ANNA sum09 USA81

Reference Pages

CROSS-STITCH EMBROIDERY

Cross Stitch

Half Cross-Stitch

Work base stitches from lower left to top rjght then work cover stitches from lower right to top left. Work over num ber of threads specified m instructions.

Back stitch is often used to outiine certa in areas of a cross-strtch design and for fine details.

Half cross-stitch is used to make finely shaped contours.

EMBROIDERY BASICS

Threads and yarns

Strands of any thickness and fiber eon-tent can be used for embrodery Pat tern mstructions specify the thread and an appropriate matching fabric Six strand embroidery floss is the most ccm-mon thread used and is madę in cotton. silić and rayon. Pattern mstructions will specify how mary strands to use Pearl, or perl*, cotton is a twisted 2-ply with a shiny finish and comes in three weights: 3. S, and 8. (The larger the num-ber. the thicker the thread) Other types of thread used arp matte embroidery cotton, $-ply with a fiat finish crewel yarn a 2-ply wool (sometimcs acrylic) used for fine embroidery. Persian yarn. wool or acrylic. madę with 3 looseły twisted strands of 2 threads each; and tapestry yarn a 4-ply yarn. Other types used for various effects are metallics and riobon. for the needle artist. the most satisfying aspect of the embroidery threads rranufactured today is the astounding num ber of colors and de^i-cate shadings available.

Fabric

Almost any fabric can be embellished with embroidery from chiffon to denim, but it s important to match the appropriate fabric with the techmque being used Free form embroidery can be worked on any doseły woven fabric with a fairfy smooth sur face. most often cotton or linen. but silk or other fabrics can also be used as long as the floss or tapestry yarn you will be working with is not too thick. This category of fabric is sometmes das-sifed as common-we ave fabric Counted thread designs on the other hand must be worked on an eve*vweave fabne-where the number of hon/ontal and vertr-cal (warp and weft) threads are the same per inch. anywhere from 12 to Y threads. Withm the category of e/en-weave fabrics. there are basically three types single eveirweave {intersccting single threads). Hardanger (mtersecting pairs of threads. usually 22 pars per mch). and Aida doth (interseetmg groups of threads. usually II per inch) Specialty suppliers carry embroi-dery fabric n a fairly wide rangę of colors.

Preparing the fabric Most embroidery mstructions m Anna adviseyou to clean-finish" the fabric before you begin stitching. The purpose of this step is to keep the fabric edges from raveting. This can be accomplished by ccw-ering the cut edges in one of several ways: with maskingtape hand whip stitches machinę zigzag stitching om raw edges or by makmg a smali hem all around and machinę straight-stitching om it

Hoops and frames

For very smali areas of embroidery. you can work with the fabr< held in hand but. in most cases. youll be better off w.th an embroidery hoop or frame. Embroidery hoops come m vanous sces. up to about 1T (30.Scm). Whenever possiole. make surę that the hoop you are usmg is large cnough for the entre design to fit withm it Moving the hoop over already embroi-dered areas can sometimes damage the work. Other types of frames. such as stretcher frames and scroll frames are available.

80 Anno Summei 2009