Hoop Advice

[Starchild]

Hello everyone.

I'm starting a project soon (when my supplies arrive), but I need a little advice. The project I'm doing is like, 22" by 22", but the hoop I have is fairly small, I think about 7". This will take me a while, and one thing I'm paranoid about is ruining it.

I'll have to move the hoop around a lot, of course, but I'm worried about the hoop damaging the image if I fasten it over a place that I've already worked on. Is this likely? If so, is there anything I can do to lessen the effect?

Thanks in advance =)

[Eliste]

If your hoop is wooden, cover your hoop.

Seriously. Do at least the bottom. I've neve had issues with the top being wood on stitched stuff, but if it's a cheap hoop and you're worried about splinters, cover it too.

Just take some bias tape (found in any craft store or easily made) and stretch all the way around the hoop. Then stitch it down in place. Make sure it's nice and tight before and after stitching it. It can live happily like that for years, although I often change it between projects to be sure it doesn't transfer anything.

Oh! But make us you uses neutral or natural color like white or offwhite. If the bias tape is colored, it will have been dyed sometime in its life most likely and you dont want that transferring.

Also note that you should absolutely clean, block and iron it after stitching like this. If you don't leave the fabric in the hoop outside of when you work on it, the worst that should happen is a bit of crinkling which will go away completely if you wash, block and iron it.

[Starchild]

Thanks very much for the advice. My supplies should be arriving tomorrow morning, and my hoop is now prepared for it! Hopefully I'll get some pictures of the threads before I start and do a progress thingy with it.

*squee*

[Starchild]

Okay, need a little more (slightly urgent) advice. I'm using KG Chart to make my pattern (which, I found out recently due to a mistake, claims my project is twice as big as it should be, so it's only 11" by 11" instead of 22 by 22), but I dont know if I've made another screwup.

Now, I edited it a little colour-wise (you'll see why in a moment), but since I got the supplies, I wonder if I ought to have. Here's the unedited image, then the edited one.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Essentially (as you can no doubt see), I replaced the black with what KG is calling DMC 939 - navy blue. Maybe it looks weird to me because I havent done anything like this in so very long. Maybe I'm just paranoid.

I'd really appreciate any opinions on whether I should go with what KG has suggested, or what I've edited. I just dont know! *flail*

[Celes_Lionheart]

^_^ I personally like how it looks in your edited version.

Some times KG can be a little wonky with colors and how it selects them, so you have to edit what it gives you, like in my opinion it seems to have a hard time seeing black and it tends to mess up on yellow.

Now, the other thing you can do is stitch around where KG is calling for the black and then deside later what you think of it.

[Starchild]

That's a good idea, actually. I'll likely be starting from top-left (being the ploddingly logical sort of person) so it'll take a little while to get to the edited bits. It's just one of those "I really want it to be perfect" things, so part of it will be freaking out for no good reason.

I'll hopefully be putting up a progress thread soon enough, I dont have all my colours, but the woman was nice enough to send the ones she had, and the others will be arriving shortly. Fortunately, I dont think this impedes me much =3

[Celes_Lionheart]

=D Good luck! I love the image, I think it will look awesome when its done.

^_^ For sure post progress shots!