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Intro to basics of hand sewing

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Hand sewing is a useful skill for repairing clothing and creating handcrafted items such as stuffed toys, curtains, and pillowcases. To get started with hand sewing, you need a few essential tools: needle, thread, and fabric.

It’s important to choose the right needle for the fabric you are working with, as different fabrics require different types of needles. For example, lightweight fabrics like silk and chiffon require sharps needles, while heavier fabrics like denim and canvas require stronger needles like tapestry or upholstery.

The thread you choose should also be appropriate for your fabric, with strong thread recommended for heavier fabrics and lighter thread for lighter fabrics.

While hand sewing may take some practice to get the hang of, it’s a worthwhile investment of time and effort. Not only can you use your hand sewing skills to make handmade items, but you can also use them to repair clothing and other items in your home.

Additionally, hand sewing can be a relaxing and enjoyable hobby that allows you to create unique and beautiful items with your own two hands. So whether you are an experienced seamstress or just starting out, there’s never been a better time to learn the basics of hand sewing and stitching!

Craftbits has a full article on the basics of hand sewing that might be useful to bookmark.

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Do You Park Your Cross Stitch Thread? Try The Royal Roads Method

I have not done a lot of big cross stitch projects, but sometimes even with small projects it can be hard to decide exactly where to begin and how to work through the chart if you’re working with multiple colors. The general categories for the possible methods are known as cross country and parking. 

Cross country means that you’re working one color at a time, moving around the chart (or the section of the chart you’re working on) until you’re done with that color. Parking means you’re working in a smaller section and doing all the colors in that area, “parking” the threads by leaving them attached to the canvas but out of the way while you finish each section. 

Royal Rows is a specific way of parking named by Alison Royal, which is explored in detail on a post on Stitching Daily. 

The idea is that you’re working one “tower” of stitches at a time (she uses a section of 10 stitches across by 20 down, but you can do whatever makes sense to you). You work all the stitches of a color at a time, starting at the top left and working your way down. When you’re done with a color you can park it where needed in the section below your current tower (known as the dungeon) or in the “east tower,” which is the section to the right. 

There’s also a specific way of dealing with thread ends when you’re done with a color. This is a super simplified version (head to the blog post at Stitching Daily to get all the details) but the basic idea is that you’re working from left to right and top to bottom across the work, parking the threads in the next section when you’re done with them and systematically choosing which color to work with next. 

The whole idea of parking is kind of overwhelming to me though I will admit that it makes a lot of sense. I guess I need to try it on a smallish big project and see how it goes. Do you use the parking method of cross stitch? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Stitching Daily]