crosstitch with waste canvas! (update post 4!)

this'll be the last update post of the night, since it's already way past my bedtime! i keep forgetting to post this, but beelisty reminded me.

i was SOOO HAPPY with how this turned out, i'm so in love with it. it was a total bitch to do, but oh, the results!

i fell in love with the dmc satin floss, which is rayon instead of the usual cotton.

i made a skirt out of black cotton twill with a little bit of a stretch to it, and decided that i wanted to cross stitch the word "femme" on it in the satin floss. i used the same lettering as on the queer piece one post earlier. since the skirt obviously wasn't made of aida cloth, i had to use waste canvas. this was my first time using waste canvas, and all they had left at the store was 11count or larger, but i figured that would be fine, since i was working on clothing, and wouldn't want a really small scale piece anyway. it ended up being perfect for this project, but i'd like to try a smaller count as well.

in progress!

obviously cut the waste canvas larger than your design. set your sewing machine to the largest stitch size and baste it onto the fabric. seriously, baste the hell out of it. around the edges, across the middle, up and down, whatever you need to do.

when you're stitching, you'll want to use an embroidery needle, not a cross stitch needle, because it needs to be sharp to go through the fabric smoothly.

the back, showing the basting lines

mine was long and narrow, so i mostly just basted in one direction. if you're doing a square, you'd definitely need to baste both ways.

removing the waste canvas

after you're done stitching, remove the basting. starting at one end, start pulling the threads of the waste fabric out one by one. they told me that you're supposed to do all in one direction at first, but i found it easier to do a bunch from the side, then a bunch from the top, etc. if the waste canvas doesn't pull out easily, get it slightly damp, and it should work better.

done!

the women at the needlework store warned me that the satin floss was more difficult to use, and they were definitely right! it frays a lot, i ended up cutting a lot more off the ends than i would with cotton floss, and it doesn't seem to slide through the fabric as easily, but that may have just been due to the fabric of the skirt. i also found the waste canvas kind of yucky to work with. i HATE it when my hands feel dirty, it totally squicks me out, and since the waste canvas will dissolve in water, it has some stuff on it to help that. that stuff made my hands feel icky while i was working. of course, if you're not as OCD about washing your hands as me, you'll probably be fine!


and here's the action shots!


(blurry, i know, i'm sorry! i wish i'd realized it at the time.)

i love it!