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December's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month is about what to do with those small leftover pieces of fabric. Creating gift tags and designs for Christmas cards are perfect for holiday presents. For gift tags, use a small piece of fabric and backstitch the "To", "From" and the names on it. To keep the edges of the material from fraying, just fold the edges over and stitch it in place. It's also a perfect time to use up scraps of threads, especially when you don't know the actual colour or number of the thread. For Christmas cards, you can buy blank cards that have an opening in the front for pictures. Alternatively, you can also buy blank cards plus a matted frame the same size as the card. Then, simply cross stitch a small design that will fit in the opening on the card. For the blank card with the opening, simply place the cross stitch design in the card. For the card plus matted frame, centre the mat over the cross stitch design and tape the fabric in place. Next, glue the mat (with the design beneath it) over the card and presto - you have created your own Christmas card. Of course, if you are like me and find that you are always running out of time at Christmas - then start stitching now for next year!
November's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month is about removing lint from fabric. If you don't have a lint brush handy, then use scotch tape or masking tape. Cut a small piece of the tape, place the sticky part on your cross stitching and then lift the tape away. This works great whether you are trying to remove pet fur or any loose threads. If you have pets, I recommend doing this frequently, so as to prevent the fur from being accidentally "stitched" into your cross stitching.
October's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month has to do with ironing. When ironing your finished piece, place it face down on a towel. Use an iron set at medium heat and press down gently, until all wrinkles are gone. This will prevent the stitches from being flattened and distorted. Just frame and you now have a beautiful piece of artwork!
September's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month is all about storing your patterns. What do you do if you don't want a drawer full of loose patterns and you don't want to punch holes in your patterns? One great solution to this problem is to use clear plastic sheet protectors, found in your local office supply store. The sheet protectors come with a variety of features - some have three ring holes on the side, or zippers to keep everything in, or they can even come with index tabs attached. Just put each pattern in individual sheet protectors and then put them all in a binder. Use divider tabs in the binder to organize your patterns by designer, type or any other way that makes sense to you. Now everything is tidy and organized!
This month, I've added free e-greeting cards, which can be found in the fun extras section. Send a humorous greeting to your friends and family today!
For July’s Cross Stitch tip & trick of the month, I would like to share my answer to a question that I was recently asked. Rose wanted to know how to make her 5x7 design on 14-count aida cloth larger and she wanted to do the larger design on 11-count. At 11-count, the design would now be 6x9 inches. I suggested that to make it even bigger, she should use four squares on the aida cloth as if they were one square. Of course, don’t stitch the middle hole, otherwise it won't look right. This is the same way a person would stitch using linen cloth. Using this method (on 11-count), the design will now be 12x18 inches - twice the size!
June's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month is about keeping your colours separate. Do you have floss left over from kits or previous projects? DMC has a great product out called "Easy-Wind Floss Bobbins". Each bobbin holds one full skein of DMC embroidery floss and is great to use for any left over floss from kits. To make it even easier, DMC also has labels with all 464 DMC embroidery floss colour numbers, perfectly sized to fit on the DMC floss bobbins. So start winding the floss on the bobbins and keep your colours separated!
May's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month is all about keeping track of your stitches. It's easy when you use a light coloured marker, highlighter or pencil crayon. Using your highlighter, there are two ways to keep track. The first method is to highlight the symbols on your pattern as you complete the corresponding stitch on the piece you are stitching. Alternatively, if I find a certain symbol is either hard to see or is widely spread out on my pattern, I will highlight all the stitches on the pattern before stitching them. This way, I won't miss any stitches, saving me much frustration later on.
April's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month is getting you ready for summer travelling! Are you going somewhere this summer and want to bring your cross stitching with you? Then use plastic containers, such as tupperware, to store your project and all your supplies. Plastic containers are great because they come in a variety of sizes and some even have dividers. The container(s) will keep your project clean and safe. Clear containers are great as you can see what is in them without having to open them. I find the dividers are useful for sorting threads and other accessories, such as beads or buttons. Happy travels!
March's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month is all about those crazy needles! To keep from loosing your needle while changing the floss colour, place your needle on a magnet. If you don't have a magnet handy, you can also place your needle in the top right or left hand corner of your cloth. Simply slip the needle in one hole and backup up a few holes over. Now you will not have to frantically search for your needle that has fallen on the couch or floor.
February's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick of the month deals with fabric creases. Creases in your fabric are hard to iron out after your work is finished. They cause lines and may even distort the finished piece. To prevent creasing your fabric, do not fold it. Instead, roll your fabric and place in a paper towel cardboard roll when you are not working on your piece. If your fabric was already folded when you bought it, iron the fabric before working with it. While working on your cross stitching, keep the area you are not working on rolled up. Be careful not to press the rolled area down, otherwise this could cause more creases.
When you are finished cross stitching, use an iron set at a low temperature to smooth out any remaining creases. You are now ready to frame your work! Check out the section "Ideas for Framing" to stir your imagination and turn your piece of cross stitching into treasured artwork!
Welcome to Beautiful Creations. Each month I will be writing a newsletter to let you know what is new here. It will include updates on new product lines, our charity events, cross stitch tips & tricks, interesting products on the market and more.
This month's Cross Stitch Tip & Trick is the Loop Method of stitching. This method only works when stitching with an even number of strands of floss. First, double the length of floss you usually use and fold it in half. Then thread your needle with the two loose ends and pull about 1/4 of the floss through the needle. Insert your needle through the back of your work, then down the front of your work and catch the loop of the floss. Pull the floss tight. Now you do not have any loose ends to tack down. This will keep your work neat and save you time.
