Your first big project: how to choose it and finish it
After a few small pieces you want a big one — a picture worth hanging on the wall. To keep it from ending up in a drawer halfway through, choose it carefully.
Size means hours
A big picture is tens of thousands of stitches and hundreds of hours. Work it out in advance: divide the stitch count by your speed. Here's how — "How long does a cross stitch take?". If it comes to more than a year of your evenings, pick a smaller chart or a different fabric count.
Number of colours
Every new colour is a thread change. Big commercial charts can have close to a hundred, and those go noticeably slower. Check the key before you buy.
Confetti
Confetti means areas where the colour changes in almost every square. Your speed drops there, sometimes by half. If the whole chart is confetti, it's hard going for a first big project. Look for large areas of colour — sky, background, clothing.
Fabric
- A lower count (fewer squares per inch) gives bigger stitches and a bigger piece, and it's easier to stitch.
- A higher count gives a smaller piece, but it's harder on the eyes.
How the count changes the size — see "Fabric and count".
A plan to reach the end
- Split it up: a page of the chart or a 10 × 10 block is a goal for an evening.
- Start with an interesting area, not the background: you see results straight away.
- Keep a small project on the side in case the big one gets tiring. A break isn't failure.
- Mark what you've stitched so you can see how far you've come.
About the author
This article was written by the Crossette team. Our free charts after museum paintings make a good first big project: large areas of colour and a printable PDF — in Patterns. We're building Crossette for iPhone and iPad; it's in development, and to join the beta, email [email protected].