Back Stitching on Aida and Why Sometimes it's Torturous

When I first started out cross stitching, I really disliked back stitching. I found it extremely time consuming and often very difficult. Over the years I have found ways of making this aspect of cross stitching some what easier. (I will be doing a post on some of the methods I use to make my back stitching more enjoyable and also better looking in a later post.) However some charts have complicated back stitching and using Aida makes the process close to nightmarish.

Why some back stitching more difficult on aida

This issues used to be a bigger problem for me when I had an unjustified fear of deviating from the recommendations on a chart in any way. Now it most often arises when using free card kits that come with magazines. The Margaret Sherry Mouse, pictured below, and the Lickle Ted design that is my current lunch time project are two such examples.

Margaret Sherry Mouse Card Kit

These two kits, and all other free kits that I have seen, include Aida for stitching on. They are the perfect size for the pattern so I use this piece rather than cutting something from my stash. Aida is a great fabric to work with as it is a nice and stiff, which makes it easy to stitch in hand. Each square on the fabric represents a stitch and I find it can be a bit more relaxing than evenweave as I don't need to concentrate on my stitch placement as much.

Then I get to the back stitching and this is when I wish I had gone to my stash. Both of these projects have small back stitches that may not start or end in a hole in the fabric. In fact they can appear out of anywhere within the stitch square. For instance if you look at the picture below, this is a close up of the ear of the mouse framed above.

In the circled section you can see that the chart called for the backstitching to come up about half way between the two top holes, piercing the fabric, and go down in the centre of the aida square, again piercing the fabric. Not only is this difficult to do, as it can be difficult to push the needle through the fabric, but it can also be hard to get the placement just right. I have often had to rip out stitching because it was askew.
 
Back stitching is a good thing

It must be pointed out that in both of these charts it is this type of backstitching that gives the piece its charm. These smaller backstitches are often used in projects where the subject has fur or is fluffy. The chicks in my recent Somebunny to Love project are another example of this type of back stitching and I think the effect is very sweet. While this type of stitching is difficult it gives some really pretty results.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Not all back stitching on aida is difficult, in fact some of it is down right pleasant when nearly all the stitches go from one hole on one fabric square to the opposite one either diagonally, vertically or horizontally. This sweet mini project by Joan Elliott is a perfect example of this.

Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection - Thanks You Cards

How working on evenweave differs

When working on medium/large piece, that has a lot of this small back stitching, I will usually use evenweave. It makes the piece significantly easier to do. tHis is because with evenweave you stitch over 2 strands of fabric. (This can make it a slightly more difficult fabric to work with overall and something I would not recommend to an absolute beginner.) Working over 2 for cross stitch means, you come up through one hole on the fabric, skip the next one diagonally and go down through the following hole. When a chart calls for small back stitches it means that instead of having to pierce the fabric, as you do with aida, you can just use the pre-existing holes.

The above image shows a small back stitch which came up through the hole on the left and down through the very next hole to the right. In aida the same stitch would mean having to pierce the fabric between the two holes in the fabric. Working on evenweave makes the whole process easier, less time consuming, less tiresome on my hands and leads to less ripping out.

This does not mean that I never use aida for these types of projects. The Lickle Ted project I am currently working on has small back stitching yet I am still using the enclosed aida as it is only a small project. However below are two projects for which, I really wish I had used evenweave. Though I think they still look great on the aida.

Margaret Sherry - Hedgehog - Summer Fun Booklet

Lickle Ted with Star  - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 167

I hope that this post has been enjoyable and that you found it useful. This was inspired by a question I recently received regarding a statement I made about back stitching on evenweave.

I would love to know your thoughts and if you have any other tips for working difficult back stitch on projects please leave a comment below.

I am still working on getting the images together for my gridding tutorial, hopefully you will see that in the next week.

June SFS

I, like many others, can not believe it is the end of June already! This month really did just seem to fly past. Hope everyone is enjoying whichever season you are currently in :)

Anyway onto the interesting stuff. It is Stitch From Stash time again, the explanation for this is really all in the name but if you want to know more just head over to Epic Stitching.

So how did I do in SFS this month:

Amount Spent: $0.00

New Starts from Stash: Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Dimensions Gold Elegance of the Orient, HAED QS Clara & HAED Autumn.

I did purchase a RAK for another stitcher and I am not sure if that counts toward my budget. If anyone knows, could they tell me and I can add it into next months budget instead, if that is ok with everyone. It was under the $25 limit.

Some piccies:

I also did a couple of finishes, which I will add piccies of here as well, although they have already appeared on my blog.

Another Mini Pillow Finish

Here is another finish I have been working on lately. I actually got it mostly finished the same evening as the last one I showed you but I needed a zip to finish it off properly. I really like this as it the first time I have joined pieces of different fabrics together to compliment a piece.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. I made a separate insert for this one so it could be removed if this needs cleaning at any point.

Joan Elliott Mini Finish

Well I got so much done on my YOTA piece for this month, I put it away again for a little while in order to finish off my Joan Elliott mini. It was so close to being complete it felt silly not to just get it done. I really did want to stick with Majestic Peacock though, as I was having lots of fun stitching it.

Anyway, here she is, all finished up:

The Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection - Thank Heavens for Mum Cards

I left off the text on this one as i want to able to use it for whatever purpose I want in the future. Now I will move onto a new mini start, yipee. I think I know which one I want to do but I have so many patterns I adore. Maybe I should just start the one I have in mind as otherwise I will go back and forth between all my options and never start anything :D

Some work on my mini

I have managed to get some progress in on my Joan Elliott mini. Sometimes I like to do some backstitching as a break from the little crosses and the back stitching on JE's mini projects is really straight forward. It can be quite relaxing. I also love watching that bit of definition make all the difference.

The Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection - Thank Heavens for Mum Cards

I'm leaving out the wording on this pattern as I like to have a few smalls to make into gifts and I want to try out some different finishing techniques. I think she is coming together really nicely, just another band of colour at the bottom of her dress, her hands, shoes and the back stitching left.

It is a shame that the subtle colour changes on areas of the fabby aren't visible in the photo, it looks completely uniform but it isn't. Apologies for the hoop marks. I am hoping to get some work on my YOTA piece over the rest of the week so I probably won't get this finished until the weekend, unless I have a free hour while I'm out and about.

Joan Elliott Mini - update

In my last post I mentioned that I was working on a Joan Elliott mini that I had started a while back, but I didn't have a picture for you. Well I managed a bit of work on it yesterday so I decided I would share.

As many of you know my plan for the year is to work on two large projects only, if I finish one I move onto another WIP/UFO, no new starts. There is one exception and that is a mini project. As well as my two large projects I can have one mini project in my rotation as well. I finished off my Margaret Sherry Hedgehog so I moved onto this as it was already started.

The Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection - Thank Heavens for Mum Cards

This is from The Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection and is one of the Mother's Day cards, which I have done two of already (If you want to see these finishes have a look in my finishes tab above). I am stitching this 2 over 2 on 28ct hand dyed evenweave from a Polstitches grab bag. This is my first time using a hand dyed evenweave and only my second using hand dyed fabric at all. She is stitching up nice and quickly and I hope to finish her soon as I have my next project all lined up and I'm very excited to start it :)

Stitch from Stash 2014

This is being hosted by Mel at Epic Stitching and is all about doing exactly as it says, stitching from stash. Each month participants have a monthly budget to spend on stash and the point is to stay within the budget and work from items you have already.

If you want more info, then click the link above. I can't figure out how to add the button to my sidebar, once I do I will put it on my blog. I am actually really excited about this SAL as it ties in with a number of my own plans for the year, namely finishing what I have.

So without further ado here is how I did this month:

Amount Spent: $0

New Starts from Stash: None

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Dimensions Gold Majestic Peacock, HAED Autumn, Margaret Sherry Hedgehog from Summer Fun Booklet & Joan Elliott Mini from The Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection

Want to see some pictures? Some of these you will have seen before and I don't have a picture of the Joan Elliott to show you I'm afraid but here we go:

As you can see I finally won the battle of the French Knots and managed to add them in to my hedgehog, though the bee does look a little off.

This month I haven't found the budget too hard but I have felt that buying itch start in the last few days. I am determined to keep it at bay though :)

A Finish

I managed to get the mini Joan Elliott project I was working on finished off. I really love the hand dyed fabric on this one. So much so that I ordered a couple of grab bags as a treat. This is now going to go in a finishing pile, don't know what I will do with it yet but will have fun finding out. This little one is from a set of Mother's Day card designs from the Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection. I have left the text off but may put some text on later when I think of what I will use it for.

Here she is:

Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection

The eyes on the doll are the first time I have successfully managed french knots. I'm not sure but I think they make her look kinda evil. What do you think, is this doll going to come to life and try to kill me in my sleep?