a knot in four easy steps. 

(1) Take a length of silk and fold it in half. 

(2) Thread the two ends (not the looped end) through the eye of the needle. 

(3) Bring the needle up from the back of the fabric to the front. Make sure you leave the looped end at the back. 

(4) Take the needle down from the front of the fabric to the back and through the loop of silk. Pull tight.

Continue stitching normally.

Tip 2 Form Each Stitch Consistently 

Don't create each cross stitch individually. Stitch a row of half crosses in one direction and then complete the crosses by stitching in the other direction. Ensure all of the top stitching in your work is consistent and slants the same way. Be very careful if you are rotating the fabric in a frame. Take it from me - it is very easy to get it wrong and end up with an embroidery in two halves with each half slanting the opposite way. 

Tip 3 Thread Length 

Don't be tempted to leave the thread too long thinking it will save time. It will get twisted and knotted as you stitch. It is frustrating and annoying and it will slow you down. If you find your thread is getting twisted as you stitch let the needle hang down until it stops spinning. Now you can safely start stitching again. 

Tip 4 Check The Back Of Your Work Frequently

Check the back of your work regularly as you stitch to ensure that the thread has not become knotted or loose. If you spot a problem - go back and resolve it. It is horrible to have to unpick stitches but it is worth it in the end.

Tip 5 Ending - No Knots 

Take the needle from the front of the fabric to the back as usual and then take the needle through the backs of three stitches before neatly cutting off the end as close to the last stitch as you can. I've found three to be the magic number. It looks neat and it holds the thread in place securely. 

Practice on projects when the back of your stitching will not be seen. Practice until keeping your stitching neat becomes second nature. Practice until it comes naturally and you don't have to think about it. In this way you'll remove the stress from stitching projects where the back of your stitching will remain visible.

More Work in Progress - Home Of A Needleworker Too

Here are two more images of my work showing some slight tweaks to the pattern. 

I just adore the little house with the red door!

Work in Progress - Home of a Needleworker Too 

I'm using DMC threads and 14 count Aida for durability. I've tweaked the recommended colour scheme to add more red and green. 

It is really easy sewing and I hope to have it completed very quickly. 

I'll share my progress again later in the week.

Preparing To Stitch

I'm just getting ready to start a bigger cross stitching project. The plan is to embroider something that I can use to cover the top of a footstool. The stool has two drawers which I am going to use to store some small stitching accessories. 

I wanted a pattern that would allow me to pick out and use some of the motifs on needlework accessories.

I must admit that I've struggled to find the right pattern. I'm spoilt for choice as I have a huge stash of patterns. I've spent hours pondering. I'd go to bed confident that I had decided, only to change my mind in the morning! 

Eventually, I narrowed it down to two - a shaker set of box lid, pin cushion, scissor keep and needle book shown in Just Cross Stitch a while ago and an LHN pattern I've had for a couple of years called 'Home of A Needleworker Too.' It was a tough decision but I went with the LHN pattern. 

I've chosen cream Aida for this project as it is sturdier than linen. 

I've blanket stitched the edges to stop it fraying. Here it is clipped to my lap frame. 

You might recognise my needle case and bobbin holder in the picture from earlier posts. I'm using DMC threads and I've tweaked the colour scheme slightly. I wanted more reds and greens and less brown and blue. 

I'll be stitching the pattern without further amendment.

I'll share my progress with you in a few weeks.

My First Triple Pleat Curtains

This month I've been working on the curtains for the new bedroom. 

I think I visited every fabric shop in the vicinity before I finally found a fabric that I liked in the right colours. I've chosen some silky woven fabric with a pattern of trees in brown and blue. 

Whilst out fabric hunting I saw some curtains with a triple pleat heading in one of the fabric shops. The heading had been accentuated with a contrasting covered button below each set of pleats. I adored them. 

Now I've made curtains in the past but I normally stick to pencil pleat. This time I decided to be a bit more daring. 

I began to experiment making those triple pleats. The options were to make the pleats manually or to use a specialist heading tape and pins. I went for the latter. 

Normally I stitch the pencil pleat heading tape close to the top of the curtain. I found out the hard way that you have to leave more space below the top of the curtain when using the triple pleat tape... If you don't leave enough the top of the pins shows when the curtain is hanging. This happened to me and it was not a good look. I spent an hour or so unpicking stitching on my first curtain and started again. I won't make that mistake again!

In addition to the triple pleat header tape I used thermal, black out lining for the first time. The black out lining really works but I found it very heavy and unpleasant to work with - especially on the double width curtains. 

I normally let curtains hang a while before I hem the bottom. In this case I'm also using my favourite craft clips to train the triple pleats to hold together and hang nicely. 

When I take them down to hem I plan to add some embellishment to each triple pleat. Meantime, here is a picture of one of the newly made curtains.

Here is a closer view of those pleats.

Lavender Sachet

This gorgeous fellow was stitched from a magazine pattern call 'Birds of Beauty' designed by Lesley Teare. It is part of a series for a coaster, notebook and bookmark shown in Cross Stitch Crazy issue 166. 

This is the pattern for the coaster.

I substituted some metallic threads and added the design on the back and the bead edging. 

Do you like him? 

Finally...

The contractor finished the work on the Sunday before Christmas. The one thing that I was warned about but really couldn't appreciate was the amount of dust that the remodelling work would create. It is everywhere. It has even managed to get into closed drawers and boxes. I'm going to have to thoroughly clean every room and every item in the cottage. Spring cleaning has come early this year.

I am currently in the midst of filling up the new walk-in wardrobe. I'm using the opportunity to have a thorough sorting session. You know that saying - you wear 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time - well, it is proving to be very accurate. I'm re-discovering some really nice items that I didn't know I owned!

It is time for me to make some tough decisions. Time to retire some old favourites, get rid of some gorgeous items that I've never actually worn or don't feel good and try some new looks with what I have left.  

Not long after we moved I dabbled with the 40 hanger wardrobe but it just didn't work for me. I dare not count the number of hangers that I have in use! The number is reducing. That is good enough for me. 

I'm also utilising a technique that I have read about. Each item is hung with the hanger facing me. As I wear an item the hanger will be reversed so that it is facing away from me. At the end of 2016 I'm going to see if there are any hangers still facing me. Those items may then be retired or sold depending on the condition of the article.

The next step is to re-organise the craft room. I've not been able to see the floor or table tops for months because it has been used to store everything that came out of the other rooms. I can't wait to get back to crafting. I've got so many projects in my mind at the moment that I am struggling to decide which one I will start first. I've also got some serious curtain and blind making ahead. 

I intend to keep the first project quite short. I hope to have a picture for you in a week or so.