Your Guide to the Basics of Embroidery

[jadely]

Every time I've done a lot of satin stitches, it bunches up after a wash Any hints? Or am I doomed to spend forever ironing out my daughter's baby blankets?

You're probably stitching too far. If it's more than 1/2" and it's going to be washed, you should be using short/long stitch. Also, if it's properly padded, it'll stay in place better. Another thing to do is outline the area you're stitching first. The threads around the edge help keep things in place

Its also likely tension. You need to make sure you pre-shrink the fabric, and you absolutely positively MUST keep the fabric taut in a hoop when you stitch. Unlike cross stitch, satin stitch is very unforgiving if your don't prepare your canvas properly first.

Lastly, you shouldn't be crossing the back. Just bring the needle up right next to your last stitch. If you go across the back, you can't pull as tight without poking holes in the fabric.

I'm guilty of about half of what you named... HOWEVER, I am now super excited about going back and trying a some satin stitching and succeeding this time!

Thank you!

[Eliste]

No problem.

And don't worry. Satin stitch LOOKS easy and the theory seems easy, but to get it right, it definitely takes practice, and I can't honestly say I always get it right either.

[starrley]

I just bought a Dritz double-sided marking pen. The purple side is actual disappearing ink. The blue side is the Mark-B-Gone ink that comes out with water. Both are very useful!

[CrazyCucco11]

This is an awesome tutorial and i am so excited to try this! I have one question tho...in the satin stitching, a comment said that you should come back up next to your previous stitch and not cross back up to the top And stitch down every time, is the same true for the long/short stitch?

[CrazyCucco11]

Oh, and what kind of floss are u using? Is that satin dmc?

[Eliste]

Oh, and what kind of floss are u using? Is that satin dmc?

Normal floss that you'd use for cross stitch is just fine, especially when you're just learning. Once you get the hang of things you can use almost any type of thread- wool, floche, silk. But some of those are more difficult to find and harder to work with and more expensive (aka the silk really). But other stuff like tapestry wool can be really easy to work with depending on what you're stitching on.

in the satin stitching, a comment said that you should come back up next to your previous stitch and not cross back up to the top And stitch down every time, is the same true for the long/short stitch?

No. Because you will be splitting the stitches for long/short stitches it's usually worked back and forth. What you definitely want to do is ensure that you come up on one side of things and go down on the other. Primarily this means you want the second color to be coming UP through the first color instead of going down into it. If you play around with it you'll see why as going down into the already laid stitches will depress both stitches and leave an indent, whereas if you come up it makes the colors blend together much better.

Satin stitching is all about the finish, so you don't want the extra tension/looseness that comes crossing the back of your work to interfere with how the thread lays on the front. Long and short stitch is about blending colors together so while the two look similar, the techniques are different to achieve different things.

[potters.superhero]

I like the idea of drawing right on the fabric with vanishing ink, but I suck at drawing. Is there a method to tracing it on from paper or are there temporary iron on transfers I could get somewhere?

[funkymonkey]

Thanks for your tips! My mother-in-law has a tacky Christmas sweater contest at school, so I helped her convert a Halloween sweater into a REALLY tacky Christmas sweater, and got to employ some of the stitching hints here! We changed ghosts into snowmen, added bows to the jack-o-lanterns, and of course added battery powered lights. I didn't get a picture of it though! I'll have to get her to send me one.

[Eliste]

I like the idea of drawing right on the fabric with vanishing ink, but I suck at drawing. Is there a method to tracing it on from paper or are there temporary iron on transfers I could get somewhere?

Yes, it exists. It also can be created I believe. FYI be careful with vanishing ink. Some have been known to still show up after washing.

[Alicebluesummers]

Hiya, I just started stitching. I just bought some awesome patterns off of etsy! I bought a tutorial book along with supplies, but the codes the book uses are different from the codes on the pattern. Does anyone know what "Mark" "code" and "Ct" mean on patterns?