In yesterday’s article we looked at how to design a piece using a shaped template and a needlepoint plaid of any kind. Today’s article goes through the steps for stitching it.
Tracing the Outline
To do this you will need your canvas, your template, and a permanent marker made for fabric. My favorites for this are Pigma Microns and SC-UF.
If your template is a shaped hole in a design (cookie cutter or stencil), place it on top of the canvas. Make sure straight lines go along one thread of canvas and mark the template by going around the opening with your pen.
If your template is a shape on a piece of paper, place it underneath the canvas in a place with good light. Make sure straight lines go along one canvas thread. Trace the design on the canvas.
Placing the Design
In yesterday’s article I discussed placing the design off-center. I have done this for the ornament. Look at your plaid or section of plaid and decide what area you want as the center. I picked the three-thread yellow lines.
Pick, and mark if you want, the place in your template where you want the center to be.
Stitch the stripe for the center, first in one direction, then in the other. This clearly marks the center and allows you to continue stitching the plaid in the normal way: one direction, then the other, as in the picture below.
You may find, as I did, that your template is larger than the section of the plaid you picked. If that is the case, go back to your original chart to stitch a bigger section of the plaid.
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
Janet: I have enjoyed your posts about needlepoint. Is there some reason I an no longer receiving them in my emails? I just realized that they are missing.
I don’t know. The entire blog by email subscription process is transparent to me. When this happens to me with blogs I subscribe to, I just resubscribe. When you get the confirmation it should tell you how to access your account to manage it.
Keep stitching,
Janet