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.....................................
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

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/

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.....................................
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

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

"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.....................................
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

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/

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