Wednesday 3 June 2009

I have figured out the problem...finally!


Quaker a Six Mains
(if you look closely you can see the lilac motif that took over an hour yesterday)


I've finally figured out why I'm having so much trouble with my DMC linen floss project--it's the fabric!

I picked out a beautiful piece of linen for the project, but it's also very tightly woven. There's too much friction between the fabric and the floss, so I'm constantly having to 'tug' the floss through (especially when there's a slub in either the fabric or the floss) and I'm winding up with frayed and breaking floss because of it.

I'm going to test my theory this weekend--I've got some linen here with a much looser weave, so I'm going to pick out one of the small freebies that I've printed out and try stitching it with the linen floss on the more loosely woven linen. I think I'll have a much easier time stitching. At least I hope so. I really like the look of the linen floss and I'd like to think it can be used for cross stitch and not just surface embroidery work.

So Quaker a Six Mains will go on the back burner for the time being, until I figure out the fiber problem. I'm not going to rush myself to pick out the work that I've already done (after all, I may be wrong) but I'm going to stop all work on it and pick up something else from my WIP basket.

6 comments:

Mel said...

That sucks to hear about your fibre problem. I do hope you can work around it, and sometimes a break is needed!

Carolyn NC said...

Wow - if I had to tug, I'd be nuts! Hope this next one works.

Unknown said...

I recently stitched up a set of smalls with DMC's linen floss. I used it on 32 ct Wichelt/Permin linen, which is stiff but has an open weave. I rather liked the way the floss lent an old-fashioned look to the pieces, but it wasn't the most pleasant to work with. I typically stitch with about 18" lengths and 28 needles. For this project I used a 24 and 12" pieces, but there was still some fraying around the needle eye.
Good luck to you! Your piece is going to be beautiful when it's done!

grannyanne said...

I have some linen thread but haven't stitched with it yet. I will know not to use a close weave fabric. This blog is great for picking up these pieces of information. I hope you can find something else to complete on this blog. It is such fun watching and enjoying everyone's progress.

Jen said...

When in a needlework shop last week, and after reading your posts, I felt the linen floss from DMc and it is rough. Not for me so I can sympathise with you over the difficulties you are having. Does it have to be done in linen or could you swap to a regular floss? Looking forward to see what you choose next.

Dancing With Pussycats said...

The colors look so beautiful against this fabric. Good luck figuring out a solution...whether it's a different fabric or different fibers.