A lot of people teach to work in rows, stating with one color, then another color for the next row, blending as you work. It’s a fine technique but can lack realism. I work more in patches using many threads and colors at once. I try to mimic what ever photo or drawing I’m using as reference. But when you’re first learning, working in rows is the easiest.
Draw rows inside your pattern, one element at a time. These are just general guide lines. Some stitches will go over the drawn line, some will come up short.
Most of the time it helps to outline your design line first in a split stitch, but not so much if you’re doing fur, or fluffy feather. Split stitch ONE element at a time, then work your long and short stitch, covering the split stitch line. Fill in just that one element. Then move onto the next.
Remember that anything in the background gets stitched first. So if an element is covered by another, it would get stitched first. Work from the back to the front; So the background to the foreground. If an element is covered by another, work the one in the back first. Then move to the next. Work your split stitch over that element, over the existing long short stitches. Then work your long short stitch going over that split stitch line. This will help give it a 3D effect but also hide any fabric that may show through where elements overlap. For example if you’re working a flower. Start with the petal that’s covered by the others, furthest back. Start with your split stitch, but don’t split stitch any part of the design line that’s part of another petal. Only work a split stitch on the petal line that’s exposed. Then work your long short stitch, bringing them over the split stitch line, covering it. Then move to the next petal; split stitch over the previous existing stitches and the design line. Then work your long and short stitch. Continue working in that way, one at a time.
For your first row or section of long short, come up through the fabric, then down over the design line or split stitch line. For the following rows/sections, come up through the first row of stitches, piercing the actual thread it’s coming though, then down into your fabric. Splitting the thread will lock the previous stitch in place and help it to lay flat against the fabric. Remember that you want the floss to lay as flat as humanly possible to the fabric. It’s kind of like doing split stitch, but in rows or areas. Then continue working down the element. Coming up through the stitches and down into the fabric.
Bring your stitches deep into the previous row for some of your stitches, almost covering the existing stitch at times. Then lower down the previous stitch for the following. Stagger the length of the stitches. Think of the technique more like long and longer stitches vs. long short. You don’t want uniform stitches. It’s not satin stitch. But in general, don’t make them too long or too short. They should be around 3/8 of an inch long; But they’d all be different lengths. By varying the length of stitches, it will help blend the colors better and creates a smoother more even surface.
Make sure your stitches are going it the correct direction. Draw guide lines on your fabric, inside your design to help place them in the correct position. To make stitches look smooth and shiny, keep the direction of your stitches correct. Don’t change your angles too drastically. If you need to get around a curve, shorten your stitches a bit. Add a wedge stitch in when going around a curve to gradually change the direction of your stitches. This is done by adding a long stitch, then a much shorter stitch at the slightly changed angle, then a long stitch again, at that new angle. The long stitches will hide the small stitches directional change. Making it appear like a seamless transition. The guide lines depend on what’s being stitched. Think about the composition of your design, wether it’s a flowers petal or a birds wing. How would they seem to appear in nature? Flower petals for example, slightly taper in towards the center of the base of the petal, at the sides.
My best advice is to just go for it. Don’t be scared or intimidated. It’s hard, but it can be a very forgiving technique. If your not happy with the way it’s looking, take a picture of it, put it down and walk away. Don’t even look at it. Later, look at the photo and see if it’s really as bad as you remember. Often you’ll find it looks a lot better than you remember. If there’s still something that’s not quite right, you can always pick out those stitches and try again. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, so if you have any questions, need clarification, or help with anything, just let me know.
Hope you enjoyed these video series. And I hope they’re helpful.
