On silk gauze use any type of needle you want. SharonG recommends the long #15 or 16 beading needles and John James has one inch short beading needles, too. They work great (have tiny eyes that go thru the mesh) but have sharp tips. Ouch!

#28 tapestry needles work almost as well and have blunt ends. Some people use crewel needles or quilting betweens. Basically, whatever small eyed needle you have will work.

Use those wire threaders that have diamond-shaped wires to thread up. Any other threader is likely to be too big to get through the eye. If you put a drop of Super Glue at the base of the threader where the wires are attached, it'll last MUCH longer. This is important for people like me who don't know their own strength!

SG looks kind of like panty hose material and isn't blocked at the end. Most people say not to get it wet, esp. if you are using silk or overdyed threads. Many of them aren't as colorfast as regular threads. Therefore, you should buy SG mounted into mat board or sew the SG into the center of a piece of fabric, cut out the fabric over the SG so you have the SG "framed" by another fabric (I find an old tee shirt works well) and then put the fabric itself onto stretcher or scroll bars or in a hoop. SG can tear if mounted directly. I've also discovered one can stitch with the SG in hand as long as the project isn't too big (big gets distorted by the stitches after a while) and you are careful not to catch the threads on the edges of the SG.

SG is abrasive to thread. This is a particular problem with silk which catches on everything. Use hand creams made for stitching (or the old trick of making a sugar-water paste on your hands and especially your fingers) and stick the needle in and out of the ground material at a 90 degree angle. I didn't realize that I tend to put my needle in at an oblique angle until I heard this tip from SharonG. It helps me a lot! If you have to frog more than 2-3 stitches done in silk, you'll be better off ending the thread and starting with a fresh end. Taking threads out runs them through the abrasive SG enough times that it will fray on you badly.

For 40 count SG, one ply of Kreinik's Soie de Alger works great. So does one ply of DMC cotton floss. On 32 count, one strand of DMC looks a little thin, but the Alyce Schroth hand dyed silk (which is a little thicker and isn't supposed to be stripped into its two parts) is just right. The Soie de Alger seems to spread out in the 32 count ok, but color seems to matter here. In other words, some of the Kreinik colors have fatter plies than others. Odd huh? Oh, and you can use one strand of DMC on 32 count with cross stitches - it plumps up the stitched area. On 40 count I've stitched with the Soie de Crystal silks, Needlepoint Inc. silk, Gloriana silks, Eterna floss and the Eterna mini-twist, and Empress overdyed silk, too. I used one ply of each of these and all worked well. I've also split the Alyce Schroth silk ply into half and stitched with that. It is slightly "hairy" when divided, but I was doing the fur on a dog and that was the perfect effect. If you are stitching with blending filament, strip off the polyester or nylon "core" and just put the metallic part in your needle. I've found that if the BF is left intact, it seems to "break" and one sees both the metallic and the matte core on the surface. It gives a mottled effect that I don't like.

As for stitching a design, if you aren't going cover all the background in thread, be a little careful as to the design you pick. SG is transparent and any threads you carry across the back show so you can't do a lot of small scattered motifs. I've also discovered that silk threads (and blending filament) work their way out from where they are locked in place on the back before ending. So when you outline a piece, use continental or cross stitch over one, something that leaves thread on the back so you have a place to "bury" threads. Half cross stitch or continental or basketweave are fine for the middle. Use away knots to start and try to end a thread in the middle of a design, not on the edge, so that if the thread end frays a bit, it will not peek out from behind the edge of a design.

If you plan to put your finished piece in a jewelry setting, use half cross stitch as much as possible to reduce thread bulk on the back. If one has a layer of fabric on the bottom, the SG on top of that and then a protective plastic shield on top of it all, it gets too thick to push the metal prongs over to hold it all in the brooch. However, you have to remember to have thread on the back to bury ends in, so use continental and basketweave some, too. It will be a judicious balance for jewelry. If you are framing a piece or putting it in a bigger canvas piece, this won't matter as much.

Some people find stitching on a transparent ground very difficult. If you have trouble with this, try starting at the top or bottom of your design and stitch from side to side, changing threads when necessary (remember to use away knots) instead of outlining and filling it. Also put a towel in your lap in a contrasting color (black or red seem to work best).

When you frame or mount your finished piece, you can put a shiny fabric or a mirror or another layer of SG or even aluminum foil behind the SG and that helps the eye not see any threads on the back. Shiny seems to be important. Fabrics like velvet don't work as there is no shimmer to distract the eye.

Stitch on SG in good light and use a magnifier if you need it. This stuff is small enough that one's fingers shadow the stitching!

© 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