#rodaw day six: wildcard

[zaffrenotes]

[RoD] Pixel Person MPC Tutorial - Part 1 - Supplies

I intended to just share the patterns for the Pixel People version of the RoD characters for @rodappreciationweek but a few folks expressed interest in more detailed instructions, so I spent entirely too much time writing up a How To guide because I'm a nerd. and a craft nerd. and then realized it was way too much information for one video, so I split it into 3 parts.

Part 1 will go over supplies, and includes the patterns, with a color chart. Part 2 will show you how I stitch one of the pixel people, and Part 3 will go over how to finish your project to display and/or wear.

First off, here's the shopping list to start things off - feel free to save this to your phone so you can refer to it when looking for stuff online/in person at your local craft store. JoAnn's will have 99% of the list, Michael's will have maybe 80%, and anything you can't find in person you can order online - while Amazon carries nearly all of these things, I highly recommend 123stitch.com as a specialized store. They carry an insane amount of inventory and they ship orders fast.

FABRIC

Aida (pronounced "eye-duh," "eye-ee-duh," or "ay-duh") is the fabric most commonly associated with cross stitching, especially for beginners. It's a stiff, gridded fabric with evenly spaced holes to pass the needle through. It's easiest to find in white, but it comes in other colors, and it's sold in a variety of "counts," which refers to the number of stitches in an inch. 11 or 14 count is good for beginners, 16 count or higher is good to include a lot of detail in a smaller workspace. DMC, Charles Craft, and Sensations are good brands.

Cotton is another option if you don't like the appearance of Aida. This can be any solid or patterned design you like, but aim for a quilting weight if this is your first time stitching. Something like cotton jersey would have too much stretch. Kona Cotton has a nice weave, but nearly anything in the quilting cotton section will work.

Linen is a third option, and the material I personally like to use for hand embroidery. It can have a very open weave or a tighter weave closer to cotton, and often includes "imperfections" where some of the threads are thick in spots, adding a textured feel to the material.

If you decide to stitch on cotton, linen, or a finished product like a sweatshirt or cloth napkin, you'll want to add Waste Canvas to your list. It looks similar to Aida cloth with the grid pattern, but you lay it over your fabric and use it as a template to create the same even stitching as you'd get with Aida. You can then remove it by dampening the work area and pulling the waste canvas threads out one by one; if it's a soluble version, you can submerge the finished piece in warm water to 10-20 minutes and the canvas will dissolve into the water. DMC and Charles Craft are good brands.

Additionally, for any cross stitch done on something that will be worn/washed with regular use (clothing, towels, napkins, etc.) you'll want to get Fusible Interfacing that will protect that backside of the material and aid in locking the stitches in place. It's sold on bolts in JoAnn's, typically near the cutting station in most of their stores. It looks like tissue paper, where one side is smooth and the other side is bumpy/textured. The bumps are glue that gets activated with a combination of heat and water (you will need an iron for this). You won't need much; a 1/4 yard strip would be more than enough. You just need enough to cover the stitched area of your finished piece. Pellon brand in P44 is something I use for all kinds of sewing projects. Do yourself a favor and find the discount/scrap bin near the cutting station or search the pre-cut fat quarters in the quilting aisle and pick something white/light colored to use as a pressing cloth.

EMBROIDERY HOOP/FRAME FOR STITCHING

Aida is generally pretty stiff on its own not to need a frame, but a hoop/frame is nice to use to keep the oils on your fingers from getting into the fabric (and it's nice to be able to hold something for a large pattern). Cotton and linen are too soft/flexible to stitch on their own, especially if you want tight and even stitches, so you'll definitely want a hoop in that case.

Hoops can either be wood, plastic, or sometimes metal. I prefer using wood, but feel free to get whatever you like. Anything larger than an 8" hoop will be cumbersome to hold in your hand, but aim for a hoop that gives you extra space outside of the dimensions of your pattern. For example, one pixel person on 14-count Aida will measure about 3/4 inch x 2.25 inches; one person on 8-count will measure 1 inch x 4 inches. If you're stitching the whole crew, an 8" hoop should be fine.

If you plan to display your finished piece in a hoop, pick up more than one - one to display, the other to use for stitching.

If you really get into cross stitch, something like a Q-snap frame will be kinder to your fabric while you work. Q-snaps are plastic tubes that form either a square or rectangular frame, and come with clamps to hold fabric in place. You can then roll the clamp to tighten the fabric if it loses tension while you stitch, versus pulling the fabric in a hoop to readjust tension, which can sometimes warp the stitches. Q-snaps are more expensive than hoops though. In the photo I have pieces of felt that I layer over the fabric, to give the clamps more of a grip and to protect the fabric.

SCISSORS

Pretty self-explanatory - you want a large-ish pair to cut and trim your fabric, waste canvas, and/or interfacing to size. They can be fancy dressmaker shears or utility scissors; just make sure they're nice and sharp.

You'll also want a smaller pair of embroidery/needlework snips to trim thread. Nail scissors would also work. PS - decorative snips are very cute and if you're like me you'll want to collect them just for fun, lol

EMBROIDERY FLOSS AND NEEDLES

Embroidery Floss - DMC and Anchor are the brands easiest to find in stores. I prefer DMC due to the wide variety of colors, and colorfastness even after years of use. You'll want the standard 6-strand skeins from either brand for cross stitch; don't mess with the corded perle cotton (I know they're pretty, but we want the smoother skeins so we can pull the threads apart later). I suggest going with DMC since not all the colors I used in my patterns have an equivalent shade in Anchor's inventory.

Embroidery and/or Tapestry needles are different from the standard sewing needles you might already have at home in a sewing kit (though sewing needles will come in handy for part of the process too). The eyes on embroidery/tapestry needles are larger to accommodate for multiple threads at once, or even silk ribbons for fancy embroidery work. There are tons of articles online that go into detail about the difference between needle sizes and when to use them, but the main difference is embroidery needles are usually longer and have sharper points to literally stab a hole through fabric; tapestry needles are shorter/thinner and have blunt (but still sharp if you poke your finger) points to go through open weaves. Pick up a pack to have multiple colors of floss threaded while you work; Clover, Bohin, and DMC are all good brands.

(not pictured) Bobbins - Little paper or plastic pieces used to wrap and store excess floss. They're good if you want to organize your floss in a floss box, and for labeling floss if you're working on something with a lot of colors.

[click to enlarge] Above is the chart that tells you all the different colors you'll need to get for each character. If you plan to do multiple characters that use some of the same numbers, it's fine to just pick up one skein of that color; you're only using a small portion of the floss so it will last you a VERY long time 😅

(I know the image quality sucks, but tumblr maxes out at 10 images per post. This breaks down where each floss color is used, depending on the character/outfit. You can view/download the patterns from my Google drive here to save to your phone or tablet, and use as a reference when stitching.

EXTRAS (FOR FINISHING YOUR STITCHING)

If you're a crafter of many things like me, you might already have some of this stuff in your home. I'll go into more detail on how/when to use these items in Part 3, but add what you need to your supply list to get everything in one go...

Sewing thread and sewing needles - nothing super fancy, just pick a thread in a contrasting color from whatever color your fabric is (e.g. stitching on white Aida? use green or navy thread.)

Chipboard or Mat board - pick up a sheet only if you're going to frame your finished piece in a picture frame where you pull the back out to open it. It's a thick fiber board that looks like cardboard. If you can't find any, the back material of a sketchpad will work, or you can use 2 layers from a cereal box for a less expensive DIY option.

Binder clips - you'll use these to hold fabric in place against the chipboard if you're framing your project in a picture frame.

Cardstock - optional if you plan to display your project in an embroidery hoop or front loading picture frame. You'd glue this to the backside of the hoop and/or layer over the stitched fabric to hide the raw edges.

Clothespins - if you plan to display your project in a hoop, clothespins will help press the fabric to the inner hoop while the glue dries.

Glue - only if you plan to display your project in a hoop. Fabric, tacky, craft, or hot glue; whatever your personal preference is.

PREP THE RED FLOSS

I can't speak for Anchor brand floss, but the red floss colors for DMC brand have a tendency to bleed onto fabric if the threads get wet. It's an annoying and painstaking effort to remove the stain from the fabric without removing color from nearby floss once a piece is already stitched, so I proactively wash my red floss if I plan to stitch on anything other than black fabric.

If you're stitching on Aida, you can probably skip this step since you won't need to wet the fabric. If you're stitching on something that uses waste canvas and the pixel person you're stitching has red in their pattern (Colt's red pants, MC's plaid flannel, MC's tube top, MC's red leather jacket) keep reading.

In a clean cup, add some warm water with a couple drops of dishwashing soap. Remove the paper bands from the floss skein and drop the floss in, soaking all the threads. Gently swirl the water in the cup to work it into the fibers, or carefully use your finger/a chopstick/end of a paintbrush to agitate the water without messing up the floss too much. After a minute or so, dump the water and rinse the floss until you no longer see soap bubbles when you give it a little squeeze. Lay it down on a clean cloth or towel somewhere to air dry.

Get ready for Part 2, where I'll show you how to stitch a mini MPC!

#rodaw #rod appreciation week #rodaw day six: wildcard #cross stitch info #zaffrenotes makes things #i am also a wordy bitch #so this is a long post with lots of details #and if you read all the way through I appreciate and love you for letting me ramble on and on #...for fifTEEN pages. FRONT AND BACK 😉 #not really 15 pages #google docs says my notes for all three parts is 9 pages