Wednesday 2 November 2011

Help needed with linen please

I have a problem, well I have many but this is a particular problem.  I only ever stitch with evenweave or occasionally aida.  I never ever ever stitch with linen...I'm to scared.  The problem is you see that once upon a time, long long ago, I started stitching Mirabilia's Cottage Garden Fairy on a piece of linen.  
I can't remember what it was but just about every stitch I put in was 'hiding' under the threads.  I don't know if that's because I stitch 'the wrong way' meaning \\\\\ and then ///// or if I was doing something else wrong but now I am scared to try again.  I have got some gorgeous hand dyed linens that people have given me in exchanges etc that are just sat in the drawer and admired until I realise it is linen.  So the question is what SHOULD I be doing with this linen....yes ok...obviously stitching on it...lol.  Surely someone can help me with my fear!  Is there a particular linen type that would help me overcome this problem?
Just in case it makes a difference - my favourite evenweave is jobelan 28ct.

And here endeth the second day.

3 comments:

Kaisievic said...

Hi Shebafudge,

I love linen but sometimes if it is very fine you can lose your stiches underneath. If that happens I just do the stitch from the other corner. However, when I do cross stitch I always go ////// and then \\\\\\.

I am using some beautiful Wichelt blue linen at the moment which is very even and gorgeous to stitch.

Give linen another try - I find it much nicer to work with then Aida cloth.

Hugs, Kaye xoxox

CalamityJr said...

Sorry you haven't gotten many replies. I'm no expert, but I was taught to always start (bring the floss up) next to an upright thread, not one "on its side", so to speak, and I rarely have the problem of losing my stitches. I do know exactly what you're referring to, though! Hope I've helped, but if that didn't make sense, email me and I'll send a diagram.

Veronica said...

Stitching on linen is not much different from stitching on evenweave if you don't mind the stubs. What CalamityJr said is true. Always start next to an upright thread. If you don't understand what that means, here's a link that I hope would help:

http://www.gloria-pat.com/resources/basics_linen.html

Third picture from the top shows the hole in which your first leg should come up from if your crosses go /// then \\\. Also, it helps if you finish each cross first before moving to the next to prevent the stitches from disappearing into the fabric.

Hope that helps. Feel free to email me if you have any more questions. I'm no expert by any means but I'm always happy to help a fellow stitcher if possible.

Hugs,
Veronica.