HalloweenGhost Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I am still not moved into my new place yet - house hunting in Ogden has proven to be arduous indeed! I have gotten myself some project supplies to pass the time more peacefully. It was getting pretty darn painful not to have anything to work on. I went to Joann's last weekend, and all I could find was 22 count Aida cloth to cross stitch some rugs for my Halloween houses. I read that 40 count is the best, but this was the best I could do. I am not very familiar with cross stitching, so I tried looking for some tutorials on making cross stitched rugs. I couldn't find much. I also looked for some free Halloween patterns online that I could convert to a much smaller scale and came up empty. So, I decided to just create my own pattern. It took me a little while, but I came up with this pattern. (I just used notebook paper - I bought some graph paper for my next one. ) Here is how it is looking so far: If anyone for some reason wants to see my pattern, then you can see it on my blog. I have since finished the pumpkin and am now filling in the purple. Now for my question - does anyone have any good suggestions for finishing the outside of it so it doesn't ravel out? I have a couple ideas of how I want to finish it, but since I truly have no idea what I am doing, any advice would be most welcomed! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I finish off my rugs with a last row of blanket stitch all the way around the last row of stitching. If I want fringe, I cut about four to six rows of threads away from the blanket stitching on each end and ravel those. If you finish off the inside first and stitch your border last you can remove your work from the hoop and carefully turn under two or three extra rows and stitch your border through two layers of fabric, working in hand. I think it adds too much thickness at the edges (especially when I'm stitching 1:24 rugs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GirlPiper Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Like your design a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I totally forgot! Your design is adorable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdodyd Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Look at this website for miniature rug designs that you can cross-stitch. www.btz.se/minis/ web site by Anna-Carin Betzén. All rights reserved. I personally have found that 22 count is about as small as I can manage with my eyesight, prefer 18-count for rugs. I turn under the edges after finishing the rug and cover the edges with "long-legged cross stitch" (this is diagonally over two threads on the first diagonal, then back over only one thread on the second diagonal.) This covers up the fabric quite nicely. Happy stitching!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I like my rugs flat, so that a piece of furniture doesn't look lopsided if it is sitting partially on and partially off of the rug. I finish mine with a glued edge. When you are finished stitching, simply turn the rug face down and run a line of white glue along the edges, making sure that you cover the last row or two fo stitching, plus some of the unfinished outer canvas. Let it dry. Then trim off the excess canvas outside the last row of stitches around the edge. If the rug needs a dark edge, just find a sharpie pen in that color and run it along the cut edge. I learned this technique from an expert stitcher, when I first started doing mini rugs years ago. It is the finish I teach when doing classes. If you would like to see it in action, go to http://caseymini.blogspot.com/2012/10/its-time-to-call-it-day.html there are also a lot of free patterns in the "rugs" section, under labels in the sidebar on the blog. Also put "cross stitch" in the search box for more patterns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalloweenGhost Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Thank you everyone for all your suggestions. Each one was extremely helpful. I got a whole lot out of all the links posted as well! I am going to have to experiment with some silk gauze when I get more adept at this. I should get this rug finished either today or tomorrow. I might wait to get moved in before I cut it out, so I'll probably just come up with some more designs to work on until that hopefully not too far off date! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Oo, Casey, thank you for the glue tip! I had never thought about doing that; it makes such good sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Minis Dollhouses Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Oh wow, I had never thought of cross stitching for dollhouse minis. I am working on my very first cross stitching project myself. I wasn't even aware of the craft before this. I bought a small kit for making a Christmas ornament at AC Moore and I'm getting the hang of it pretty quickly. Now I can imagine making mini bed spreads and rugs, etc. I would rather cross stitch small items like minis since the ornament I'm doing now is life size and takes forever to finish...lol My husband laughs because it seems like every craft I attempt is accompanied by foul language. Every time my thread gets tangled into a knot, I get so frustrated. Its still fun though even if my husband doesn't understand how it still can be fun. :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 I leave the third row from the edge unstitched until last, and then turn the fabric under and stitch it in place when I stitch that row. It's a little bulky but I prefer this to using glue. (It's also kind of hard on the hands because you don't have any fabric to hold onto as you do it...) I just finished a little carpet this way, here are photos of the front and back. I always have trouble with the corners but the Pamela Warner books have a good method for mitering the corners that I actually followed this time (unlike my usual, dubious method of winging it!), and it worked well. Here's a photo of those instructions if anyone else is corner challenged like I am! (Another approach would be to stitch the third to last row normally, and then hem as shown in these instructions and secure with backstitches along the third row. As long as your row is a solid color, then backstitches along that row in the same color should just blend in. So for example with the pumpkin rug, you could do purple backstitches in between the last row of checkerboard and the first row of purple.) I've been cross stitching for about 20 years and don't really want any more for my walls (plus framing is expensive!) so I stitch almost exclusively in mini now. I like stitching over one on 32-40 count for the tiny stitches it produces but have used larger counts too. I like that it's easy to adjust the fabric size to achieve the finished size you want... makes it easy to convert 1:12 patterns to half scale. I have some photos of recent cross stitch projects in my gallery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Gina, when you're stitching to scale, a rug can take several days to complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fov Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Or several months! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 Or several months! :lol: Well, yeah, that, too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxxie2 Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 I use that stop fraying glue from Aleen's tacky glue on the edges. I have glued material to the back of cross stitch so it looks nice from both sides of the rug. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caseymini Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Speaking from experience, all of the brand name white glues work for this task. I have tried a lot of different kinds over the years. I still use good old Elmer's for a lot of them. It is thinner and easier for making a narrow line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Speaking from experience, all of the brand name white glues work for this task. I have tried a lot of different kinds over the years. I still use good old Elmer's for a lot of them. It is thinner and easier for making a narrow line. Same here; when Elmer's fails and it's not wood I get out the E6000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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