Cross-stiching on clothes: the back work?

[MissNelyra]

Hello! I've seen some people doing some cross-stitching on t-shirt, onesie, etc, and since my brother(who's a game freak) is having his third baby (who's a little girl btw), i though it would be a funny and cute gift to make onesie or other baby thingie. The only thing is, i wonder how you people do a nice, clean and resistant backwork. My backwork are usually clean and i don't use knot on my cross stich, but since it's going to be on something washed over and over, i was wondering if i should? Every advice and picture will be helpful I also was wondering about the towel and washcloth, what are you doing with the back of it?

I hope you'll understand and thank in advance for your help

[Brodeuse]

Generally, I "finish" each color by sticking it under the stitches (on the right side), and I never "jump" from one point to another with the same thread. This way, the back's always clean.
Aïda cloth tends to shrink a little when washed, so your stitches will be tighter after you wash the cloth.

And in French:
En général, je "finis" chaque couleur en passant le fil sous les croix, sur l'endroit, et je ne "saute" jamais d'un endroit à l'autre avec un même fil. Comme ça, l'envers est toujours propre.
La toile aïda se resserre au lavage, donc au contraire, tes points tiendront mieux après lavage, même sans nœud.

[MissNelyra]

Thanks for the french part, haha! It's good to know that aida cloth will be more resistent after a wash. But still, i was thinking of using wasted canvas to do the design and tear it off after to just have the design on it without the aida cloth (i don't like the look of it on clothes..). I just hope it the thread will stay on place after! :3 I'll give it a try!

[Brodeuse]

You're welcome.
I don't see why it shouldn't work. It's not only the aïda cloth, but also the stitches that shrink a little, and therefore grow tighter when you wash them. So the whole thing should be more resistent after washing it. If you want to use waste canvas, you may want to use soluble canvas, so you can make smaller/tighter stitches, not bothering whether or not you'll be able to pull the threads.

Now I'm gonna translate it in French, just to be sure I'm clear:
Ce n'est pas juste la toile aïda qui se resserre au lavage, mais également (et surtout) les points. Donc si tu brodes ça correctement (en coinçant bien les fins de fils sous les croix), le lavage devrait tout resserrer, et donc faire tenir la broderie un peu mieux. Si tu veux utiliser de la toile tire-fils, tu devrais peut-être penser à l'aïda soluble, pour pouvoir faire des points plus petits/serrés, et ne pas t'inquiéter de si tu arriveras ou non à tirer les fils à la fin.

[SephreniaMusic]

I have crosstitched on many clothes and I always do some knotts. I actually does them on normal crosstitches too so that I don't have to worry about washing them. You can't feel the knots on your skin so it won't bother anyone. On the backside I look for three straight stitches take the needle under the first then goes back so a loop is formed then takes the needle through the loop and pulls thight but not to hard. I do this three times and then I take the needle under the three knots and cuts the thread. I have made lots of clothes with this technique and have never heard of a thread coming loose.



This is how it looks.

[MissNelyra]

thanks a lot! it's really helpful

[SephreniaMusic]

Glad to help. Also rather then fastning a thread of a color and then fastning it again a cm or two away I'll pull the thread under and stitch on or if there is nothing to pull under I'll crosstitch over later. I look more for good stitches to fastning my knots on then making sure I fasten under the same color as many guides sugests, atleast when I'm working on a fabric that doesn't shine through. Might not be a good idea on non thight linnen for example.

[kuja.girl]

I would suggest applying fusible interfacing to the back of the embroidery. It adds another layer of protection and if you buy the lightest weight it shouldn't noticeably stiffen the fabric.

[SephreniaMusic]

What's fusible interfacing?

[blackmageheart]

What's fusible interfacing?

It's a light material that you iron onto other fabrics to kinda stiffen them a little. There's also non-fusible interfacing, which you sew on. I guess the best way to put it is that it's a kind of lining.

I would agree with kuja.girl in suggesting that interfacing is a good idea. It will protect the stitches during washing, and protect baby's skin while she's wearing it. Try a non-woven interfacing, that should do the trick