Using blending filament

There is nothing that can add more sparkle and pizzazz to your cross stitch than blending filament. And possibly nothing more frustrating to work with! But if you know the trick to working with filament, you can enjoy stitching with it! If you don't already know this tip, you are gonna love me for telling you!

The reason the filament tends to split and break is due to the needle sliding up and down on the blending filament as you stitch. To stop this sliding action, knot the filament onto your needle. You can do this by following this easy threading technique:

1. Cut the required length of blending filament and fold about 5 cm (2 inches) for one end.

2. Insert loop through eye of needle.

3. Pull loop over the point of the needle.

Tighten the loop at the end of the eye to secure the thread to the needle

Cross Stitching – Creative and Decorative

Cross stitching book helps you to create beautiful decorative pieces and utilize your leisure time in a more innovative way.

If you are a person who loves arts and have an artistic hand then craft book is very useful for you. A craft book is a book that provides some sort of information about any specific art. This may include painting, knitting, stitching, candle making, doll making or any other form of craft work. You can easily spend your leisure time creatively and make some useful thing for your home and family. Craft work not only gives you pleasure but also save lot of money if wisely done.

Cross stitch book is a craft book that helps you in making beautiful decorative pieces along with fun all the way. There are some guidelines that you need to follow for cross stitching which is given in a cross stitch book.

Things you require for cross stitching. A graph that you wish to draw, even fabric for cross stitching, a tapestry needle of 24 or 26, embroidery
thread or floss, embroidery hoop and scissors.

Steps for cross stitching

• You need to separate the cotton strands which are usually in six strands in correct number for stitching. There will be a color key that will show the cotton color you have to use for each symbol in the chart. You should start the cross stitch design from the middle in such a way that the stitching you made fits in the fabric without going off from one side. You can find it easily by folding the fabric in four and thus you will find the center but remember that this point coincides with the center of the chart that is normally marked with arrows from top, bottom and sides.

• Begin stitching by threading your needle and then bring it up to your fabric but leave a short end of cotton in the back and work over this with your first few stitches to secure it. After making enough stitches in place you can start a new color by running it through back of existing stitches. Finish the color by running the cotton under the stitches at the back so that it is secured.

• You can make single cross stitch, row of cross stitches, half cross stitch, back stitch, part stitches which really looks great when you have finished.