Regardless of whether you are working with a ready-made kit that you bought, which includes threads, canvas and instructions, or you yourself select the floss and fabric for the pattern you like, the main principle of embroidery is not to rush, otherwise you will have to dissolve the embroidered section.
Instructions
Step 1
The first step in cross stitching is to mark the canvas. If you started to embroider from a ready-made set, look at the diagram where the middle of the embroidery is marked. Usually, to designate it, manufacturers use arrows on the cells - vertically and horizontally. Fold the canvas attached to the kit in half, and sew a basting stitch. Now do the same in the other direction. The intersection of the threads will point you to the middle of the drawing, from where you can start working. If the middle is not indicated in the instructions, step back from the edge with enough threads and stitch horizontally and vertically. Choose the beginning of work yourself - the upper left corner or another, the main thing is that it is convenient for you. To make it easy to test yourself as you embroider, pass the basting auxiliary threads through an equal number of crosses, for example, every ten or thirty. This will allow you to spot the error and help you count the cells on the canvas.
Step 2
If you are working with a ready-made set, then you have the threads, they are attached to the holder, or they need to be arranged in colors and attached to the holder yourself. The second version of the kits is much less common, mainly American manufacturers. If you only have a scheme, you need to choose the appropriate shades. This can be done "by eye", that is, choose threads that, as it seems to you, match the color. Or carefully study the diagram, see which manufacturer's threads are recommended by the instruction, and select the necessary floss by numbers. If they are not on sale, you can use special tables to translate the numbers of the required threads into similar shades from another manufacturer, for example, Anchor in DMC or Gamma. For convenience, make a cardboard holder yourself - just punch the holes for the threads with a hole punch and sign them, or draw the legend.
Step 3
Now start embroidering. Each floss color has a special designation on the diagram. The first color is best to choose the one that is close to the place where you will start embroidery - the center or the edge. The instructions for the ready-made kit say how many threads to use; for independent work, use such a number of threads so that the canvas is well "painted over", but the drawing is not too dense. For the standard weaving of the Aida 14 canvas, two threads of floss are used, less often three. Sew the cells of the chosen color, counting their vertical and horizontal position. Remember that the first stitch of all crosses should be in one direction, and the closing stitch in the other. When the thread runs out, or there are no crosses of this color nearby, fasten the end and start embroidering in a different color. For convenience, paint over the embroidered crosses on the diagram with a simple pencil.
