Tuesday 27 September 2011

Cross Stitch gone wild

At last. I have been on my final hen do of the year. Some people have asked me why I haven’t been on a nice summer holiday this year. I wonder why and then start to add up all the money I’ve spent on hen dos and weddings this year and stop when my eyes start to water.


This hen do also involved fancy dress which whilst it initially made my blood run cold actually turned out ok. They chose a good theme, sailor girls, meaning your possibilities could be endless. For those who want to go kinky and go the SFD route there are plenty of options open to you. For those who are terrified of fancy dress, all you need is a stripy top and away you go.

I did some superb bargain shopping and managed to pick up a red and white stripy vest top for £3 in the Next sale and a navy blue pencil skirt for £7 from Primark. Both good because not only were they cheap, they were wearable again for work (although probably not together, unless we happen to have a sailor girl day at work, in which case...I’m set!).

But it didn’t feel like a special enough outfit.

Then, flicking through CrossStitcher magazine what should jump out at me but a pattern for an anchor. Perfect. Plus it would be doubly perfect to cross stitch this anchor seeing as it was a Stitchette's hen do. But how to get the anchor on to my skirt?



Soluble canvas.


Oh the wonders of modern technology.

I had heard talk of this magical stuff but had yet to experience it. A quick search online and I had some in my grubby little mitts.

Things to note about soluble canvas;
a) It is not cheap
b) You don’t get a lot of it

I worked out where I wanted my anchor to go, attached the canvas to the skirt with an embroidery hoop and just began stitching like it was normal aida. It is seriously that simple.

A word of advice though, don’t decide you’re going to stitch your design with a seam running through it because you’ll go through a phase of really hating your stitching because it’s hard to get the needle through the fabric. And it’s not really the piece of work’s fault that you’re a moron.

But all was well that ended well and I had a fancy little skirt that worked well with the hen do but I reckon I can also get away with wearing at work (as long as I lose a couple of ribs because that skirt was tight, meaning it was standing room only, sitting was an issue!).

Once you’re done stitching you just need to soak the fabric in a bowl of water for about 10 minutes or so, give it a little rub and voila you have officially cross stitched onto fabric. Boom.

I am now feeling an urge to cross stitch on to fabric so you might want to stay out of my way for a little while.

Please note that although it does look a little weird with the seam running through it, I promise that when it's on it doesn't look odd.

If you're interested, I used two different coloured reds, one for the outside and one for the inside and I did the rope using one strand each of two different tan/yellow colours, used together. I should really take note of what actual colours I used. Sorry.

12 comments:

  1. That looks awesome. I've yet to try soluble canvas...

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  2. Well give us an outfit photo so we can judge for ourselves. No? Ah well, worth a try.

    From what I can see, it looks fab.

    ps - the Joe Browns pjs are properly long. You would love them!

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  3. Love soluble canvas... but suddenly thought that what you used might not be the same as what I have?

    My uses - if you use it to cross stitch initials onto flannels, they make cute Christmas presents (or if you're feeling skilled, you can sew them into washbags by putting a zip in the top, and seaming the two sides). I've also used it to embellish a dressing gown pocket...

    The stuff I found wasn't entirely soluble, you see... the 'aida' turned into individual threads, which took a bit of tugging out with tweezers... but it may have been cheaper than what you had? I'm not sure...

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  4. How clever! Bet you looked fab :)

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  5. Awesome!!! Had heard about this soluble canvas but have never used it. Such a great idea! If you'd had more time, you could stitch that anchor on a plain white tshirt and it would look great too!

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  6. That looks ACE! I think I have some soluble canvas somewhere. I must have myself an amazing idea and get it out and use it because this. is. awesome.

    I salute you cross stitch ssilor girl!

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  7. I love it. Will definitely need to buy some of the soluable stuff. Would be great for making gifts like napkins or table runners when you don't want to use aida fabric.

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  8. Oh WOW, I didn't know that stuff existed! I must admit I did wonder why you'd chosen to do your design over the seam but that said, you did a great job of it, it's so neat!

    Ah the old threading a strand of two different colours through the needle at once - my fave! Brilliant for effective cat fur :)

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  9. This looks great! I have some soluble canvas so I gues snow I'm off to find something to stitch on!

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  10. I fricken LOVE this! I'm a bit of a sewing moron but cross stitch is really appealing, I never thought of much you could actually do with it before!

    Thank you for all your sweet comments also :) xx

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