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An improvised light box
Dressmaker’s Carbon
This method is useful if a light box is not available. Use a light paper for dark fabrics and vice versa. Tape the fabric onto a flat surface, then place the paper facedown over it. Tape the design on top, then trace over the outline with a ballpoint pen. Brush any visible carbon away when the stitching is complete.
Hot Iron Transfer
Embroidery transfer pencils contain a heat-reactive permanent pigment, so remember that the outline will be indelible. If you iron lightly, the transfer can be used more than once, so this method is suitable for a repeat motif. Trace the design onto thin paper using an ordinary pencil. Turn the paper and draw over the pencil lines with the transfer pencil. Pin the paper facedown onto the fabric (i.e., so that the side with the transfer pencil is against the fabric) and press with a cool iron. For a symmetrical shape, omit the first step and trace directly with the transfer pencil.
Tissue Basting
This method is used for transferring patterns onto dark or textured fabrics, such as velvet and satin, where a drawn line would not show up. It is also traditionally used for metallic thread work. Trace the outline onto tissue paper using a waterproof pen, then baste the paper to the right side of the fabric. Using a contrasting thread, sew through both the paper and the fabric, following the lines carefully. Work in a neat running stitch and use smaller stitches over more detailed areas. When the design is finished, gently tear away the paper, leaving the design “drawn” in thread. Most of the sewing thread will be concealed with stitches: snip away any that is left exposed.
Stitching the design through the tissue paper and the fabric
Image Transfer
Advances in printing technology are creating exciting new ways to embroider. Iron-on image transfer paper can be used to put photographic images or drawings directly onto fabrics. Fine white needlepoint canvas, heavy cotton or linen all work well, although the process will stiffen the fabric slightly.
Blocking a Canvas
A piece of needlepoint which contains diagonal stitches will inevitably end up sloping at an angle, so restore its true shape by “blocking” the canvas. Dampen both sides with a water spray to moisten the canvas stiffener. Place a piece of plastic on a board, then pin down one corner of the canvas. Stretch diagonally and secure the opposite corner, then pull in the opposite direction and pin the other two corners. Use a set square and ruler to check that the sides are straight, then pin the edges to the board. Leave to dry away from any direct heat source.
Blocking the canvas
Lacing over cardboard
Mount a project in this way before framing. Cut a piece of acid-free board to size and draw two lines to divide it into quarters. Trim the border around the embroidery to 1½ in (3 cm) larger than the cardboard on each side and mark the center of each side. Lay the cardboard centrally on the wrong side of the fabric and pin the middle of one side to the board, placing the pin into the edge of the board. Pull and pin the opposite side. Check that the grain of the fabric is square to the board, then pin the fabric at regular intervals down the sides of the cardboard. Starting from the center and using a strong thread, lace the edges together across the cardboard. Fold, pin and lace the top and bottom in the same way.
Lacing over cardboard
Mitering corners
Table linen and samplers are traditionally hemmed with mitered corners. Press under a double hem along each edge, then undo the second fold. Turn and press the corner so that the creases meet to form a square and clip off a triangle of fabric, ¼ in (5 mm) in from the diagonal crease. Refold the hem, then tack in place and stitch down. Slipstitch the miter.
The mitered corner ready for trimming
Counted Thread Work
Cross Stitch
Cross stitch, or sampler stitch, is one of the simplest stitches an embroiderer can learn and yet, potentially, it is the most versatile. It can be used for working straight lines, motifs and intricate borders, and for filling solid shapes. Cross stitch has a long history and, until the advent of modern embroidered pictures, was used almost solely for creating intricate and beautiful samplers intended to display the embroiderer’s stitching skills. Cross stitch samplers traditionally contained the letters of the alphabet, numbers, an assortment of figures and motifs, the year and the name and age of the stitcher.
Tessa Dennison
FABRICS
Cross stitch is always worked on an evenweave fabric – i.e. where the spaces between the warp (vertical) and weft (horizontal) threads are exactly the same – traditionally on linen, but nowadays often on a fabric called Aida. The fabrics can be loosely or tightly woven and are described by the number of threads to the inch/centimeter – called the count of the fabric. The stitches can be worked over one thread intersection (also called a block) for very detailed work or over two threads for less intricate patterns also making a square shape. Aida is available in a wide range of colors from white and cream through to darker shades such as navy and red. Linens tend to be available in natural and pastel shades.
THREADS
Modern cross stitch is worked using stranded embroidery floss. This is made up of six individual strands that can be separated and the appropriate number are used to suit the fabric count, so that the thread covers the background without looking gappy. For example, two strands of floss should be used for 14-count Aida. Stranded embroidery floss is available in a range of colors that stitchers of old could only have dreamed of. Fine pearl cotton, soft cotton embroidery threads and delicate metallic threads can also be used to add texture and depth to cross stitch designs.
