Today we have a guest post from Ellen Johnson, owner of Serendipity Needleworks in Alabama. She shares with us two methods she uses to estimate how much thread to buy.
The “Fist” Method
- Make a fist.
- Place the flat part of your fist on the canvas and move it along the surface, noting how many “fists” of each color your need for each section.The flat part of your fist is equivalent to approximately 5 square inches of canvas.
- Multiply the number of yards you need to cover an inch by 5 to see how many yards of thread you’ll need for each fist.
- Multiply the number of fists by 5 to get the number of square inches for each color.
You can use this method to estimate yardage for large blocks of color and for backgrounds.
The “Thumb” Method
For smaller areas, you’ll need to use you thumb as a guide. The distance from your top knuckle of your thumb to thee tip of your thumb is about an inch, so two side-by-side “thumbs” is equivalent to approximately one square inch of canvas.
Use this method to estimate yardage for smaller blocks and scattered bits of color.
Next . . .
- After you have counted the square inches required of a particular color, multiply that number by 1.5 to determine how many yards you need.
- Next, divide the total yardage required by the number of yards in a skein to determin how many skeins you need to purchase
- If the result is not a whole number, add one skein.
Note: This is not an exact process and the measurements used for our examples are based on an average sized hand. It’s always a good idea to add 20% to your total to insure that you’ll have enough to complete your project.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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