Cross Stitch Flowers

Cross stitch projects rely heavily on details. A series misplaced X stitches can give away your mistake. A differently colored thread can make subtle but important difference on your projects. A wisely chosen fabric can enhance the design. A gentle handling of the needle and thread on the fabric can make your design more pronounced by the even and seamless blend of colors. Needlework projects can be colorful or monochromatic, but it will always have aesthetic value to any beholder.

There are several "floss" or thread manufacturers to choose from such as DMC, Anchor, Madeira, Au Ver A Soie, Berol Prismacolor, Marlette, Medicis, WRC, Danish Flower Thread, Ginny Thompson, Flower Thread, Mill Hill, among others. Such manufacturers assign numbers for their endless array of available colors. For instance, DMC assigns the number 310 for their black threads, 712 for their cream-colored threads, 436 for tan, 992 for aquamarine, and so forth. Anchor assigns the number 1 for their white-colored threads, 231, 232, and 233 for shell gray light, shell gray medium, and shell gray dark, respectively.

You can also rely on conversion charts to determine the shades that are of similar hue with other manufacturers. Thus, black threads are designated as 310 with DMC, 403 with Anchor, 8043 with the new JPCoats, and 19 with WRC. If you ran out of this particular color and your local craft store do not have your preferred brand, then use other brands in the meantime.

Your pattern, aside from teaching how to stitch, would also reveal how many shades of floss or threads you'll need, what size and type of fabric to use, and how elaborate or simple the project will be.

Red colored cross stitch threads are used extensively in Christmas and Valentine's patterns. Earth colored threads, like greens and browns, are in demand when creating nature-themed patterns such as owls and birds, flowers, lakes, cardinal cross stitch designs, and so on. Traditional patterns such as Celtic cross stitch, Irish cross stitch, Ukrainian, and the Italian needlework demand the rich colors of their heritage that inspired such designs. You'll find that there will be no shortage for different vibrant shades of reds, greens, gold, and other eye-popping colors.

Preserving the richness of the color of the threads is key to a good cross stitch project. The colors primarily decide the success or outcome of the patterns. Another key is keeping your "x" stitches even. So, don't pull on to hard on your threads. Pull with enough force to gently secure the threads on the fabric hole.

Some cross stitch threads can bleed into the fabric. To avoid this, you can soak your threads in distilled water and let it bleed. Distilled water is preferred because there will be no strong chemicals that would degrade the color of the delicate threads or embroidery floss.