Tuesday, January 21, 2014

~ Crash Course ~


Hello!

here is a mini quick **CRASH COURSE
in how I do the freehand cross stitch that I've been talking about...

Step # 1 
Gather your supplies ~
I use my hand dyed cupboard cloth (osnaburg)
a #26 needle 
DMC thread (1 strand) 
beeswax (to wax your thread)
and a pencil



Step # 2
Draw out a simple heart shape onto your cloth using your pencil.



Step # 3
make a small cross stitch at the bottom 'point' of your heart...



Step # 4
continue making small stitches in a straight line,
first do all of the horizontal stitches to the right ~
keeping them in a row (don't worry if they're not even)



...then come back and cross over the stitches
to form and 'x'.




In the photo below,
you can see I've penciled in some guidelines to keep my rows on track.
these lines are not intended to keep my stitches even, just to keep the rows semi-straight...
you can also see a space between my rows where the pencil is pointing~
I'll go back and fill that in with teeny little x stitches.




Here is the back of my work.
yes, it is a mess
an abomination

...and is probably sending
all of the needlewomen out there over the edge.
(sorry, but I don't stress over the backs of my projects!)




Step # 5
finish making your freehand cross stitches,
following the rows you've penciled in,
 until it is filled in completely...
if you need to go back and fill in, do so, like I show here:



...So that's it.
a crash course.
no throwing tomatoes at me...
and no poking fun at my un-manicured, farm-wife hands...
((they work really hard.))

this is supposed to be fun and worry-free ~
...so no trying to get anything perfect, you hear me???

it is intended to help you be creative, and simply love the action of cross stitching.
it is definitely not for 'everyone',
but for those of us that want a more relaxed look to our needlework, this fits the bill!

I personally love this free-spirited look.

**my patterns that are available for this technique include more detailed instructions to help you**


* Blessed be *
 Lori

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lori...I personally love this style and even more I love your willingness to show it...as it is such a wonderful art form on its own and one that I embrace more than all the others. Best regards, Carol at ticklepie.typepad.com

Lori from Notforgotten Farm said...

Thank you Carol!!
~ L

village folk art said...

To me this is the way it was really done before we became too rigid with mechanical means of providing designs and patterns. LUV it... Thanks for sharing.
Peace & Blessings to all, Barb

Lori from Notforgotten Farm said...

Thank you Barbara!
~ L

Cathy G. said...

Lori,
I haven't done needle work for years and now with rug hooking taking so much of my time it probably won't happen any time soon... sigh... but I just have to say I love this look and it's tempting to try a little stitching now! You are blessed with beautiful hands..and a wonderful generous heart and soul.
Happy stitching!!
Cathy G.

Lori from Notforgotten Farm said...

Thank you Kathy!
~ L

Anonymous said...

I know about a man who got very rich and when he was going to employ a person he always wanted to look at the hands to see if it was a worker using the hands.
Louise

quiltsbycheri said...

I will free hand stitching soon......thanks for the Crash Course!

quiltsbycheri said...

I will free hand stitching soon......thanks for the Crash Course!

Unknown said...

love this form of cross stitch and will probably make a simple design to fill-in today. I stil like both ways, but sometimes it's easier not to to count! I think it has more of the early school-girl look!

Thanks for the tutorial!
Martha

Margs Primitive Quilts said...

Lori... I just LoVe your style . Thanks for showing me how.

Stacey said...

You remind me so much of a mutual friend and her approach to all things Primitive....she would say, "it's not like you are going to get a ticket for not doing it the way someone thinks it's supposed to be done". It is that freedom to let your heart lead the way that I love. I'm pleased to have found my comfort and what a difference it makes in your whole life.

Hugs and working girl hands~

Stacey

Lori Ann Corelis said...

Perfectly imperfect perfection . . . . ;-)

ps: your hands look much like mine . . . or visa versa!

L

Unknown said...

I thank you for the mini course, I was curious when I saw it on your blog. My problem is that I am a perfectionist in the sense that I think I would have problem to make crosses in case ... but I love the result and I think I'll try!!!

Unknown said...

I thank you for the mini course, I was curious when I saw it on your blog. My problem is that I am a perfectionist in the sense that I think I would have problem to make crosses in case ... but I love the result and I think I'll try!!!

Unknown said...

I thank you for the mini course, I was curious when I saw it on your blog. My problem is that I am a perfectionist in the sense that I think I would have problem to make crosses in case ... but I love the result and I think I'll try!!!

Unknown said...

I thank you for the mini course, I was curious when I saw it on your blog. My problem is that I am a perfectionist in the sense that I think I would have problem to make crosses in case ... but I love the result and I think I'll try!!!

Linda said...

I don't worry about the backs either!!

Linda in VA

Jean Barker said...

Hi Lori.
Back when I was 8-9 yrs old, I wanted to learn cross stitch so my mom would give me a small piece of cloth she'd draw shapes on and a needle and thread and I'd sit there and practice doing X's in the shape. Eventually I learned how to count the stitches and stay within the little threads. Gosh this brought back some fond memories. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings~ Jean

NMK said...

Lori...I just Loved this post today ! It was fun reading everyones comments too...they were great. I Love how you are doing the cross stitching & I also remember my Mother buying me a printed pattern to do when I was 8 years old...I finally finished it when I was 12 ! I have it hanging in my bedroom...the little wonky stitches take on an even sweeter feeling today ! Thank you ! I have the same manicure, it's a lot of work ....tee hee

Bittersweetfolkart said...

Perfectly un perfect ..thanks for sharing ~love it !xo

jennifer768 said...

Love this style! Thanks so much for the crash course.Nothing at all wrong with farm rough hands or so my critters tell me.Stay warm and have fun stitching.Hugs,Jen

Linda said...

Beautiful! And so are your hands.

lms said...

oh my goodness lori.....this will be my first lesson in cross stitch....I think I told you I wanted to try it....and never knew where to start....I will give it a try and let you know how I do.....I don't have the wax thing though.....hope it will work without.....oh shoot...I think I even left my floss and hoop at home....looks like I will have to make a trip to hobby lobby....thanks so much for sharing this with us....

Anonymous said...

I love this look! I was just wondering what waxing the thread accomplishes? Also, do you just run the thread over the wax or is there a trick?

Lori from Notforgotten Farm said...

~ the wax is to keep your threads from tangling.
you run the thread over the chunk of wax :)
an old white candle works well too ~ but beeswax is best!
L

Annie Beez said...

Primitve cross stitch! Brilliant!

KMS said...

Love this style. Primitive and down to earth.

OldeThreads said...

Starting this later today........please more patterns and thank you for the crash course!