Thursday, January 30, 2014

Travel on the Diagonal

Threads are easier to hide if they are pulled diagonally as opposed to horizontally or vertically - and the diagonal does not have to be 45 degrees either.

Here is an example of hiding travel threads by pulling the thread on the diagonal. The openwork pattern in the background makes it necessary to very carefully hide travel threads. I could have stopped and started each vertical thread behind the fabric, but this would mean a HUGE bump behind each of those pieces of fabric. The vertical stitches are stitched with #16 Kreinik metallic braid. That is a fat thread! I pulled it behind a diagonal line of upright cross stitches to the base of each vertical stitch.


Example for Hiding Travel Threads

I had to place a tacking stitch underneath the vertical stitch to line it up. The tacking stitches are placed underneath the green vertical lines and the threads are pulled behind the pink lines.




Placement of Tacking Stitches and Travel Threads

I was amazed myself at how well it worked.

Now look at the middle vertical stitch again without the lines drawn over it. Do you see any issues with this stitch? Mistakes like this are great for teaching, because if I make this error, others will too. 

Really Annoying Mistake!

The vertical thread was caught by the cross stitch variation (gold thread) that is holding down the piece of fabric. See how the blue metallic thread is pulled to the side and is no longer vertical? You can even see the tacking stitch. Ugh! Don’t you just hate that when you see a mistake AFTER the framing? I should have been more careful when stitching with the gold thread and this mistake would not have happened.

But as long at it is there - it is a teaching opportunity!





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