FINALLY!!! I got it thanks to your very thorough and understandable lessons and demonstrations. So many super helpful hints too. I even have made a sponge lid. I had no idea there was so much to cross stitching. I’ve watched all of your videos - parking was the most help for me to make progress. I was cross country even when I tried to stay in a diagonal and my stitches are not pretty. I can’t thank you enough for sharing your experience and knowledge.
I have wanted to try full coverage with parking for a long time but threading needles is my least favorite part of stitching. Your method is unique and actually gives me confidence to try. I think your process is brilliant!
I absolutely love watching you stitch! I have 3 full coverage pieces started and plan to try your method as soon as I get the needle minders to park the needles on. Thank you for sharing your ideas and the way you stitch. You make it look so easy!
I really like my new trick of carrying my dark threads on the back on top of my other stitches. What I do is I pull the dark color needle to the front out of the way towards the top of my project, stitch until I need the dark color again, pull the dark color needle to the back and stitch the dark stitches I need. Now, the dark color lays on top of all the others on the back and isn’t up against the back of the fabric so it won’t be visible. It’s really nice not having to end threads since I can now carry dark colors on the back without worry.
Glad you found it helpful! I think the key for full coverage is to have very regular sized stitches since each stitch is completely surrounded with other stitches and even small irregularities will be visible. It’s less of an issue with sampler type stitching on linen since the fabric itself has irregularities to it. My video #2 explains how this works and based on my last project that I just finished, it really makes a big difference.
Love watching your videos. I think I'm going to try your system for full coverage pieces. I hope you don't mind but I mentioned you in my latest Flosstube - Pat's Stitching - Flosstube #13.
Maybe I missed it but say you have three stitches of a color then it skips a stitch and that next stitch is the same color do you stitch it or wait until the next color is stitched hence the “dirty hole clean hole” can continue. I hope I make sense.
Have enjoyed watching your videos, have learned so much. Thinking of getting a trolley needle I stitch two handed with my left hand on top and dominant underneath do you suggest I use trolley needle in my right or left hand? Thank you
I have thought about trying parking method. 🤔 right now I dont have a full coverage I want to do. I cant decide what you would classify Cryptids SAL by the witchy stitcher. I think its more of a sampler
I hope it is not too late to comment. I'm a new cross-stitcher and just found your channel. I've started at the beginning and am working my way through your videos. I'm learning a lot from your tutorials; thank you very much! I have a few questions that I'd appreciate help with if you have the time to respond. Am I understanding correctly that you began in the upper left corner and worked all the way across the full width of the chart for the first row? And if that assumption is correct, and since you are stitching on the diagonal, the second row was worked across to one stitch before the far right edge of the chart? Then each successive row would be worked one stitch short of the immediately preceeding row? So after working 10 rows, you'd have one full diagonal to the right that you will not be working? And eventually you would get to the last row, which would consist of just a single stitch? If I'm visualizing all of this correctly, then what is the next step for finishing the stitches that were left unworked on your first top-to-bottom pass of the chart? Would you start working upward from that last single stitch in the bottom left corner, changing the holes in which you come up and go down? Or would you go back up to the single unworked stitch on the upper right of the 2nd row and begin working downard from right-to-left? Or woud you do something else, entirely? Also, if you have time, I'd love to see a short video segment on how you attach the thread to the floss holder so that you can pull out a strand without undoing the braid. Thanks for any help that you may be able to offer! ♥
It’s definitely not too late for questions! I’m glad my videos are useful for you. I’m in the middle of making a 10 video series called Intro to Cross Stitch 101, 102, and 103. I have the first three posted. They’re the ones with the blue thumbnail. In those, I teach how to cross stitch from the very beginning. The third video shows how to pull floss from an organizer. I’m using three projects to ‘stitch along with me’ and to show everything you need to stitch a Mill Hill Buttons and Beads Kit, which are a great kits to learn and are super cute. In Cross Stitch 102, I’ll show how I do my needle parking and stitching on diagonals and laying tool use,basically stuff you’re asking about but designed for beginners. I plan to start working on those in January and have them planned, I just need to film them. For your diagonal stitching question, first thing I draw diagonal lines on my chart every 10 stitches, using the 10 by 10 blocks. The first diagonal will make a triangle 10 stitches wide and 10 high with the right angle of the triangle in the upper left corner. This triangle will have 50 stitches and I stitch it with Danish cross so I do the first leg across the row and complete it coming back the same row. Then I drop to the next row and stitch 9 over and 9 back and so on. Once the triangle is done, I go back to the top and stitch 10 stitches there and back, drop to the next row and 9 stitches there and back. So now I’m stitching a parallelogram, basically a long rectangle that’s half pushed over. If you are using gridded fabric, which I really recommend. If the project is full coverage with no fabric showing at the end, then you can use pregridded easy count fabric. I wouldn’t use it if there are areas left unstitched because I wouldn’t trust the grid lines to completely wash out at the end. For that, I sew in a grid with Sulky Sliver. There’s a great tutorial on how to do that if you search gridding fabric and Sulky Sliver, you’ll find it. I think her name is Melissa. I’ll use her method in my January videos. Anyway, if you are using gridded fabric, it’s important to make sure your fabric and chart are aligned. A lot of charts don’t start with a full 10 by 10 bolded block. It’s kinda hard to explain but I think I talk about it where I have my made up chart and I’m showing parking. Basically, when you draw the diagonal on the chart, connect the bottom left and top right corner of each 10 by 10 block for the entire size of the chart. Then make sure that where you start stitching the grid lines on your fabric will lines up with the grid line on your the chart. I hope this helps and welcome to cross stitch!
@@piros44 THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! You have been of tremendous help and I am so very grateful. Your explanation is perfect; I feel as though a light has been shown into the murky recesses of my brain. I have now worked my way through your first 11 videos, and look forward to viewing the introductory series. As an FYI, I love the original design that you shared in video 10 (I think), and have taken your advice to heart about not feeling the need to apologize for our creative efforts. I am now playing with some graph paper and colored pencils to explore design possibilities of my own. Thanks for the inspiration - and for sharing your knowledge and passion!
Question- how different is using a laying tool or fingers? Oils? Anything else? I am considering it but i use my fingers. You have great explanations btb!!!
With a laying tool, you run the floss over it with a bit of tension as you pull your thread through the fabric and that’s what forces the threads to lay parallel. A finger is rougher and softer than a laying tool so I’m not sure if you’d get as good a result. Oils from your hands would definitely be an issue especially with light colors since you would be doing this for every stitch so by the end of your strand of floss, you’d have touched it quite a lot. You could try using a lacquered or bone chopstick, as long as it’s round or an unsharpened round pencil or plastic mixing spoon handle might work too, though having a tapered point makes it easier to use. I really like using my trolley needle since it’s so quick. I think on full coverage pieces, especially, a laying tool really makes the project prettier.
Am I seeing correctly that you use a combination of English and Danish (?) methods to form your stitches? Can you explain what makes you decide to switch from one to the other? I love your videos. I've learned so much. I'm hoping my next project will be much neater and more precise then the one I've recently finished.
I use Danish stitching the first leg for a color through the entire row and then completing the second leg on the way back. The rules that I’ve described would work for English (completing both legs of a stitch ) too, though I don’t use it for full coverage.
