Important Information Before Starting Your Stitching

A stitching length of thread is about 18".

This sea creatures design is intended to teach beginners who have mastered the continental and maybe basketweave a few new stitches, how to combine simple charts into a more complicated design and to give tips on working with different threads. There are charts for each motif, explanations of the stitches used, a list of stitching tips for the various threads and a diagram of exactly where to place each sea creature.

Stitches you will use:

• Continental Stitch
• Cross Stitch
• French Knots
• Bargello Wave Pattern Stitch
• Fake Braid Couching

This design is presented with charts, so you will be learning to read charts. You will need to measure the distance between the individual design blocks that make up the complete design by counting the number of threads on the canvas, as shown in the diagram below. One line on the chart represents one thread on the canvas; this thread can be either a vertical or a horizontal thread. The distance between the number 1 and the number 2 is 3 canvas threads because there are three horizontal lines between the numbers 1 and 2. At other times you will need to count the length of a stitch on a graph and then stitch that on your canvas. The red line on the graph below represents a stitch that covers 2 canvas threads because there are two horizontal lines between the start of the stitch and the end of the stitch. The intersection of the vertical line and horizontal line on the graph, circled in green, represents the intersection of a vertical and horizontal thread on your canvas.

Taming the Wild Threads

DMC perle cotton #3

This thread is used as it comes from the skein. Cut short lengths, 18 inches at the most, and try to keep the eye of the needle at the same spot on the thread as you stitch. Perle cotton will rub as it goes back and forth through the canvas and lose its shine. It also starts to pill up a bit with wear so when you get down to the last 3-4 inches of thread in the needle, tie it off on the back and cut a new length. Working down to the last inch or so of thread in your needle doesn’t pay with perle cotton as it will show wear on the front of your piece.

Ribbon Floss

Ribbon floss is a flat thread that looks like ribbon. You will always have a doubled strand in your needle for this piece. Cut four or five one yard long lengths from the spool. They will look like Shirley Temple curls, but if you pull them all through a damp paper towel or smooth them between a wet thumb and forefinger, they will flatten out. Hang all your cut threads over the back of a chair to dry briefly before stitching.

To start by the loop method, take one of your cut and dried threads and put both cut ends through the eye of the needle. Then take the needle up through the back of the canvas at your starting point. Don’t pull it all the way through. With one hand under the canvas holding the loop of thread there, pull the thread almost all the way through. Now plunge the needle down to complete the stitch. If you make sure the needle goes through the middle of the loop you are holding underneath the canvas, when you pull the thread all the way through the loop it will tighten against itself without putting a knot on the back of your piece. If this is totally confusing, don’t worry -- just stitch the regular way with a doubled strand of the ribbon floss.

Tension is important when you stitch with ribbon floss. Do one whole row of Cross Stitch bottoms (all the stitches that slant to the right, like this: /////) then go back the other way to add the top stitches (all the stitches that slant to the left, like this \\\\\). In other words, don’t complete each individual cross stitch before going on to the next. Make sure you always do the bottoms first and then the tops because it will be noticeable if you don’t have the top stitch going in the same direction all the time. If you are interrupted in the middle of a row, bring the needle to the front for the first part of the next stitch and then park it on the front of the canvas before you finish the stitch. This way you’ll always know what you should be doing before you start stitching again. If you are having trouble bringing the thread up through the mostly stitched canvas, take a spare #18 tapestry needle with no thread in it down through the area where you want the hole to be. This will help make room for you to bring the actual needle (with thread) up from underneath where you want it to be.

Ribbon floss frays at the ends and also likes to slip out of the needle. Fortunately, it is easy to rethread! Stop stitching and tie off about 4-5 inches before you reach the end of a length. Make sure you pull both strands all the way through to the front each time you take a stitch. This slippery stuff takes a little getting used to, but the faceted look is perfect for a knight’s armor or the shark fins you are stitching, and when it is done carefully will make the trouble worthwhile.

Kreinik Metallic 1/8 inch Ribbon

This is the easiest thread we have to work with. The ends do unravel a little, but cutting a length on the diagonal helps. Stitch with only one strand and make sure you secure the end well before doing the French Knots or starting the second step of Fake Braid Couching.

Watercolours

Watercolours is a cotton perle type thread like DMC perle cotton #3, but unlike DMC’s perle, Watercolours is made up of three plies which should be separated and then grouped back together before stitching. This makes the thread lie down better and flatter, and keeps the Bargello Wave Pattern from overpowering neighboring continental stitches. To separate the three plies from one another, cut off an 18 inch length and hold it in one hand. Take one ply in the other hand and pull straight up. It will come free from the group. Put it aside and pull out the second ply the same way. Lay all three plies down on a table and look at them.

Watercolours is an overdyed thread, which means that it is dyed one main color and then dyed again (and in the case of Delphinium, a third time) with another color to give the pattern on the thread. The colors look random but they aren’t. They follow a sequence. If you continue to cut 18 inch lengths, you will have a streaky effect when you do the Continental and Bargello Wave Pattern backgrounds since the same color will be in the same place each time. To avoid this, take one of your three plies and turn it around so that its color sequence is different than the other two in the needle. You may also cut varying lengths (18 inches, 24 inches and a yard) and lay them across a chair and then pick one at random. This will also disperse the colors and make them softer looking. You may want to try both ways -- one way may work better for you, or you could decide to do it both ways. Watercolours also frays and loses its shine if it goes through canvas too many times just like DMC perle cotton #3, so you may prefer to stick to 18 inch lengths. Try to be careful and keep the needle at a 90 degree angle to the canvas as you go in and out of it; this technique keeps the rubbing of the thread against the canvas to a minimum. Stop and tie off the thread when you get within 3-4 inches of the end, though.

Preparing the Stitching Area

Mark one side of the unmounted canvas “TOP” with the blue pen. The diagrams below showing the markings on the canvas are not to scale -- they are simply to be used as a further illustration of the marking concepts outlined below. Counting can be tedious, but if you do it now and mark your canvas, you will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation while you are stitching. Always double check your counting; mistakes are easy to make. Starting at the top left corner of the canvas, count 28 canvas threads, moving from the left to right along the canvas, and mark the 28th thread with the blue pen. Draw a line all the way from the top of the canvas to the bottom of the canvas on top of this canvas thread (not in the “ditch” between the canvas threads). This line is line A on the chart below and represents the left outside edge of the stitching area. Continue counting from this point until you reach the 191st thread. Again mark this thread, from the top of the canvas to the bottom of the canvas. This line represents the right outside edge of your stitching area, and is line B on the chart.

Starting at the top left corner of your canvas again, count down 21 threads and mark the 21st thread from left to right on your canvas. This thread, line C on the chart above is the top edge of your stitching area. Continue counting vertically until you get to the 176th thread and mark this thread from the left edge of the canvas to the right edge. This line represents the left outside edge of your stitching area and is line D on the chart.

Now starting at the blue line marked Line A, count over towards the right 50 more canvas threads, this is 71 canvas threads from the outside left edge of the canvas. Using the blue pen again, make another line from Line C to line D on the 71st canvas thread. This line is Line E, as shown in the diagram below. Starting at Line E count 36 canvas threads, moving to the right. This is Line F. Again using the blue pen make a line on this 107th thread from the outside left edge of the canvas, from Line C to Line D.

Now starting at the blue line marked Line C, count down 64 canvas threads, this is 85 canvas threads from the outside top edge of the canvas. Using the blue pen again, make another line from Line A to Line B on the 85th canvas thread. This line is Line G, as shown in the diagram above. Starting at Line G count 34 canvas threads down. This is Line H. Again using the blue pen make a line on this 119th thread from the outside top edge of the canvas, from Line A to Line B.

DO NOT STITCH ON THE BLUE LINES. Leave them blank. You will use the blue lines as a marker to place the various motifs. Once all the background is finished, the blue lines will be covered with the fake couching braid stitch or with a continental stitch.

Next you will mark on the canvas the locations where you will start stitching the starfish, octopus and lobsters. Each location is marked on the diagram below, the Motif Placement Chart, and labeled as Point 1 through Point 7. Use the blue marker and lightly color the canvas intersection that represents each point. 

• Point 1 is located 19 threads down and 7 threads to the left of the intersection of lines C and F.

• Point 2 is located 52 threads down and 7 threads to the left of the intersection of lines C and F.

• Point 3 is located 6 threads down and 17 threads to the left of the intersection of lines F and G.

• Point 4 is located 11 threads down and 7 threads to the left of the intersection of lines F and H.

• Point 5 is located 6 threads down and 9 threads to the left of the intersection of lines E and G.

• Point 6 is located 6 threads down and 9 threads to the right of the intersection of lines F and G.

• Point 7 is located 6 threads down and 50 threads to the right of the intersection of lines F and G.

Each creature has a circle on their chart marking the spot where you are to start your stitching; these charts are located in Steps 4, 5, and 6.

Motif Placement Chart

Tape the edges of the canvas with masking tape to prevent fraying. Using a staple gun, or brass thumb tacks, attach the canvas to the stretcher bars. If necessary, write “TOP” on the masking tape if it covers where you originally wrote the word on the canvas.

The Continental Stitch

The Continental Stitch will be described below, though a more advanced stitcher may wish to use the Basketweave Stitch instead. Since this is a more advanced stitch, we won’t include it here, but will supply you with this site for complete directions. The Continental Stitch lies diagonally on the canvas.

An example of one complete Continental Stitch is shown on the right. The hole that you go up in is number 1; the hole that you go down in is number 2. See how you went diagonally from 1 to 2, or you went to the hole above 1 and then moved over to the right one hole to hole 2.

Most of the time you will be doing the Continental Stitch in rows, as shown on the left.

Bring your needle up in hole 1 and go down in hole 2. When you are ready to start the second row, continue stitching diagonally, as shown, by going up in hole 9 and down in hole 10, up in hole 11 and down in hole 12. You may turn your canvas upside down when stitching this row, which may be easier for you. This is just an example; your first row of stitching may or may not have 4 complete stitches in it.

The Starfish

Stitch each of the three starfish using the deep purple DMC perle cotton #3 and using the Continental Stitch. Please read Taming The Wild Thread for tips on using DMC perle cotton #3. Follow the starfish chart below, noting where to start your stitching by the location on the chart that says “Start stitching here”, which coincides with each of the Points 1, 2, and 4 from the Motif Placement Chart. The decorative French Knots will be stitched after you finish stitching the entire piece.

Step 5

The Octopus

Stitch the octopus using the lime green DMC perle cotton #3 and using the Continental Stitch. Please read Taming The Wild Thread for tips on using DMC perle cotton #3. Follow the octopus chart below, noting where to start your stitching by the location on the chart that says “Start stitching here”, which coincides with Points 3 from the Motif Placement Chart. The decorative French Knots will be stitched after you finish stitching the entire piece.