subversive cross stitch: tricky stitchin'

tricks of the trade

Once you've been cross stitching a while, you'll probably get bored going from the front of the material to the back, then back to front again. Isn't there an easier way? Where's the shortcut key? In this wee tutorial, I'll let you in on the secret.


ONE: Following the pattern, first make half-stitches where each X will go. Instead of going from front to back each stitch, we're going to be working mostly from the front of the fabric.	TWO: Instead of going straight through the material with each stitch, bring the needle through and to the front again. Make sense?	THREE: Then, pull the thread through -- it's basically staying on the front side of the fabric, see?

FOUR: Tighten up the stitch. Do half-stitches like this for an entire letter or, as you get more advanced, until your thread runs out.	FIVE: Now, go back and make the other halves of the cross stitch. Start with the needle behind the fabric. First, pull the needle through from back to front, starting at the bottom right side of the stitch.	SIX: Basically, we're just doing the opposite of the half stitches we did before. The goal is to keep the needle on the front of the fabric as much as possible.
		The reason to work stitches in this way is because it's much faster. Plus, it streamlines the process, since you're not constantly switching your hand from the front of the fabric to the back with every single stitch. This might have already come naturally to you if you're always looking for shortcuts like me, but if not, it's a handy little trick that'll let you crank out a lot more work in about half the time. Go get it!
SEVEN: Here's the thread going through...	EIGHT: ...and the stitch tightened up. Now, on to the next one.

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