If you do stitch on linen (or evenweave fabric), you know exactly what I'm talking about. Few people start stitching on an evenweave or linen ground. Let's simply define the two: linen comes from flax fibers -- a plant that is beaten, cleaned and woven into fabric. Evenweave fabric can be cotton, polyester or miscellaneous other! While linen often has nubs and imperfections from the plant and manufacturing process, evenweave is very smooth and consistent. ("Ground" is just the fabric you're stitching on.) Some stitchers love linen for its imperfections (please love me for mine, too! Ha!) Some stitchers prefer to work on something smoother -- it's a little more perfect. But with both fabrics, usually you'll be working over two threads.

And that's what scares some stitchers.

Believe me when I tell you that stitching on linen/evenweave is no more difficult than Aida, once you get the hang of it. And it doesn't take long. Here are some suggestions to help you use of linen/evenweave fabrics:

1. Remember, when you're stitching over two threads, you need to adjust when calculating size. Say you have an ornament you want to stitch that's 40 by 60 stitches. If you want to do it on 28 ct. linen (or evenweave), that's like stitching on 14 count Aida (remember, you're going over two threads). So, the finished size of your ornament will be about 2 3/4" by 4 1/4" (I took 40 and 60 and divided each by 14, not by 28).

2. Linen and evenweave fabrics will unravel more easily than Aida, so before you begin stitching, you may want to zig-zag your edges with your sewing machine to keep everything together. (Some people use fray-check or tape, but I don't like the stickiness.)

3. There is a "right place" and a "wrong place" to start stitching on linen and evenweave fabrics (wait, wait, don't run away!) You will bring your needle up next to (down and to the left of) a vertical thread. If you come up next to a horizontal thread, you'll find when you go to make one leg of your cross stitch, your floss will slip behind your linen. The vertical thread keeps your cross stitches stable and square.

4. After you come up next to the vertical thread, you go diagonally up to the right and over one hole, then down into the next. That little hole in the middle will allow you to do wonderful quarter and 3/4 stitches (what you use when you want a rounded corner on something). As an aside, here's how you tell which part of your square gets 3/4 of one color, and the other color gets 1/4: the item in your picture which is "closer" to you should get the 3/4 stitch -- that way your stitching will take on the proper dimension.

5. When you're counting, remember to count every two threads as one stitch. After about a gazillion cross stitches on linen, this is second nature to me, and it will be to you after about a hundred or so. You pretty much just learn to ignore those inbetween holes, and count every other hole as one. If you're worried about ending up in the wrong spot (this still happens to me once in a while), try not to do too much counting. Work everything in close proximity instead of moving out to some other far section of your work. Work in "circles," (not literal circles). Start at some central point, and work slowly out toward the edges in small groupings. Remember, that with linen/evenweave fabric, it's possible to count "off" by 1/2 stitch, which is really hard to fix (unless you're a pro at boo-boos like I am -- hey, lots of experience in that area! I'm an expert at "working them in to the design.")

6. Start small...I say this, but my mom started stitching on linen (bypassing Aida altogether) with a lovely Lanarte piece of a boy pulling two girls in a sled. More appropriately, start where you feel comfortable. An ornament or small piece might be ideal -- if you mess up, you don't have a large investment to worry about. But if you've been stitching for a long time, you might take a big old stab at linen, if you feel you can.

7. Experiment! Even if you're an old pro at linen and evenweave fabrics, have you tried different counts? How about 18 count -- it's really popular now. Or 36 count Edinburgh -- if you haven't tried this, do! You'll just squeal with how soft and wonderful it is. Or if you're really feeling daring, do something on 40 count. I have customers who pretty much stick to 40 ct. linen exclusively. You'll marvel at how detailed even the simplest of designs becomes on this count fabric. I did a Lavender and Lace angel on 40 count linen over two threads (with one strand of floss), and she looks PAINTED on the fabric. Or, have you tried stitching over one on 28 or 25 count linen? It's so pretty. (You can stitch over one on any count fabric -- if you have the patience -- you treat each thread as it's own little square. Talk about detail -- get out the magnifying glasses.)

Even if you're not ready to start with evenweave or linen, today's Aida colors are so varied that you can get by just fine without that leap of faith. But...next year YOU could be saying, "How could I have been so scared?"

© 2007 Theresa Venette. Articles on this site may be reproduced in needlework group newsletters or other handouts with permission of author and proper attribution. Send questions, comments and suggestions to: xspeddler@yahoo.com