Oh wow! Those nice frames really put both pieces over the top! I especially like how the garden of curiosities looks! This makes me think I should definitely look for something better than the cheap frames from the craft store that I usually get lol
I started a couple of full coverage pieces. Sadly I’m only about 20 stitches in with the main one and I don’t have anything to show yet. Maybe next week!
Thanks! I know the feeling! I had to step away from that Dracula’s Castle pattern for a bit because I was getting too frustrated with it… That one may have been a little more advanced than I was ready for lol
Thanks. Yeah I’m gonna have to figure a couple things out. I had to do his mouth in white because the black (shockingly) doesn’t show against the black cloth. So I may end up backstitching the sign in white or something also. Trying to decide what to do about the umbrella handle as well. My plan is to do as little black stitching as I can get away with. So I may just pick a real dark color for the handle. We’ll see.
You are clearly more patient than I am! If I was doing this one I just wouldn’t stitch the handle at all and let the black cloth show through there lol
That works against Totoro (and I like it), but I’m not convinced I can just have blank black leading up to the umbrella. Gonna have to think about it. Will know more once more is there.
I haven’t seen your other threads, so not sure how beginner we’re talking. I’m not the most knowledgeable, but I’ll share the best things I’ve discovered. :)
A lot of tutorials will tell you not to tie knots in your thread on the back hold the thread in, but instead weave it into the thread on the back. This is true if you’re planning on making somethihg on a pillow or similar, but if you’re framing it and don’t care that the back is lumpy because no one will ever see it or feel it, just do you and make it secure.
They make cross stitch lattice thst dissolves in water, so you can cross stitch on tshirts, pillows, blankets, et cetera. It’s amazing, and a game changer for making nifty little things you’ll actually be able to wear or use daily. I love it so much.
Splitting your thread so its a lower ply is common, but if you leave it 6 stranded sometimes, you can add an extra layer of depth to what you make. For instance, i made a goomba (mario mushroom looking villain) for a friend. I made the outline of the goomba 6 stranded, with all the background stuff 3 stranded. It made it appear that the goomba was closer to the viewer, and really added a 3 dimensional effect that I loved. I’ve also used more strands to cross stitch curse words in a more handwritten font whenever i do something funny/inappropriate for the lols. Fancy script for most words in 3 strands, curse word in a scrawly looking vulgarish font with 6 strands.
Be mindful of hand pain. Carpal tunnel and damage is a real thing. Get a compression glove, take breaks. Our grandmas and mama’s have carpal tunnel for a reason, don’t follow in those footsteps. Take precautions.
Thanks for all the good advice! And for taking the time to type it down. I was wondering about the knot actually, thanks for clarifying that.
I love the idea of playing with the number of strands to emphasize parts of the design, hopefully will soon be designing original work. The compression glove seems to be a must, I didn’t even know they existed!
This is all great advice! I will add a second vote for taking care of your hands (and ergonomics in general). I don’t have wrist issues, but I have an old shoulder injury that flairs up if I don’t take breaks, mind my posture, and stretch.
Thanks! Very useful advice really. I’m the kind of person who wouldn’t have thought about this until way too late. So far I’m just starting to get the hang of it. My goal is to get to the point where I can design original art that I can then cross-stitch and frame. My first project is a doodle my 5 year-old made the other day that I traced using an app meant for pixel art and then made into a very basic pattern (one colour, no backstitching or half stitches). Time to work on it is limited but I’m having lots of fun so far
Aw, that’s a cute idea to stitch the doodle! To answer your question about apps, I’ve used the stitch fiddle website to make simple patterns with a few colors and backstitching. Floss cross is another site you could check out. I think the pixel art app you used might be similar to them since it has a similar grid.
I sent them to my local craft store. They’re a small local business, ran by a retired couple, that sells art and stitching supplies. The husband makes custom frames while the wife does the consultations and sales.
If it’s available to you try to use DMC branded floss. I normally don’t care about brands, but when I started stitching last year the first thing I did was buy a big multi pack of generic floss that caused me to get quickly get very frustrated lol! The DMC stuff glides better and doesn’t fluff up so much
As someone who is also suffering the lingering effects of our good friend covid, this is very relatable. Glad it all worked out in the end though, lucky you didn’t frog it before realising :D
Edit: Oh my god this was just a speculative comment that I didn’t really think would work but lemm.ee is federating again HOORAY!
Thanks for mentioning lemm.ee btw. I heard of it, but now actually took a look at the communities they have, and it seemed interesting enough to create a new account over there Have a nice sunday!
It’s a decent server, I’ve been happy with it. Couple of things you should know if you’re thinking of moving.
First is that our admin is a contributor to Lemmy core and quite enthusiastic about rolling out updates / doing his own experiments so we’re a bit of a guinea pig server sometimes. Usually a good thing, but not so much when it breaks federation for two weeks over Christmas 😅
Thanks for the heads up. It’s not so much moving, as just creating one more account. I think they defederated from threads, so that is not bad :-) And since it’s not my main account (this one is), i have no objections against experimenting admins, generally i like that kind of thing, especially when they would share their views with us.
Fair enough! My other account is on .world lol, picked both of them at separate times as a “nice small server that seems competently run” and now look at us, two of the biggest Lemmy servers, well done me 🤦♀️
It’s a paid pattern or is share it but it’s say over half of the stitches are not adjacent to the same color. I didn’t realize how many different shades is one tone is blue there is. It did make it easier to be lazy when I would forget to do a stitch though since they all blend well.
As someone who’s dabbled in pixel art, I can’t help thinking that it should be possible to reduce the number of colours and stray singleton stitches in that one without degrading the image by much, if at all. It would be a bear to get 100% right according to the pattern. Nice job!
Hah, that’s my approach with my current full coverage too. Oh, I made a small mistake or left an empty spot? These colours are all so similar I’ll just fill it with whatever 🤷♀️
It’s a great effect in this piece though, hopefully worth fiddling with all those blues!
So close! Have you got a specific plan for framing it or turning it into anything?
My WIP Wednesday progress was nonexistent these last few weeks but NO MORE! After setting up the new stand the other day I got nearly 400 stitches in on Errol over the weekend, which is a lot for me!
Pretty much everything below collar / wing level is new this week, it’s been very motivational and really helped get my stitchy bug back a bit.
Speaking of, it’s 24 hours of cross stitch this weekend (Friday-Sunday) and I think I may give it a go! Might even vlog it, assuming nothing gets in the way. So I need to decide whether to use the time on this project or switch to something else, or maybe a combo. Hmm decisions decisions.
I have some metallic gold I may add as backstitching to give it more of a story book vibe, but other than that I just plan to frame it. Errol is looking great so far! The new stand looks very nice, if somewhat complicated lol! I’m glad it’s working well for you!
Thanks, need a bit more practise before I can really get speedy with it and stitch two-handed, but it’ll give me something to shoot for during 24hocs 😄
lemmy_stitch
Oldest
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.