Although I love to cross stitch, it’s tough to do it in a car. As we’ll soon be leaving for a two-day road trip to Texas, I’m now digging out some my old needlework projects to keep me busy while we’re traveling.
Anyone who does needlework knows it’s much easier to work a needlepoint canvas in a car than a cross-stitch design. All you do is fill the holes in with the continental stitch, choosing colors that match your design. No counting or juggling charts. You just need your reference picture, canvas and thread. It’s a great way to relax as your enjoy the scenery.
You say you love to do needlepoint, but can’t afford the pricey designs?
Then why not make your own? That’s what I starting doing a couple of years ago. However, my method is unusual because I don’t paint my canvases, but instead just outline my designs in a quilters’ pen and stitch according to my reference photos.
It had been at least three decades since I’d picked up a needlepoint canvas or shopped for supplies, so I was in for a surprise when I first visited my local needlework shop. There I finally found some woolen yarn after not finding it for most almost twelve years in major craft stores. However, the wool was sold in large balls, rather than small steins as years ago. As I needed a variety of colors, wool was much more than I had allotted for my craft budget.
Then I discovered that most needlepoint kits today are not done in wool yarn, but in cotton embroidery floss. Well, that was good news to me as I had a huge stash from my cross stitch projects. Note that when you use 6-stranded floss doing the continental stitch, you’ll be using all 6 strands for coverage.
If you decide to try your hand at needle pointing or if you’re returning to it, after a long sabbatical, your biggest investment will be your needlepoint canvas. I’d recommend 14 count canvas if you’ll be using 6-stranded cotton embroidery floss. Buy about a yard’s worth, and later divided into smaller pieces for your projects. I prefer to work on an 8″ x 10″ canvas as larger ones take forever to complete.
Next, select pictures to trace. Years ago when I first started painting and drawing, I started a stash of reference pictures from old magazines and greeting cards. My all-time favorite ones continue to be bird pictures. In fact, right now I have three different bird needlework projects (a parrot, a canary, and a finch design), all unfinished, but saved for my road trips and nighttime TV viewing.
After you’ve found a picture, you’ll need to either draw it or trace it onto your canvas. I use a cheap light box I bought at Wal-Mart years ago. Or if you don’t have a light box, just find a sunny window and tape your picture under your canvas and trace.
To trace, use a quilter’s pen which easily can be erased by a moist cloth.
After tracing your design, determine your colors. Make sure you have all your embroidery floss colors, and then select coordinating fabric to cover your canvas sides. I also use the fabric strips to stretch the design on foam board for framing. Since I’m working on bird designs, I look for bird themes or color schemes to go with the picture. You can’t image how thrilled I was to find some fabric with red and blue carnary patterns to complement my canary design.
Cut your fabric into four strips ( For example, cut two 14″ x 2″ strips and two 12″ x 2″ strips for an 8″ x 10″ canvas). Then sew the strips to your canvas.
As for an embroidery needle, a tapestry needle, size 20, works works well on 14 count mesh canvas.
Finally, you’ve reached the fun part—filling in the stitches with a continental stitch. Stitching the background is, of course, optional. Personally, I prefer to put in a background, of a light blue (#828 DMC floss) for my skies. Again, note that you’ll need all six strands for coverage. If you want to backstitch or outline an item in your design, only use one strand of embroidery floss. (Not how I make one of my parrot’s eyes with a French not, using one strand of #310 black DMC embroidery floss. I also started some outlining of birds’ features using a black strand.
On the other hand, if you prefer to work from needlepoint kids, there are a variety of excellent ones you can find at craft stores such as AC Moore, Michaels, and Joanne Fabrics. Personally, I have more fun just making my own designs.
Most of all, don’t forget to relax and have fun. That’s the whole purpose of your taking up needlepoint as a hobby.
