. . . more Tips

I hate to continually turn your work over to start or finish threads, then perhaps you could try (if you are working two strands of course) doing your loop start from the front and when finishing a colour, simply bring your needle through to the front of your work and leave the tail hanging until you have completed a few more areas.  Then when you turn your work over to the back again, you can finish a few threads at the same time.  This is particularly useful if you are stitching with a floor or lap stand.  Lisa-Marie Mackie, Tasmania, Australia.

I’ve found that hessian now comes in some fabulous colours and is a great thing to use to get kids started stitching and using evenweave!  They can use knitting wool (or anything else) and stitch over 2 or 5 or 10 or whatever!  They make great cushion covers when backed with a complementary fabric!  Ange Moore, Tasmania, Australia

Cut your skein in eight equal part (around one metre) by winding them around a wooden frame (for instance a board or a picture frame of that size).  Put the ends together and stick them through the hole of a curtain ring, so that there is an ‘eye’.  Put the ends through the eye: now your floss is nicely fitted and you can pull out the number of strands you need.  Annelies Ter Haseborg, Holland.

For beading if you find the beading needles too long I use a regular sewing needle about the size of #30 cross stitch needle. Sharp!, so watch out but works great!  Wanda Gabelman, Oregon, USA.

My stitching tip is for sharpening scissors.  We all need really sharp scissors when cross-stitching.  So keep a small empty glass bottle (small perfume bottle) in your kit and just ‘cut’ the neck of the bottle several times with your scissors, once a week, and they will stay sharp.  Gillian Smith, Australia.

When unpicking bright or dark threads, there is often a trace of the colour left on the material.  If you dab both sides of the affected area with a small piece of sticky tape, this will remove all traces of the offending fibre.  Pam Chettle, England.

I live in Sweden, where the needlework shops haven’t yet discovered the specialty threads available in eg. USA and UK.  So what do I do?  I took a look in my husbands fly-tying material box and guess how many threads I discovered?  About 50 that I could use!  Tinsel comes in many shades and variations, and work well for those little "effects" you always want.  So now I shop at the fly-tiers shop myself, leaving what's left to my husband for his fly-tying.  Elisabeth Helsing, Sweden

My tip is for traveling with your cross stitch.  I bought a zippered 3 ring binder. You can put your pattern in a 3 ringed page protector.  Your floss goes in a zip lock baggie with a hole punched in one corner so it can go over one of the rings.  I also keep my cloth in a page protector just to keep it clean.  There are plenty of pockets for accessories.  Dawn Pederson, Canada.

When adding beads to your work stick a small piece of double-sided tape to the hand you hold your work with, and stick your beads to it.  They are easy to pick up on your needle while you sew, without interrupting the flow of your stitching.  Lynn Robertson, Powys, Wales.

I do a lot of stitching of small items, like christmas cards, in the car, and to keep all my items handy I use a Stable Table with piece of light grey felt glued on to the top.  (Don't use white, it will reflect badly).  Your needle can be parked in the felt when not in use.  Also the felt will stop items sliding around.  I have a thin magnet strip glued onto the felt and this holds scissors.  The ‘gutter’ round the top of the tray hold items like thimbles, highlighting pens etc. so they don't fly around the car when the driver takes a fast corner.
Gillian Smith

Vinyl Weave is very practical for use as coffee cup liners and bookmarks.  If it gets dirty just wipe off with a wet sponge.  Also use for Christmas Ornaments and coasters for cold or hot drinks.  In addition you can make kitchen and bathroom samplers. Loretta Elliott.

If you are stitching onto black aida or black linen you may find it very difficult to see the holes into which you have to put your needle.  Try getting a small desk lamp and place either onto the floor or onto a small table and point it so it shines against the back of the fabric. You will find that it shows every hole clearly and you can do your stitching without making mistakes or making you eyes or head ache.  I have found this to be a fantastic help when stitching onto 28ct Linen. Sue Lawson, Clitheroe, England.