Issues During Stitching

I stained my stitching project.

• Make sure the sink and any containers you will use are clean.
• Pre-rinse the piece under cold running water. Tap water is fine unless you have very hard water, then you will want to use distilled water.
• Mix in a small amount of mild detergent or dishwashing liquid. DO NOT use specially formulated wool wash, harsh detergents, or chlorine bleach, gently wash.
• Rinse several times in cold water. Do not worry if water becomes colored when washing, continue rinsing piece until water runs clear.
• Air dry and make sure stain is removed. Repeat these steps if it is still there.

Floss is knotting or tangling.

Removing a knot.

Typically when cross-stitching the thread spins and twists itself, which can lead to knotting in the back. This will make a loop knot. Insert your needle to the loop and pull up on it. This will cause the knot to choke up the floss and the loop to get smaller. Once the loop is gone and the knot is close to your needle, pinch each side of the thread and pull apart from each other. The knot should come out.

Prevent knotting.

To prevent knotting, try to let your thread and needle dangle every now and again to allow it to un-spin.

Edges of my fabric are fraying.

There are a couple ways:

• Tape the edges with long strips of painter’s tape, masking tape, or medical paper tape. (If left on for a long time, the glue from painter’s and masking tape can be very stubborn and the entire edge may need to be cut off. Paper tape is remains fairly easy to remove even after an extended amount of time).
• Sew the edges up with the z-stitch on a sewing machine.
• Sew the edges using a whip stitch method.
• Use fabric glue (e.g. Fray Stoppa, Fray Check, Fray Stop).