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#1
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Stitches for rugs?
I just finished a small piece that used cross-stitch on a 4.5 inch
canvas with a bulky tapestry yarn...so nice and easy on the eyes. This, taken with the current discussion here about needlepoint rugs has rekindled my desire to stitch one. Besides cross-stitch and the Portuguese long-legged cross-stitch, are there other stitches that work well for this? I'm looking, of course, for good coverage and fast stitching. Also, what kinds of fibers are useful? I don't want to spend a lot of money, so sort of have it in the back of my mind that I will use scrounged odds and ends. Is it possible to stitch with strips of fabric? I have a bunch of old clothes that are too ratty for the Goodwill but with salvageable material, and kind of thought it might be fun to rip them up and stitch with them. (See what happens when you lose 55 lbs? This is one way to make sure you don't have "fat clothes" to go back to!) Thank you. Lynda ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." ...................Paul Rodriguez..................................... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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#2
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Lynda Wiener wrote:
I just finished a small piece that used cross-stitch on a 4.5 inch canvas with a bulky tapestry yarn...so nice and easy on the eyes. This, taken with the current discussion here about needlepoint rugs has rekindled my desire to stitch one. Besides cross-stitch and the Portuguese long-legged cross-stitch, are there other stitches that work well for this? I'm looking, of course, for good coverage and fast stitching. Also, what kinds of fibers are useful? I don't want to spend a lot of money, so sort of have it in the back of my mind that I will use scrounged odds and ends. Is it possible to stitch with strips of fabric? I have a bunch of old clothes that are too ratty for the Goodwill but with salvageable material, and kind of thought it might be fun to rip them up and stitch with them. (See what happens when you lose 55 lbs? This is one way to make sure you don't have "fat clothes" to go back to!) Thank you. Lynda ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." ..................Paul Rodriguez..................................... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lynda, My eyes aren't too great, and I have been looking at some of the large count canvases in catalogs. Does it look good? Is it hard to do, or does it look sort of crappy? Some of the pillows look easy to stitch, and great to do as an "on the road" project. Of course I am lusting after the Morris things,( thanks Sheena) but I have never done needlepoint!! Gillian |
#3
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Lynda Wiener wrote:
Is it possible to stitch with strips of fabric? I have a bunch of old clothes that are too ratty for the Goodwill but with salvageable material, and kind of thought it might be fun to rip them up and stitch with them. In the olden days, clothes that were too far gone to be worn were torn into strips and braided into rugs. You'd have to experiment whether ripping them thin enough to get through the holes renders them too flimsy to withstand the pulling through the canvas. -- Karen C - California Finished 3/7/05 - Daffodil Collage (Laura Perin) WIP: 50th Anniversary sampler for my parents, Stars of Merlin wedding sampler LTR: Fireman's Prayer (#2), Amid Amish Life, Angel of Autumn, Calif Sampler, Holiday Snowglobe Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html blogging at http://journals.aol.com/kmc528/Lifeasweknowit/ |
#4
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The piece that I did came out of the Herschner's catalogue. It's a
cat's face and I intend to make it into a pillow. (I've got the backing, but sewing the darned thing up is always the hardest part for me.) Of course it _does not_ look 'crappy'...I wouldn't have done it otherwise! :-) This was described in the catalogue as a needlepoint piece but the instructions call for cross stitch to keep the canvas from distorting and to give better coverage. Coming from doinga piece on 18 count black aida, I felt like Barry Bonds at a T-ball tournament. Didn't need to get out the magnifier or the daylight lamp but could just set on the sofa in front of the tv and stitch away, and it only took a week to complete. I started out doing needlepoint (er, canvas embroidery...smiles to Dianne) many years ago but got away from it as canvasses got more expensive and sources of Persian and tapestry yarn became scarce in my area. Cross stitch, with its ready availability of threads, fabric, and charts ended up being a substitute. To me, there isn't much difference in technique, except that cross stitch is twice the stitching. (Remember that the basic needlepoint stitch is the half-cross.) I, too, am a fan of William Morris, though came to his needlework design in a roundabout way. I was aware of his literary career through DH's graduate work in English lit many years before I realized the connection between the writer and the designer. DH though it was funny as all get out when I started waxing eloquent about the art! (Of course, I didn't know Sylvia Sidney had a day job as an actress, either.) I have been wondering if his designs could be adapted a la Kaffe Fasset to a straight stitch on a 7-mesh canvas. To me, that would be the best of all worlds! Lynda ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." ...................Paul Rodriguez..................................... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
#5
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Lynda Wiener wrote:
I started out doing needlepoint (er, canvas embroidery...smiles to Dianne) Smile right back at ya. I wish I was more familiar with canvas embroidery to be able to offer some suggestions. I did get out Dillmont's encyclopedia to see if there was any advice on which stitch got good wear, etc., but I got lost in a sea of so many interesting stitches. Tramming looks like a good alternative to cross stitch if the thread is thick, according to Dillmont. Just throwing that out there, because I have no experience to answer any pleas about this embroidery. Dianne -- "The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers http://journal.heritageshoppe.com |
#6
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Lynda Wiener wrote:
The piece that I did came out of the Herschner's catalogue. It's a cat's face and I intend to make it into a pillow. (I've got the backing, but sewing the darned thing up is always the hardest part for me.) Of course it _does not_ look 'crappy'...I wouldn't have done it otherwise! :-) This was described in the catalogue as a needlepoint piece but the instructions call for cross stitch to keep the canvas from distorting and to give better coverage. Coming from doinga piece on 18 count black aida, I felt like Barry Bonds at a T-ball tournament. Didn't need to get out the magnifier or the daylight lamp but could just set on the sofa in front of the tv and stitch away, and it only took a week to complete. I started out doing needlepoint (er, canvas embroidery...smiles to Dianne) many years ago but got away from it as canvasses got more expensive and sources of Persian and tapestry yarn became scarce in my area. Cross stitch, with its ready availability of threads, fabric, and charts ended up being a substitute. To me, there isn't much difference in technique, except that cross stitch is twice the stitching. (Remember that the basic needlepoint stitch is the half-cross.) I, too, am a fan of William Morris, though came to his needlework design in a roundabout way. I was aware of his literary career through DH's graduate work in English lit many years before I realized the connection between the writer and the designer. DH though it was funny as all get out when I started waxing eloquent about the art! (Of course, I didn't know Sylvia Sidney had a day job as an actress, either.) I have been wondering if his designs could be adapted a la Kaffe Fasset to a straight stitch on a 7-mesh canvas. To me, that would be the best of all worlds! Lynda ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." ..................Paul Rodriguez..................................... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, maybe I will order one, and see how I get on. It will be a change from using aida or an evenweave anyway! Thank you for the input Gillian |
#7
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"Tramming looks like a good alternative..."
Yes, tramming was the old-fashioned way of indicating design and color before painted canvasses or charts. I had thought that it was a long-forgotten technique until I saw a couple of pieces offered in Herschner's on the same page as those with pre-worked designs, so guess people still do them. Applying my own to a design just never occurred to me...but it would seem that on something the size of a rug, tramming would take a huge amount of extra yarn. Dianne, I'm surprised that you profess unfamiliarity...needlepoint stitches are for the most part identical to surface embroidery stitches and worked the same way. The few differences of which I'm aware relate to the type of canvas being used. For example, the half-cross morphs into tent (which looks the same on the front but works the long way round on the back) when using a mono canvas where the warp and weft are not locked in place. Continental or basketweave is merely tent done on a diagonal. I've got a bunch of needlework books but not Dillmont's encyclopedia. Is it still obtainable? I adore good references with good ideas. Lynda ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." ...................Paul Rodriguez..................................... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
#8
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Lynda Wiener wrote:
Dianne, I'm surprised that you profess unfamiliarity...needlepoint stitches are for the most part identical to surface embroidery stitches and worked the same way. Well, that really depends upon what you mean. You really have to work them on a countable ground. That isn't surface embroidery. The few differences of which I'm aware relate to the type of canvas being used. For example, the half-cross morphs into tent (which looks the same on the front but works the long way round on the back) when using a mono canvas where the warp and weft are not locked in place. Continental or basketweave is merely tent done on a diagonal. Of course. And tent stitch used to mean splitting penelope canvas so that the work was finer. Still, none of this is like surface embroidery. I've got a bunch of needlework books but not Dillmont's encyclopedia. Is it still obtainable? I adore good references with good ideas. You bet it's still available. DMC took on the rights a few years ago. Not sure if they still have them. I have two copies, one prior to DMC and the DMC issue. I believe you can pick it up at Herschnerr's. This book has been reprinted so many times. I like it for all the techniques in so many genre's. Both of mine are well worn. But if you're truly into canvas embroidery, an even more delightful book is Carolyn Ambuter's "The Open Canvas". That will take you down paths you might have thought you'd never go. :-) I'm waiting until my eyes finally give up on me, then I'll switch to canvas. One always has to have something else to move onto. I've joked to myself that, if this vision keeps fading at its current rate, I may jump right into plastic canvas! huge grin Dianne -- "The Journal of Needlework" - The E-zine for All Needleworkers http://journal.heritageshoppe.com |
#9
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Lynda Wiener wrote:
Coming from doinga piece on 18 count black aida, I felt like Barry Bonds at a T-ball tournament. I know that feeling. I went from 36-over-1 to 25-over-2 and felt like I was making Elephant Stitches. They looked huge. Even in terms of when I work on Aida, the difference between these at 12.5/inch versus my usual 18/inch was substantial. Finished the 25-over-2 and went back to 27-over-1. Looked much more adult and professional, IMO. -- Karen C - California Finished 3/7/05 - Daffodil Collage (Laura Perin) WIP: 50th Anniversary sampler for my parents, Stars of Merlin wedding sampler LTR: Fireman's Prayer (#2), Amid Amish Life, Angel of Autumn, Calif Sampler, Holiday Snowglobe Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html blogging at http://journals.aol.com/kmc528/Lifeasweknowit/ |
#10
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My GGM made some lovely quilts from light-weight old clothes. One
caveat is don't use old fabric that been bleached a lot or is so worn you can see through it. It doesn't hold up well and the quilt pieces basically rot from the middle. Heavier-weight old clothes (duck or denim f'rinstance) work up well for braided or woven rugs and those rugs will last almost forever--or at least until a dog develops a taste for denim! Marsha was skating on really thin ice for a bit after that. Lynda Wiener wrote: Is it possible to stitch with strips of fabric? I have a bunch of old clothes that are too ratty for the Goodwill but with salvageable material, and kind of thought it might be fun to rip them up and stitch with them. Karen C - California wrote: In the olden days, clothes that were too far gone to be worn were torn into strips and braided into rugs. You'd have to experiment whether ripping them thin enough to get through the holes renders them too flimsy to withstand the pulling through the canvas. -- Brenda |
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