Cross Stitch Tips & News

Patterns Patch "Top 20"

Here's the latest listing of our top 20 cross stitch patterns at the beginning of June. We update this list monthly so you can see which patterns are rising and falling in the popularity stakes. No pattern from outside the top 20 has managed to break in this month. No less than 12 patterns have maintained their position from a month ago. The top four are unchanged but our long time leader The Milkmaid has fallen four places this month and looks likely to slip out of the top 10 for the first time. The biggest gainer has been Light of Peace, which has jumped from 9th to 6th. Another steady climber is The Cherokee Child, up from 16th to 14th. Thumbnail sketches of those patterns ranked from 5 though 10 are shown on the right ... and so here are the Top 20 from May 2008: 1. Mountain Retreat (<>) 2. The Big 5 of the African Jungle (<>) 3. Fairies in a Cup (<>) 4. Moo Surrounded By Sunflowers (<>) 5. Little Hope (+1) 6. Light of Peace (+3) 7. Dolphin Sunset (+1) 8. Last Supper With 12 Disciples (<>) 9. The Milkmaid (-4) 10. Running Wolves (<>) 11. Animal and Maiden (<>) 12. Bald Eagle on Stars & Stripes (<>) 13. Fantasy Kingdom (<>) 14. The Cherokee Child (+2) 15. Airy Lovers (-1) 16. Born Hunters (+1) 17. Mama's Boy (-2) 18. Heart and Soul (<>) 19. Dog's Eye View (<>) 20. Jesus Blessing the Children (<>)

#~ It's Five to Ten ~# #5. Little Hope #6. Light of Peace #7. Dolphin Sunset #8. Last Supper With 12 Disciples #9. The Milkmaid #10. Running Wolves

A Woman's Work is Never Done...

The next pearl of wisdom to emerge from the wee book "A Woman's Work is Never Done" by Rowan B. Murphy is:

Membership For Fr^e

If you'd like to win, three months full membership  to Patterns Patch for Free, why not take a look, it's really easy to enter.

Don't forget to search for the mystery word in this letter ~ Good Luck!

The latest winner of our draw for Three-months membership to Patterns Patch for Free is:

"Well done Debra, you're nearly there! All you have to do is email us to Accept and Activate your prize!"

The number of entries goes up each issue, so an increasing number of you are building up credits and enhancing your chances of being a future winner.

Commiserations to those who entered and didn't win this week. But hey, perseverance is a virtue; try again next time ~ it could be YOU!

And for those of you who didn't enter, why not? Don't you want this valuable gift? (Please remember! Only one entry per person, per issue.).

You've got to be in it TO WIN IT!

Cross-Stitch Tip:

How to Rescue Your Cross-Stitch Project When it's Damaged...

We all have cross stitch projects that have been stained, torn, or have had thread colors bleed into other areas. We also occasionally need to wash a completed cross stitch project that's become a little soiled, and of course there's also the frustrating problem we all experience from time to time ~ unpicking stitches! Ugh!

Luckily, there are some very simple ways to fix these problems we encounter. We show you how...

Prevention

The first thing you should do is learn how to prevent some of the problems that may occur.  Make sure you wash your hands thoroughly before handling your stitching. I know it's obvious, but if you use hand lotion, make sure it is a non-greasy formula. This will ensure that the least amount of natural oils will transfer onto your project as you're working on it. 

Colorfast Threads

You also want to make sure that you check to see if the fabric and threads you are using are colorfast. Anything hand-dyed usually is not, and there's a good chance the colors will either fade slightly or bleed over into other areas.

 If you're unsure as to whether or not the threads you're using are colorfast, there's a simple test you can do to check. Simply take a small sample piece of the threads in question and dampen them with clean water. 

Fold a wet paper towel over them and place something heavy on them and let them sit overnight. Check them in the morning and if the paper towels are colored in any way you'll know the threads aren't colorfast. Usually the well-known manufacturers create threads that are colorfast. The lesser-known brands as well as hand-dyed threads are not. If the threads do happen to bleed, don't panic!

There's a simple way to fix the situation without ruining your finished piece! Rinse the item under cold continuously until the water is clear. Let the piece soak in cold water for a while afterwards.

Using a commercial product that claims to reverse color transferring isn't recommended. The chemicals in these products can be harsh, and may damage your finished piece  beyond repair.

Also, please keep in mind, using bleach on a finished product is never recommended as it will often cause the fibers to break down, as well as removing the colors from the threads and fabric.

Fabric Creases

Does your fabric have creases in it? More times than not it probably does, especially if you buy precut fabric. Try running a steam iron over both sides of the fabric to gently remove the folds. 

If the creasing is severe and the steam iron method doesn't work for you, try washing the fabric and towel drying it to get most of the moisture out. Then run the steam iron over the fabric again while the fabric is still damp.

Creases still a problem for you? Take the problem piece to your local dry cleaners. They have professional steam ironing equipment that can most likely take out even the most stubborn creases.

Fabric Tears

What happens if somehow your fabric tears before you've finished the project?  Starting over can be very disappointing. Good news! You don't have to scrap the work you've already done.

Use a small pair of sharp scissors to carefully trim any fibres from around the tear

Just take a small piece of fabric that's the same color, and patch the piece. Cut the patch a little larger then the tear or hole. When securing the patch to you project It's important to line up the fabric grain exactly (which means the rows of holes remain straight in all directions). This will ensure you stitches remain even and in line with one another.

Tack the patch in place on the reverse side of the fabric. Start a few stitches away from the tear and stitch straight across the tear until you get a few stitches past it on the opposite side.

Remove the tacking stitches, and trim any any excess fabric from the rear. Then just continue with your design as you normally would. The patch won't be smooth, however it shouldn't effect the way your finished piece looks.

In the next issue of Cross Stitch Tips & News we conclude this article on rescue remedies you can use to recover a damaged cross stitch project.

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Until next time,