Building a framwork

     For me, preparing fabric to stitch on is just as crucial as stitching the patterns themselves. The work I do getting the material ready impacts how fast and easy the stitching goes. The first thing I do is measure and cut my fabric, and I recommend adding two inches to the sides at a minimum but no more than three inches. That means if your pattern is 8 inches across, you cut 12 inches of fabric. It allows you room to work but also, if you mount and frame your work, it gives you plenty of allowances to work. Remember that you can always cut off excess, but you cannot put more back. 

    The next step that I do is securing the edges. First, I do a zig-zag stitch around the edges of the fabric. This stitch secures a large section of thread without putting tension on them, and it also prevents those edges of the material from fraying as quickly. Your borders will still fray some with just this stitch. 

    The next thing that I do is secure the edges from fraying around the zig-zag stitch. Various products exist for this purpose, and my favorite is Fray Check. It works well, but the downside of this product is that it does smell strong. The other alternative is that lovely white glue we all used in school, and I use this, and it is cheaper and more readily available. The thing to remember with any product out there is that it alters your fabric, so use caution. If you get it on your stitch area, it may ruin the entire piece of fabric. Also, as time passes, these products can yellow or change the material's color. I try to only use these products in areas I know will be cut off later and use as little as possible. If you look at the photo, I only use a small bead of glue that I paint on with a paintbrush. The smallest amount I use is only enough to secure the edges. Once this is dried, I continue with prepping the fabric. 

    The next thing I do is locate the middle of the fabric mark the spot with a water-soluble pen. I base the grid off of this mark. It helps to make sure that you start in a place that will leave enough room for the rest of the pattern, and there will be equal amounts of fabric on the edges to aid with mounting. Since the material in the photos is 14ct Aida. That means each inch has 14 squares in it. I could 14 squares from the center line and mark my grid out. 

    Once fully drawn out, I take regular sewing thread and stitch every other square. I do this because if my work gets wet or the humidity is high, the water-soluble pen can fade. I use a neutral color for several reasons. Using black or red thread may bleed into the fabric if it gets wet and ruins a piece. I also choose a neutral color since these threads may get caught in your stitching, and you don't want a bright color you can't remove sticking out. When I finish a pattern, these threads get removed. 

    




It takes a lot of work to prepare material for a pattern, and the larger the piece, the more work it takes to prep. However, I find that putting in all of this work at the beginning saves me time and frustration in the long run. It is much like life. If you put in the work initially, it helps frame the rest of your time. It becomes second nature and no longer feels like work when you know how much it helps. I find this most helpful when dealing with my mental health. If something helps keep my mental health well, I try to do it even when difficult. I do it because it benefits me and helps me maintain my well-being. So often, we neglect ourselves, and it is easy to do. When life is difficult, small and simple things can be important and hard to do. Having a framework I maintain helps catch me in those moments. 

Patterns made easy

 Making patterns for cross stitch seems complicated and intimidating at first glance. You don't need a unique computer program; some do exist, all that you need is graph paper to get started. Beyond that, you need to know the count of your fabric. Cross stitch uses 14ct Aida cloth, to begin with usually. It means that there are 14 squares per inch on the fabric. If you use 28ct Aida cloth, it is 28 squares per inch, etc. You will need to mark out the 1-inch blocks to know how big to cut your fabric when starting your pattern. Each small square in the inch block will contain one stitch. 

There are several different types of stitches used for cross stitch. The basic stitches often get depicted like this. A whole stitch has two steps and shows how the floss should lay on the front of the fabric. You bring the floss up in the top corner, cross over the middle, and go down in the bottom corner on the opposite side. Then you repeat the other direction. A 3/4 stitch starts similarly, with the stitch coming from the top corner to the bottom opposite corner. The difference is that you don't take it entirely to the corner for the second step but bring the stitch down in the middle of the square. The 1/2 stitch comprises just the first half of the whole stitch. The photo shows another style of 1/2 stitch called a vertical 1/2 stitch. This stitch has a full X like a whole stitch, but only half the square is covered. It has a counterpart called a horizontal 1/2 stitch. The next main stitch is called a 1/4 stitch. It consists of an entire X again but only covers 1/4 of the square. The last stitch of the basic stitches is the backstitch. It is often used for outlines and illustrated by straight-line in patterns.

The first step of a pattern is sketching out the design. Using the stitches discussed previously, make sure the drawing uses the shape of the stitches. The sketch shown here uses whole and 3/4 stitches. Note that the direction going through the squares shows the path to stitch of the 3/4 stitch. The smaller line of the stitch always goes into the design.

There are three ways to mark out colors in a pattern, and the first one is just coloring in the spaces. In this picture, you would use your purple floss to stitch where the purple is on the pattern and the same for the pink. 

The second way is to color it and write a unique symbol in the squares. It helps, mainly when you use several similar colors, and it helps distinguish the colors from one another. Using three shades of a similar color can get confusing and unique symbols to help combat that issue. Notice the dark outline around the edge of the heart. It would be a line of backstitch around the piece. It often helps define features and makes the details pop. When using symbols, keep a key to know what symbol means what color, and adding the floss number means that you can recreate the same piece again later. 

The final way people often make patterns uses just symbols. Notice the key is the same as the previous pattern, and including the floss number is essential. Sometimes, using only symbols allows the pattern to read more precisely. When choosing symbols, use unique ones that differ significantly at a glance. You don't want to use an O and a Q in the same pattern as they appear very similar, and it causes issues when stitching.

When you've made a few of your own patterns, you can do digital ones similarly using excel to grid paper. If you enjoy making patterns, software is available with colors that correspond to the major floss brands like DMC. My recommendation is Win/Macstitch. It does take a lot of trial and error to learn, but it works smoothly once you get the hang of it. 

You don't need anything fancy to start patterning, and I hope this small tutorial post helps. If you don't have any graph paper, you can even print it out off the internet. There is nothing wrong with buying patterns from someone else but don't feel like you can't do it yourself. If you can't find a pattern you like, why not try making it yourself. You might be surprised by how much you enjoy designing it.     

Tools of the trade

 The right tool for the right job means a lot when working. Even if a tool only has one use or many, if it works for what you need and you have it when you need it, it is a good tool. Below are several traditional and nontraditional tools I use in my embroidery. 

There are several tools I use in my work. The first photo shows my telescoping magnet wand on the left and my had drill on the right. The magnet I use several times a week. I find nothing more frustrating than having everything set up perfectly to work and then dropping my needle. The magnetic wand helps me not need to undo my frame to fetch my needle. I can quickly grab the needle off the floor so that I do not lose it, step on it, etc. If I lose a needle, I can sweep it across the floor and locate it. 

The tool on the right is a hand drill, and I rarely use it when beading. Beads used in embroidery can be tiny, and some are so tiny that the smallest available needle might not go through. I use the hand drill to widen the hole just a little more to allow the needle to go through. This tool works the best on glass beads that do not have a coating on the inside. 

On the left of this photo is a twizzler. It is a tool that has one purpose. It aids in tightening/loosening wing nuts. Most scroll frames and stands in embroidery use wing nuts. The tension in fabric impacts the quality of the embroidery. If I need to move my material to continue stitching, I use a twizzler. Wing nuts, when very tight, are not easy to move. This tool saves my hands through the shape. The wing nut fits into the cavity, and the form allows me more leverage to tighten/loosen the wing nut. Essentially, it acts similar to a socket wrench. 

  The object on the right is a bobbin winder. I only use it when I order new skeins of floss, and I use it to wind the floss around the bobbin. It allows me to do it quickly and control the distribution of the floss on the bobbin. It is essential to keep track of your floss and organize it. Bobbins help me do that. There are other methods, but I find this works best for me. I have a label that goes on the bobbin to keep track of the floss number, and I find it easier to organize the floss. This bobbin winder saves me time and gives me a better arranged bobbin than doing it by hand.  

The next photo shows three pens I use. The pen on the far left is a green sharpie marker with a fine tip. I use this pen to mark the areas completed on the patterns. It helps in tight spaces that are easy to lose track of and marks where I've stopped for the day. I change the color depending on the pattern. I am using a green marker, but it will vary depending on the colors used in the design. I always use a color that will stand out from the pattern. 

The pen in the center is a red sharpie marker with a fine tip. I use this to mark out the centerline of my pattern on the paper, and it helps me see where I am in connection with the fabric grid. Marking it in red makes it leap out from the other lines in the grid. I only use it once per pattern, but it makes a big difference in working.

The pen on the far right is a water-soluble fabric pen with a fine tip. I use it to mark the grids on my fabric before I stitch them in to make sure the count is correct. I also use it to mark the location of mistakes that I need to go back and stitch correctly. Once completed, the embroidery gets sprayed with water, and the marks disappear. I found this particular marker in a quilting section of a sewing store, and it stays on the fabric until exposed to water. Other markers disappear after a short time, but I find those less useful. It is essential to test your material before using the marker on a final piece as it may stain.   

The final photo is of the front and back of my thimble. I use a leather thimble to give me a better feel of the needle's placement than a metal or silicone thimble. It protects my finger as needles can go through your skin quickly. I found this one in a quilting section again. It had a piece of fabric attached at the base to grip your finger, but I took this out since it got in my way. Do not be afraid to look in other sections of a sewing store for tools that may help you. Many quilting sections or notions will have many things that may aid you in your stitching.  

  

Good enough is good enough

 Everyone makes mistakes, and it is a fact of life necessary for learning. The saying "To err is human; to forgive, divine" one often hears even over 300 years after Alexander Pope wrote it. The phrase is one that I am just now starting to reevaluate. Why does an error need forgiveness? I know the saying means to forgive sinners their sins, but our society often equates mistakes as something that creates a wrong. In truth, most people's mistakes come as accidental or as we are learning something new. We strive not to make mistakes, ergo we strive for that divine perfection.

I have struggled with the concept of perfection most of my life. Everything growing up needed to be my best work, and if I got a B, an A was just a bit more work away. I internalized a need not make mistakes as a sign I did my best. This pressure wasn't from parents or a teacher per se. This need to not make mistakes came from society at large. I internalized the idea that to do my best meant making no mistakes. This led to freezing many times and then doing things in a rush making MANY mistakes. Then I inevitably beat myself up for failing to do my best. It never occurred to me that good enough might actually be good enough. 

Recently, I have been stitching on a cross-stitch pattern to put on my website when it launches. I have put in 65 hours of work on the piece. Since the main design is almost complete, I have looked over all my work, and I noticed that I had made a mistake towards the middle by stitching in the wrong direction. An easy mistake to make, and I marked the location out to revisit before I finish and fix it. 

I found myself chastising myself when I saw the same mistake elsewhere in the piece. Here I had made the same mistake twice, and now I have to go back and rip the stitches out to redo them. It constantly comes up in my head as I finish the piece. Even after marking the spots, so as not to forget hasn't removed the naggling voice in my head reminding me of my mistakes. I decided to do this week's blog post on errors since it is on my mind. I took photos of the two sections to include pictures, and that's when I saw it, and I hadn't made the same error twice. That first mistake ended up fine, and I looked at the piece from a weird angle, which made it appear incorrect. That made me stop in my tracks and laugh at myself.

For the past four days, my mind has occupied itself with how the piece needed fixing and annoyed at myself for the error. Even with a tiny area needing restitching, my whole perspective changed, and it changed because I had made a mistake about making a mistake. My mind seemed so ready to criticize me for an error it made one where none existed, and it didn't matter that I found an actual mistake later. I found myself thinking of when good enough is good enough. I will fix the error, but chastising myself does not need to happen. One mistake in 65 hours does not mean I need to kick myself. Heck, even two mistakes in 65 hours is a good record.

Reminding myself that good enough means I am not failing at anything I try. If you meet the basic standard means you reach high enough. Beyond that means it is just frosting. Tastes good but doesn't have any real nutritional value. In 65 hours, one mistake occurred in that piece. It will get fixed, and no one will ever be able to tell its location. How we handle that means whether that mistake turns into a problem. Me chastising myself created a problem. Fixing a simple error and moving on means I have learned. Even though I am a professional embroiderer, I am still learning, and I still make mistakes. That is good enough for me. Please see my mistake and know that I have learned from it.    

Waste knot want not.

    There is a technique in embroidery known as a waste knot. You make a knot at the end of your thread. Then stitch through the front of your fabric so that the knot is on top, and then you proceed to stitch. The trick to this technique is to ensure that the length of thread from the knot lies in the path of your stitching. Once you have stitched over that length of thread several times, you can cut the knot off of the front of the piece. Your stitching now secures the tail of the thread. Finishing off your thread can also employ this technique. Bring your thread up a short distance from your stitching, ensuring stitches cover the tail. Once it is secure, you snip the excess thread. The benefit of this stitching style is that it allows you to stitch without flipping the embroidery over to work on the back to secure your threads.

Please see the front has visible knots in the area meant to be stitched

The back of the same area. You can see the tales that the waste knots hold still until they are stitched down.

    Needles are another material that seems wasteful to discard but helps your embroidery. Once the finish has worn off, needles need safe discarding. The finish allows the needle to glide through the fabric without much resistance, damaging the material and the thread. A needle that, through use, no longer functions as smoothly. It slows down the stitching process and can leave frayed thread, which muddles any stitching. Discarding worn needles improves the embroiderer's ability to create a sturdy piece. While frugality benefits some areas, it does not always work. I change my needle at least once a cross stitch pattern unless the size of the embroidery piece is significant. It seems like such a small item that should not wear out. Unless it is bent, it still works, but the quality of this small tool compromises when it wears out. I have needed to remind myself that changing your tools when they wear out is acceptable and necessary.   

    The concept of waste knots always reminds me of everyday life. On the surface, it looks like you are sacrificing material unnecessarily. It saves you time and creates a very sturdy piece in the long run, much like the sacrifice of the first pancake to moderate the temperature of the griddle. We teach each other not to waste resources, but if it creates a better product as a whole, is it a waste?

    Waste is something that I often think of working in textiles professionally, and I usually save the ends of my thread to incorporate into other pieces. If I make a product out of my waste material, I get another piece that costs me nothing to make but my time. It gives a way to stretch my supplies further and is the greener option. The less I throw away; the less goes to the landfill. The textile/fashion industry is working towards greener practices, but it appears in spurts. The fashion industry does not have just one solution, nor has it embraced green fashion entirely. Some designers and brands have started the conversation by employing greener practices or giving the consumer the provenance of their clothing.       

    The focus on natural fabrics helps. Synthetic materials create plastic waste that harms the environment. Dyeing cloth also can harm nature as well. The downside of natural fibers stems from the amount of land and water used to create them. The question of fast fashion, cheaply made/priced clothing that wears out quickly, vs. something much more expensive that can last for years, parallels the concept of waste knots. You pay for a piece of clothing that lasts through many wears and years becomes the greenest option available to most of us. It costs more money initially, but if you consider how much use it gets, the price is comparable to the cheaper and poorer made fashion. While sustainable fashion may not always have the greenest creation process, the overall carbon footprint impacts the environment positively. It does require investment, much like a waste knot involves the sacrifice of a portion of thread. It is up to the consumer to decide if the investment is worth the benefit to the environment.    

Small but mighty embroidery workspace

 

Your craft space doesn't have to be huge to be mighty. I have minimal space to work on my embroidery, and the area I have at my disposal is about 5ft x 7ft. This space must have several functions. It is my desk, classroom, office, and studio, and it must easily switch to these functions.   Working as a professional embroiderer, I need to make sure my setup does not leave me to strain my arms or my back. Here are a few things I use to make sure my space works well for me creatively.

My desk is an L-shaped desk, and my computer is my main focus. Beside it is a set of drawers that function as my office supplies and lesser-used embroidery tools such as my mellor, twizzler, and fresh needles. On the other wing of my desk is all of the books I need for classes, current sketchbooks, and other frequently used office material. At the end of my desk is a filing cabinet where I keep all of my final patterns and office files, and sitting on top of it are my skeins of embroidery floss. 

Under my desk, I have a cloth box where all of my extra fabric and materials I am currently using for my current project. I don't need to access it often, but it saves me trying to find it in my larger fabric storage area and keeps me from misplacing it. It helps me keep track of my materials.

I have a great deal of embroidery floss, and it is all organized by color. I keep a spreadsheet of each drawer so I know the location of specific numbers. I mark the skeins that I have out for a current project, and when I run out of a color, I highlight it to see what I need to order.

Since I work every day on embroidery, I have a pair of trestles attached to my desk. I can put my scroll frames onto the trestles so that my workspace is flat and even. Working flat instead of angled allows me to have more range of motion to stitch. The trestles are removable, so I can quickly take them down and put my embroidery away if I have a zoom call or class. The other benefit of these trestles is that I can work in a small area but maximize the space to work. I have an entire yard wide by half a yard of workable area. I can watch something on my computer or listen to an audiobook without issues. I repurposed an adjustable bookstand to serve as my pattern holder, and I added a clipboard, so it stays still.  

On my scroll frame, I use embroidery tensioners. These don't have space, but it speeds up my prep work greatly. Usually, fabric wraps around the frame in a specific woven pattern and is attached to the material to create tension. Tensioners take a process that can take up to two hours with adjusting to a 10-minute process. The clamps work on most fabrics except the most delicate, and even using the old method, those would need handling a different way. Adjusting the tension is so much faster. 

The last thing I frequently use is my magnet, and I bought a set of two magnets online. I use them to keep track of my needle. I sandwich my working fabric between the two magnets, and it can move around the piece with me as I stitch. Keeping track of my needle is not space-saving, but it keeps my supplies from turning up in the wrong place. It is easy not to spot a needle and track it around your workspace, and stepping on a needle is not fun for anyone. 

The last item I use is a small reusable plastic paint can. It has a lid that screws on, and I use it for a small trashcan. It helps me keep down on the amount of thread that gets on everything. It is the curse people who work with textiles endure. Threads turn up everywhere, and this small trashcan has cut that down from happening at least 90%.

The best tool I have is when I finish a project, clean my workspace, and reset everything. My current project box gets redone, and I put away all the tools/materials I no longer need. I get a fresh needle and dispose of the old one. Working in a small space means that I cannot just let things build up. If I reset at the end of each project, it helps me maintain an easy-to-use workspace.