Stitching with Delicate Threads
The alternate name for this post could be “What I Learned NOT to Do.”
This is a vintage In Good Company stocking which is my current Sunday Stitching project. I started stitching it in the usual way, focal points first, then background.
I’m using Silk Lame and Panache for the pink and blue. I started with the pink, no problem (or so I thought), but as soon as I added the blue I ran into difficulties.
Because, you see, Panache is a delicate thread. In general I avoid threads which are delicate and which snag easily. My skin is so dry that even with lotion, the threads snags. So things like Trebizond, for example, I avoid.
So my first tip is moisturize your hands if you use delicate threads.
My second tip is always tape the edges. They will make your thread snag if the canvas edge is bare.
But my hands weren’t really dry (for me) and the canvas is taped. But, if you look at the top edge, the blue snagged just a bit.
If was also hard to start and stop and generally misbehaved.
The more I thought about it the more I was unhappy and since I have been wanting to stitch this mini-sock for almost 25 years (I only just snagged it on eBay) I was really bummed.
The the solution occurred to me — stitch the delicate thread last. I know you are saying “no, duh!” but I’m a bit stressed out at the moment. The background and brown are both Kreiniks and very sturdy, so I’m doing them.
Then I’ll stitch the pink (and won’t pollute the cream with the tails of the pink) and finally the blue.
I’m excited because the result will be so wonderful since I love it already.
Moving Note: With luck, the Internet gets installed this morning, my studio is sort of set up and I can blog again tomorrow. But, just in case, I did some advance posts.
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[...] When Janet Perry of Nuts About Needlepoint offers advice, I listen carefully. She’s got some great tips for avoiding frustration when working with delicate threads. Check out Janet’s post. [...]
[...] Stitching with Delicate Threads [...]