I've been working on this project for a month now and it kind of bothers me that the aida is coming through on most of the stitches, a few of the blues fill out nicely but the black especially seems to fill out differently. I'm using 2 strands of floss on 16 count aida, if anyone has a solution for future projects.
How to get fuller looking stitches
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- Firehawke
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Re: How to get fuller looking stitches
I've heard some people say that the stitches fluff up with washing. I'm not sure how accurate that is...I have a serious lack of FFOs...but hopefully others will be able to say if this is true or not.
You may also want to try 3 strands...I've heard of a number of people who have experimented with the number of strands they use to figure out which coverage they like for each project.
Good luck!
You may also want to try 3 strands...I've heard of a number of people who have experimented with the number of strands they use to figure out which coverage they like for each project.
Good luck!
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Re: How to get fuller looking stitches
Hello! In a reddit i follow there is this person who always has full beautiful stitches. She uses 3 strands for 14 and 16 Aida!
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Re: How to get fuller looking stitches
That's interesting...
Has someone here ever tried to wash their finished project, and does it make the stitches "fluff up" indeed ?...
Using 3 strands can be a good idea too... but it multiplies the cost by 1.5, for big projects it can be significant ! **shrugs**
Has someone here ever tried to wash their finished project, and does it make the stitches "fluff up" indeed ?...
Using 3 strands can be a good idea too... but it multiplies the cost by 1.5, for big projects it can be significant ! **shrugs**
- Delver01
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Re: How to get fuller looking stitches
I noticed that my stitches look a loot better since I made a conscious effort to stop pulling so hard on my needle as I stitch.
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Re: How to get fuller looking stitches
I've always had this issue with 16ct aida. I find it doesn't cover as well as I like with 2 strands of floss, but I really don't like stitching with 3 strands. My choice is to rarely stitch on 16ct fabric. I use 18ct as my standard now because I like the coverage I get with 2 strands of floss.
The darker floss colours are definitely worse than the lighter colours for coverage, so if you're doing a dark piece like this one you could always use black aida instead. Although it can be a serious pain to stitch dark on dark, and the fabric can be a bit harder to find. I've also heard that Anchor black is better for coverage than DMC black although I haven't tried it myself.
Like Delver said, tension can also make a huge difference. And washing does help. I'm not sure that it really fluffs the stitches at all, but it does seems to shrink the holes in the fabric at least a little bit. I've done a couple of pieces that I was pretty unhappy with while I was stitching, but once they were washed and framed ended up looking much better.
The darker floss colours are definitely worse than the lighter colours for coverage, so if you're doing a dark piece like this one you could always use black aida instead. Although it can be a serious pain to stitch dark on dark, and the fabric can be a bit harder to find. I've also heard that Anchor black is better for coverage than DMC black although I haven't tried it myself.
Like Delver said, tension can also make a huge difference. And washing does help. I'm not sure that it really fluffs the stitches at all, but it does seems to shrink the holes in the fabric at least a little bit. I've done a couple of pieces that I was pretty unhappy with while I was stitching, but once they were washed and framed ended up looking much better.
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Re: How to get fuller looking stitches
Thank you all for your input and advice, I really appreciate it! I dont think I would like working with 3 strands, though looking at the small holes of 18ct and smaller tends to give me headaches, so I'll have to find what works best for me for future projects to have a more filled out look. And hopefully washing the piece once done helps at least a little bit.