Frequently Asked Questions

"... everyone says rayons are a bear. Is it really that frustrating?" ... Allie

I do find them a bit fiddly but the beautiful way they glisten more than makes up for the small amount of extra care that they need. They're easily tamed by the following little tricks...

1. Keep the thread length fairly short (about 14" max.)
2. Make use you secure the 'tails' very well... they're excellent escape artists.
3. Work with very damp, almost wet, floss (just run your cut thread over a damp sponge before stitching). You'll notice that the thread loses much of its sheen when it's wet... don't worry, this is temporary and it will shine brightly again when it dries.
4. Instead of damping your floss, you might prefer using a thread conditioner, like 'Thread Heaven' (it's available at your local, or online, needlework shop).

How do I stitch over 2?

This is more difficult to explain than to actually do. I hope that the rather primitive illustration below gives an understandable idea of the difference between stitching over 1 thread (Illustr. A) and stitching over 2 threads (Illustr. B)

I'd just like to point out that a design that's stitched over 2 threads on 28-count fabric will end up the same size as it would have been if it was stitched over 1 thread on 14-count fabric. Over 2 threads on 32-count fabric is the same size as over 1 thread on 16-count fabric, etc.

"I like working on linen. Can you suggest a 32-count linen in place of the sage green aida?" ... LL

I don't have samples of all the fabrics that are available to us and like to direct stitchers to a handy online fabric tool on the Wichelt web-site. Once you've arrived at their site, select 'Products' and then 'Fabric'. Using the drop-down menus, choose the type of fabric you'd like and the stitch-count you prefer... you'll be provided with a list of all the colours of your chosen type that they make (including the closest DMC colour equivalents of each).

"On the pattern it says 'Please Note: All stitching for the model was sewn with a single strand of floss'. Does this mean that I can only use 1 strand or can I use 2 strands of floss?" ... Mary

I really feel that the number of strands used for stitching is a personal choice. I find the slightly muted effect that stitching with a single strand produces very pleasing and, since many stitchers try to reproduce the model exactly as shown, I provide this information. However, my mother (who enjoyed more intense colours and complete coverage of the background fabric) would never have been happy with this result and would have sewn with 2 strands. You should definitely stitch with as many strands as pleases you. Designs where some colours are used both as single strands AND as double strands (e.g. the Velveteen Rabbit ) are exceptions.. Don't worry, different symbols are used to indicate 1-strand and 2-strand stitching.

"DMC #s 151, 153, 154, 160 and 167. I can't find them and in looking at a DMC color chart they aren't even listed. Could you help me please?" ... Andrea

These colours (and several others) were introduced in 2001 and don't appear in older colour charts. Your local, or online, needlework shop will have them in stock.

"DMC 919. Is this the correct number? I can't seem to find it anywhere." ... Christine

DMC 919 (Red Copper) is one of DMC's standard embroidery floss colours. Some department stores and retailers who supply a large variety of crafts only offer the most popular colours. Your local, or online, needlework shop will carry the entire line. If you go to the DMC web-site web-site, select 'Lists & Conversions' and then click on 'Embroidery Floss Colors', you'll see a complete and up-to-date list of DMC's 6-strand embroidery threads (including some very useful colour names).

"I tried getting the printable .pdf version of the chart of the "NYC" pattern and nothing comes up... ?" ... MB

Problems with printing out the .pdf charts are usually the result of having a version of Acrobat Reader that's older than the one used to create the file. If you click on the 'get Acrobat' icon and download a newer version of the free software (one that's appropriate to your computer) you should have no further difficulties.

"... cannot find the colour DMC 5279." ... Margaret

DMC 5279 is a Copper-coloured, metallic embroidery floss that comes in 6-stranded skeins. Your local, or online, needlework shop will carry it.

"How do I attach beads?" ... Debbie

It may seem obvious to some people, but first be sure that you're using a beading needle. It took me quite a bit of struggle and several broken glass beads to realize that these extremely slim needles (with no bulge at the eye) are indispensable. Try to get the 1 1/4" needles... they're much more managable than the unwieldy 2" ones. This is much easier to demonstrate than to explain but here's the method that I prefer...

1. Come up through the fabric in the location where your bead is to be placed.
2. Slip the bead onto your needle.
3. Now, go back down into the fabric in the same spot that you would have re-entered if you were going to lay in the first stroke of a cross-stitch (your bead is now diagonally attached to the fabric in a half-cross-stitch)
4. Bring your needle back up in the spot where you'd start the second stroke of the cross-stitch.
5. Slip your needle back through the bead and down into the last hole of the cross-stitch (you've now sewn a cross-stitch through the centre of the bead that is firmly holding it in a vertical position on your needlework).