Updated October 15, 2021.
I stitch from stash (my stash is huge0 and often when it comes to backgrounds I don’t have enough in a package to finish the background. Rather than spend time cutting the stitching out, I’ve developed some great ways to solve the problem of different dyelots prettily. An example is this Princess & Me ornament for my DD. I had picked a bright blue Rainbow Linen for the background.
Initially I thought one skein would be enough. But I didn’t like the stitch guide’s suggested background or any of the three others I tried. By the time I settled on this Random Gobelin Stripe, I knew there wasn’t enough thread. Since the thread was from stash I was unlikely to find a matching dyelot.
This could have ruined the ornament, but you can see above how I planned for the dyelot change. I skipped every other stripe.
By doing so I’ve planned for the different dyelot. Since the change is regular, it will look as if the background was supposed to be striped in this way with a subtle color change.
I found another card of this color in my stash and I’ll be set whether it matches or not.
Making stripes in two dyelots was the first way I solved this problem and it remains one of my favorites. Whether th stripes are random in width or regular, no matter what stitch it uses, by skipping stripes and filling in with the second dyelot, you’ll get something that looks great.
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
[…] color. Turn this defect into a benefit by working out a pretty way to accommodate this. Try stripes, a random background (also seen in picture), checkerboarding, or needlepoint damask (posts on these […]