Ann The Gran Community

I'm new to machine embroidery but love to do X-Stitch (by hand).  I recently inherited an enormous number of X-Stitch materials - Aida, Hardangar and 32 count linen pieces.  Can these be used for machine X-Stitch?  I hate to see it all go to waste and would love to be able to give designs an authentic look of X-Stitch.  What would I use if these pieces are not workable?  Would appreciate any advice......Judy

Welcome to the Wonderful World Of Machine Embroidery (ME).  I cannot answer your question, but here is a blog and someone who knows a lot about Cross Stitching.  I have seen some of the Vermillion Designs and found them to be fantastic.

Certainly, we will help you find an excellent use for these fabrics.  I am wondering if they are "aged" because some cloths become a little more fragile with age.  

I will watch this thread with great interest because it is an interesting question.

Pat, The Avid Embroiderer

Hi Judoff,

I believe the answer to this question is yes. I have seen many designs done on these types of fabrics and they look spectacular. I feel that as long as the fabrics you are asking about have been cared for properly in the storage of them they should be fine. By proper storage I mean, have they been safely tucked away in a tote somewhere? Or in some sort of container,or have been stored in plastic (like a ziploc) bag? Sometimes when you store fabrics such as these in plastic they can discolor or turn yellowish in appearance. So if you feel they have been cared for properly then yes they would make spectacular items for your gifts.

I might suggest that you take a small piece of the Aida cloth and make a bookmark out of it to check it's stability as well as slow your machine down to get a more hand made heirloom look to it. In fact I would likely try a small project with a bit of all of this fabulous fabric you have inherited to make sure that it indeed in great shape,if so you will be able to create some wonderful pieces for gifts this year!

Good luck and I hope this works out for you,please take some photos and share with us some of what you have created from your inherited wealth of fabrics! I would certainly love to see your creations.

Judy

Hello Judy.

Welcome to Machine Embroidery.  You may never go back to hand cross stitch again!  The Vermillion cross stitch designs are beautiful.  They are also on sell this week with 10% off on the Ann The Gran site.

I do not see why you could not embroider on your Aida cloth.  I have seen embroidery on the vinyl "pet mesh" that is out.  The mesh has pretty big spaces in between the "squares" so Aida would be okay.

I would use tear away stabilizer on the back but would also use a water soluble on the top so the needle does not pick up in between the "spacing" and grab any of the Aida.

If your Aida is on the older side, the better.  It will give the look of antiquity.  I often tea-dye my fabrics to give the age.

One piece of advice when you have completed your machine embroidery cross stitch design.  Don't tell anyone you did not do it by hand!!!!

Joan/NJ

Hello,

It sounds like you have alot of wonderful fabrics that somone loved!

You can use any evenweave fabric with Cross Stitch on the machine.

Your stitching will look most realistic, if you can match the count of the design to the count of the fabric. For example, stitch a 14 Count design on 14 Count Aida Cloth or 28 Count Linen Evenweave fabrics. Try to hoop the fabric as straight in your hoop as possible, then position the needle to go down into a corner of an aida square or cleanly into the evenweave fabric between threads.

You can also stitch quite well on a smaller count cross stitch fabric, even thought the stitches will be smaller than a single square. The results aren't quite "perfect" as far as stitching matching the fabric, but the overall look should be very nice. The Cross Stitch fabrics come in such wonderful colors and are nice, stable fabrics for machine embroidery as well!

I hope you'll try this...you'll like the results, I'm sure!

Donna

Donna-You are so modest!  Donna is the Vermillion in "Vermillion Stitchery" a very knowledgeable lady indeed!

Her most recent blog, "International Love of Cross Stitch and Hints for Perfect Stitching Result!" is a great resource. 

Check it out and learn a lot, I know I did!

Pat, The Avid Embroiderer