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How To Use Waste Canvas For Cross Stitch 1 Jul 3:03 AM (6 days ago)

 

 

What Exactly Is Waste Canvas?

Waste canvas is a stiff cotton-based canvas similar to aida, but held together with a water-soluble glue. This means you can cross stitch onto any fabric or waterproof substance, as the water-based glue will dissolve, allowing you to remove the fabric from behind your cross stitches. This creates the look that you have cross stitch directly onto your fabric, without having to use a patch or vinyl canvas.

Whilst many in the cross stitch world are aware of it, there are actually a few different types of cross stitch fabrics that are often mistaken for waste canvas.
The main two are gridded aida canvas and aida canvas.

Whilst all three do look similar, there are some major differences. Aida, whilst also sold in ‘counts’ similar to waste canvas, and also cotton-based, is held together using a strong non-water-soluable starch. This means that however hard you try to pull at the threads, the fabric will not come apart (without destroying your cross stitch that is).
But there are some things you can look for that will help you out!

Waste canvas is always white, and has occasional blue threads in one direction only. Therefore, we can look out for this design when buying fabric to ensure we have the right stuff.
Any fabric in a color other than white, or has occasional threads going in two directions (vertical and horizontal), or has different colored threads (such as red or black for gridded aida) is not waste canvas.

Since publishing this guide, the DMC thread company has produced an evenweave waste canvas with blue threads going both vertically and horizontally.

✔ WASTE CANVAS ✔

• White fabric
• Blue threads going only one way
• Only a few threads

 
 

❌ NOT WASTE CANVAS ❌

• White fabric
• No blue threads
• Colored threads go vertical and horizontal
• Too many threads

 
 

❌ NOT WASTE CANVAS ❌

• Too many threads
• No blue threads
• May not white

 
 
There is also a third type of cross stitch fabric that is often mistaken for waste canvas; water-soluble canvas. This canvas is used in exactly the same situation as waste canvas but differs when being removed.
Unlike waste canvas that is held together with water-soluble glue, allowing you to remove the threads, water-soluble canvas completly dissolves, meaning there is no need to remove the threads.

It’s a much less stiff fabric, and can easily warp in your hands (also you have to ensure your hands are VERY dry before using), but offers a very similar approach to waste canvas. You can use this guide for either fabric type, but we would suggest only using water-soluble canvas for smaller projects.

 

When Do You Use Waste Canvas?

So we’ve spoken about what waste canvas is, but when should you use it?
Initially, this seems quite an easy answer; when you want to cross stitch onto something without aida, but it’s not as simple as it first appears.

Waste canvas needs to get wet (ideally submerged) for it to be removed, meaning you can only stitch it onto something that can get wet. This means things like paper cannot be stitched this canvas.

Secondly, you will need to attach the waste canvas to whatever you’re stitching before you start cross stitching. If you want to stitch onto something such as leather or PVC, this will damage the fabric leaving little dots in a row where you’ve stitched the canvas onto your leather.

And thirdly, waste canvas works very well with an embroidery hoop or frame, however, it does not like it when you move the hoop. The canvas has a terrible habit of shifting, meaning your cross stitch will end up wonky. Therefore, you either need to stitch without a hoop or have a hoop big enough to allow you to stitch the whole project in one go, without removing your hoop between cross stitching sessions.

So long as those three things are OK; then you can use waste canvas!
In most cases, this means stitching on something like a shirt, jacket, hat, fabric bag, or other fabric material.
 

How Do You Use Waste Canvas?

Unlike other cross stitch fabrics, there are a few tips and tricks on how to make sure your cross stitch looks as good as it can, and avoiding some common pitfalls.

These can be split into two areas; attaching your waste canvas, and stitching on your waste canvas.
 

Attaching Waste Canvas

We start by attaching the waste canvas, which seems a little redundant at first but is actually one of the most important steps you can take with this canvas type.
To make it easy we’ll break it into a 4 to 5 step-by-step process:

• Step 1 – Cut your fabric to size
• Step 2 – Position your canvas
• Step 3 – Pin your canvas
• Step 4 – Stitch (baste) your canvas
• Step 5 (optional) – Hoop up your project

 

Step 1 – Cut your fabric to size
You need to start by cutting your fabric to size. We do have a cross stitch fabric dimensions calculator, but we’d suggest ignoring this tool for waste canvas. Unlike normal cross stitch, you want a lot of excess fabric beyond your design, at least 2 if not 3 inches around all edges.
If you intend to hold the design in a hoop, you should have enough that it goes beyond the edge of the hoop. This does seem wasteful, but it will 100% make your stitching experience better!

Step 2 – Position your canvas
Then we need to find out centers. Yes; more than one.
You need to find the center of your waste canvas, just like you would with aida, which you should mark (feel free to use permanent pens here), but you’ll also need to find the center of the fabric you’re stitching on.
I would place a pin directly through both centers at first, as there is a second step to this too.

Once you’ve found the center of your two fabrics, you’ll need to ensure the canvas is positioned correctly. By this, we mean correctly oriented horizontally and vertically. Unlike other fabrics that you can move around once done, waste canvas is permanently fixed to that exact spot; so you need to make sure it’s positioned correctly.

For this we suggest using something like a center finding ruler and mark two points above, and below the center mark that you can use to place the project. Denim jackets, a popular fabric to use waste canvas with, have lots of seems you can use as reference marks.

Step 3 – Pin your canvas
Simply put; secure your fabrics together! Pinning is a great way to do this initially, but we’ll actually be removing the pins after the next step.

 
Step 4 – Stitch (baste) your canvas
This is the most important step in the whole process of stitching with waste canvas; after you pin your fabric to your fabric of choice, you need to stitch it on too. This might seem like overkill at first, but waste canvas has a terrible habit of shifting. There is also the added fact that as you’re stitching two fabrics together with different properties, they don’t always line up perfectly. So stitching your canvas on will help you ensure a perfect piece once you’re done.

There are a variety of ways to stitch your fabric on, but most people at a minimum stitch around the outside, and then across from each corner. However, there really is no limit on how much stitching you can do here. The more the better!
I personally like to use a cross stitch gridding technique, as I both secure the waste canvas to the fabric, and I don’t have to do any counting!

As for the type of stitch, you’ll want to secure the fabrics together, but you’ll want to remove the stitches once done, so either using a running stitch or a basting stitch.

Step 5 (optional) – Hoop up your project
As an optional final step, you can hoop your project up. It isn’t really important if you want to or not (waste canvas doesn’t need to be held tight like aida or evenweave does), but what’s important is that you hoop your project AFTER you secure your waste canvas to your fabric. The reason for this is that the two fabrics will work differently under pressure, so you should secure them when neither is in a hoop.

If you’re using a stretchy fabric, we’d suggest using a hoop.
 

Using Waste Canvas

And you’re finally ready to stitch!

The process of stitching on waste canvas is pretty similar to normal aida or evenweave, but there is a more important difference; making sure you have the correct holes.

Waste canvas is structured in a way that results in a row of small holes, and a row of large holes. You need to stitch through the SMALL holes. Many people often get this wrong, and it results in cross stitches being irregular in size. By using the small holes you’re reducing the chance of misplacing a stitch.

I would also suggest using a tapestry needle unless you REALLY need to use a sharp needle. Sharp needles can puncture the fabric anywhere, but tapestry needles will always try to find the hole that is easiest to get into, the hole you’ve just made. Therefore you should use blunt needles.
You can drop down an embroidery needle size if you’re struggling to puncture the fabric to make it easier on yourself. But I would ignore specialty needles like self-threading embroidery needles or Easy Guide needles.

 

How Do You Remove Waste Canvas?

You’ve learned how to attach your waste canvas, learned how to stitch on it, and spent hours stitching your design; now comes removal!

This is actually a very easy step, but there are a few pitfalls many people fall into. We’ve listed some below in the troubleshooting section, but there is a basic structure to removing the fabric.

Wetting The Fabric
As waste canvas has water-soluble glue, we’ll need to remove it first. Instructions for different brands of canvas vary, but you’ll need to wet it.
We would suggest going easy first, and then if the threads still don’t come out, get it wetter and wetter.

However, if you need to submerge your fabric (slightly, or for 5 minutes) then we suggest you wait until it has dried again before moving on to the next step.

Waste canvas is not meant to be removed when wet.

Removing The Threads
To remove the threads, we’re going to pull on the end of each thread (one at a time, not in a group) with a pair of tweezers, or hemostats (a type of piliers for cross stitch), and pulling in the direction the thread runs.

However, there are a few things that make this easier.
The first is that you should look to remove the threads that go through less cross stitches first. Many people will say going through the threads that have the blue threads, but this is completely irrelivent. The threads that go through less cross stitches will have the smallest amount of resistance, so by removing these first you reduce the resistence on the threads that go through more cross stitches.

The second tip is to take it out of the hoop if you have one.
This just makes it harder for the threads to release, so removing the hoop will allow the fabric to have a little more give.

And finally; don’t cut your canvas down so it’s barely sticking out of your cross stitch; this will make it MUCH harder to remove.
 

Troubleshooting

Don’t panic!
The original reason we created this guide was due to our own issues, and we’re glad to say we’ve found solutions to all the issues! But whatever you do; just don’t panic. If you pull at threads that are snapping you can make it really difficult to fix, or if you’re pulling wilding at threads that don’t want to come out, you can ruin your cross stitch. So take a breath, take a break, and read on!
 

The Threads Won’t Come Out

First off, we need to establish if it’s wet enough. Many people say that you can “spritz” the waste canvas with some water and that will be enough, but depending on the brand, you may need to fully submerge your fabric and stitches in warm water for 1 to 5 minutes.
You won’t see anything in the water to suggest it worked, but this can be the case.

If you’ve tried this, and your threads aren’t coming out still (or are snapping) look below for what to do next. If you’ve had to submerge your fabric, we’d suggest not even trying to remove the threads until the fabric has dried out again.

But, it could be that you’ve simply not got the right fabric. Many people see fabric coming apart online in videos or on cross stitch forums, and they assume cross stitch fabric does this, but it only waste canvas.
Check if you have the correct canvas.

 

The Threads Keep Snapping

One of the more annoying problems with waste canvas is that when you try to remove your threads after getting it wet, they keep snapping.
There is a weird thing where the instructions fail to tell you how to accurately remove the threads.

You see, you need to get the fabric wet to remove the water-soluble glue, but you should remove the threads AFTER it’s dried.

In cases where you’re stitching smaller pieces, or they aren’t full coverage, or you left a lot of fabric around the stitch to grab onto, they can come out when wet. But for anyone else, learn from my lesson; wait for it to dry.

There are two issues with trying to remove the threads when wet.
The first is that the fibers of the waste canvas, being cotton, heavily weaken. As they aren’t supported by other threads, like in aida, they just give up and snap, normally where the highest stress is (just as it goes under your cross stitches).
The second issue is simple physics. When the cross stitches themselves get wet, they absorb water, get bigger, and cause more friction on the threads you’re trying to remove. This also happens with the fabric you’re stitching on, and in some cases like denim can take up a massive amount of water and get really hard to pull the threads out.

So simply dry the whole thing as you normally would, and then go back and pull the threads out once it’s dry. You’ll have a much easier time!

If you’re in an unfortunate situation where you’ve snapped all the threads and you simply can’t grip the threads; we still have a solution!

Once again, you need to wait for the project to fully dry first. Then take your cross stitches and fold the fabric between the stitches. The waste canvas will be visible now, where you can pick it up.
We would strongly suggest using a pair of needle-nosed tweezers for this, and TAKE IT SLOW. You don’t want to accidentally grab one of your cross stitches and pull your work apart.
Always try to remove the direction with the smallest threads first (ignoring the rule about removing the side with blue threads first), as this will make removing the longer strands easier.
 

It’s Still Not Working!

OK, it’s possible that you have the wrong fabric, and it simply won’t remove. It is also possible that for whatever reason this fabric isn’t working properly (we’ve heard of cross stitch fabrics from Temu not working correctly).

Then I would ask; do you need to remove the fabric?
With a sharp pair of embroidery scissors you can cut the fabric right next to the first cross stitch. This will leave the fabric under your cross stitch but will mean you can’t see it.
If you’re worried about still seeing it, or cutting so close to your stitches, you can cut as much off as possible, and then stitch around your cross stitches with a color matching the fabric you’re stitching on. This will hide the final bits of fabric under invisible cross stitches. This is how a patch works!

The second option is to repeat the removal process a second time. Really make sure the fabric has been submerged in very warm water for at least 5 minutes. Then wait for it to fully dry. Then try to remove the threads. Sometimes it takes a few cycles to get the canvas to work the way you want!
 
 

Tips

• Stitch on waste canvas using the small holes
• ALWAYS sew your waste canvas onto your fabric to avoid it moving
• Keep at least 1 to 2 inches of unstitched fabric around your design for easier removal
• When removing waste canvas, soak it in warm water for 1-2 minutes
• Remove the waste canvas by pulling the threads individually; not in clumps
• Remove the waste canvas by pulling threads on the side with blue strands

 

FAQs

 
Hopefully, this guide tells you how to use waste canvas for cross stitch, and gives you a little more confidence when stitching.
 
My thanks to those on Reddit’s /r/CrossStitch for some of these tips!
 
Happy stitching,
Lord Libidan

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Cross Stitch Time-Lapse: Capturing Your Project’s Progress in a Gorgeous Way 24 Jun 3:03 AM (13 days ago)

We’ve spoken before at length on how to track your cross stitch, including the best cross stitch tracking apps and we’ve also rounded up some of the best-animated cross stitch, but a new social media trend is taking over, combining the two, into a cross stitch time-lapse project tracker.

 

What is a cross stitch time-lapse?

Simply put, a time-lapse is an animated image or video of how a cross stitch develops over time.
A stitcher might take a photo every page (if they’re tackling a massive project), or every day, color, or even every few minutes (which only really works with miniature cross stitch.

This not only gives you an awesome little video at the end of your piece, which people have taken to posting on social media and cross stitch forums, but gives you a unique record of your cross stitch project.

 

How to make your own time-lapse

The first thing to work out is if you want to do one of these or not. We would suggest starting when you start the project, so if you’re one of those crazy stitchers who is already tackling something like our epic Pokémon cross stitch patterns then this won’t be for you. But if you’re planning to start; this should be right up your street!
However we should mention that some of the best examples are actually smaller stitches, so don’t think that this is an ‘epic-only’ thing.

Then, you need to simply take some photos. Or I should say ‘take some photos’ as it isn’t all that simple.
To get the most out of your time-lapse, you’ll either want to make sure you take photos from the same spot and angle each time or edit the images together once you have them all to line them up (the much more annoying technique).

Lighting doesn’t matter all that much, but trying to be consistent with your images is the way forward.
If you want to do this on a regular basis, consider attaching a camera to your cross stitch lamp or something fixed that you can always use.

Finally, comes stitching (pun intended) the images together. This seems like a complicated part, but it’s super simple.
Online services such as Ezgif or Canva allow you to just drag your images over your browser (or upload them) and it will make a great little time-lapse of your cross stitch project.

 
Have you been inspired to create your own time-lapse? We’d love if you’d link it below and we can feature it on the site!
 
Happy stitching,
Lord Libidan

The post Cross Stitch Time-Lapse: Capturing Your Project’s Progress in a Gorgeous Way appeared first on Lord Libidan.