How to Cross StitchHow to Personalize Your Cross Stitching Pattern

Hi. I'm Vickie Pavone on behalf of Expert
Village. In this series we'll be talking about the basics of cross stitching. In this segment
we're going to be talking about embellishing and personalizing your cross stitch.

To embellish
a cross stitch you want to use your little charms. In this case, I have a little bell,
star, there's beads, and all you're going to do is sew them on. To sew them on you're
going to come up through the back with the thread and you're going to go right through
it, and just go back down. You want to use a cross stitch, you do not want to use a straight
stitch because it'll be stronger with the "x".

You're going to go back down, and then
you're going to come back up the other way to make your "x", go back through it again,
go back down
and the thread won't show, it'll be behind the embellishment. The other kind of thread
will show but it doesn't matter. You're going to go up, come up through the center, put
your little embellishment through there,
and we're just going to make one little stitch in this one and it doesn't show that much.
You're going to go back down about half way, and that sews that on. The last thing is personalizing.
You want to put your initials and when you finish the picture.

The easiest way is to
come up behind and make straight stitches in your initials. My initials being "V" "L"
"P", I'm going to be using just the straight back stitch that we discussed before, make
a "V" an "L" and a "P". These can be anywhere on your picture but you want to keep it on
the outside of the picture that you did because you're just personalizing it for the people
you're giving it to, to remind them who made it for them. You want to keep it tiny so it
doesn't take away from the picture you just made.

And there you have it! "V", "L", "P"
and embellishments..

How to Cross StitchHow to Make a Cross Stitch Pattern from a Photo

Hi, I'm Vickie Pavone on behalf of Expert
Village. In this series we'll be talking about the basics of cross stitching. In this segment
we're going to be discussing designing a pattern using preprinted options. When you have a
picture that you want to do but you want to change it to make it your own, you take your
choice, you find your pattern, make a copy of it, and then decide how you want to embellish
it.

In this case I need it larger, so I'm going to be adding stitches. So all I've done
is taken a section in the middle and added stitches. In this case I'm going to add seven.
Three stitches on each side. In this case I'm going to be adding the same amount leaving
one open and three stitches on each side.

That will make the picture both wider and
longer for what I want. The other option is you can use your grid paper and choose say
a border or letters, and then draw them right onto your paper. Following the pattern you
would take it and you would just follow the pattern they have. Do however many, in this
case there's four up, two over, one back down again, one across to make the letter "A".
And that's how you follow your preprinted patterns..

How to Cross StitchHow to Frame a Cross Stitch Pattern

Hi. I'm Vickie Pavone on behalf of Expert
Village. In this series we'll be talking about the basics of cross stitching. In this segment,
your picture is finished, we're going to talk about how you finish it.

The basic thing,
once you've finished it, you're going to want to wash your fabric. Your hands have gotten
oils on them that you can't see but over the years those oils will show. The best way to
wash your fabric is in cold water, hand wash with a mild dish detergent. Do not use fabric
detergent and do not use anything like the delicate detergents because it makes the colors
bleed.

Just a mild dish detergent, you put it in, you swish it around a little, let it
sit for two or three minutes, take it out, rinse it, roll it up in a towel, squeeze the
liquid out of it, and then let it dry for the day. Once you've washed it and dried it,
you're going to need to iron it because you want your picture to be nice and flat. You're
going to put it between two towels. Put it between two towels, lay it down so the picture
is down and then just take your iron and iron everything nice and flat so that you have
a nice smooth picture.

The final step will be framing. Framing can be done by any of
the professional shops in your fabric stores, or your craft stores, or you can go to your
craft store and choose your favorite frame. If you're going to frame it yourself, you
need a backing board. It needs to be acid free, you can buy those in the shops as well.
You put it on, you stretch it around, put your frame over it, and there you have a framed
picture..

How to Cross StitchHow to Do Basic Cross Stitches

Hi. I'm Vickie Pavone on behalf of Expert
Village. In this series we'll be talking about the basics of cross stitching. In this segment
I'm going to demonstrate how to do the basic cross stitch.

The first thing after you've
threaded your needle and prepared your fabric...I'm going to come from the back of the fabric
in the first hole. Bring the needle up, turn it over and you're going to hold onto the
back of that thread with your finger tightly so that you don't knot it, you don't want
any knots on the back. Next, you're going to take the thrift needle and you're going
to go down into the hole diagonally across from it. Then straight down from that hole,
you're going to come into the next one, and then go diagonally.

This makes your basic
"x" which is why it is called cross stitch. This is your basic "x". I'll show you again.
You come up in the first hole, you're going to go down diagonally, come straight down,
the hole straight down from there, come up and go down diagonally to make your "x". Now
in cross stitch, you have a full cross stitch like this, a half cross stitch and a quarter.
To make the half cross stitch you come up in the hole, and you go down diagonally.

That
is the first half and that's all you do. That's your half cross stitch. Show you again. You're
going to come up in the hole, and go down diagonally.

Now for the quarter cross stitch
start the same way. Come up the first hole, but you're going to go down about half way.
It just makes a smaller stitch. Come up in the hole, go down about half way in your fabric
and that's your quarter stitch. You can add the quarter and the half and make a three
quarter stitch just by putting those two together.

And those are the basic stitches for cross
stitches..

How to Cross StitchHow to Do Back Stitches in Cross Stitching

Hi. I'm Vickie Pavone on behalf of Expert
Village. In this series we'll be talking about the basics of cross stitching. In this segment,
we're going to show the basic cross stitch called the back stitch.

This stitch is used
to outline your pictures to make them show up nicer. It starts the same way, you come
up through the back of the fabric, you pull it up through, hold it tightly on the end
and then in this case, you're just going to go backwards from where you started. Now you
started and went to the left, now you're going to go back to the right same line and put
it down. This creates a nice line for a outline of your pattern.

You can go diagonally on
this one as well by just going up to the stitch that is diagonally across from where you started.
You can make any kind of shape you want by going around the picture. These particular
stitches as I said are used to outline. They're used a lot in your pictures like outlining
to show off what it looks like. These letters, you can see the dark black stitch is your
back stitch that outlines it and makes it beautiful.

Or you can use it for just the
letter itself, or a part of the letter to make it more fancy looking. That is your basic
back stitch..

How to Cross StitchHow to Design a Cross Stitch Pattern

Hi. I'm Vickie Pavone on behalf of Expert
Village. In this series we'll be talking about the basics of cross stitching. In this segment
we're going to talk about how to design your own pattern.

Once you get far enough along
and you want to start making your own pictures, it's good to know how. The basic simplest
way is to use grid paper and a picture you want to cross stitch. You take your grid paper
and you're just going to trace your picture. Usually you need a light source and we happen
to have one right here.

You're just going to trace that picture right onto your grid
paper. If you don't happen to have a nice light like this, the best way to do it is
to put it up on your window pane on a sunny day and just follow the pattern. Just draw
it...Once
you have the basic drawing, you can take your picture out and then using those you're going
to put your Xs in. This is where you are going to fill in with whatever colors your choose.
Leave the outlines for your back stitch to outline it.

You choose your colors, you fill
it in, you can see where you would need half stitches or possibly quarter stitches and
then you would have your picture. Once again, if you need a picture, anything you can print
you can copy. Hold it up to your light. It'll come through then you just follow the pattern
onto your grid paper.

As you can see you can do any kind of pattern. Circles, straights,
anything. Then you just put your X's in to show you what colors and where you want those
colors. And that is the simplest way to design a pattern..

How to Cross StitchHow to Choose a Cross Stitch Pattern

Hi! I'm Vickie Pavone on behalf of Expert
Village. In this series we'll be talking about the basics of Cross Stitching. In this segment,
we're going to talk about how to choose patterns. There are two different types of patterns
of cross stitch.

One is called stamp cross stitch, and in stamp cross stitch, your picture
is already on your fabric, and your Xs are already there. All you are going to do is
follow the instructions to put the right color in the right place. All your Xs are all patterned
down for you. This is great for beginners and ones who are just wanting to learn how
to do cross stitch because it has your Xs right on there for you and it comes with the
thread and the needle.

The other kind is called counted cross stitch. This is a little bit
more common and in this one the pattern is not on your fabric. Your fabric comes blank.
You have to determine your center, you have to prepare the edges, and you have to be able
to count and anyone can count. Just follow your fabric instructions and your picture
will end up looking like that.

Your fabric and your thread and needle and instructions
all come in the kit. Depending on whether you are professional or just a beginner can
help you decide whether you want to start with a stamped or a counted where you have
to make the picture by yourself. Those are the kinds of patterns you may choose from..