How do you use variegated thread?

Blackhat

...I mean, you stitch with it, obviously, but how do you personally apply it in your work? I love the way the colors shift, but whenever I try to apply it to a design, it just ends up making lots of stripes. Is there a trick or special method you know of to make it more appealing? Ive heard of reversing two strands to get an even color "tweed" effect, but that just makes it look kinda... well, like static?

I dont know what to do with it to get a nice effect. ;_;

JudyBug

Try this download - lots of borders using the DMC variegated floss

Leisure Arts 4617 - Variegated Floral Borders by Linda Gillum
http://www.pindiy.com/forum.php? ... 1&fromuid=73186
(Source: www.pindiy.com)

kottik68

При вышивании такими нитками нужно вышивать каждый крестик отдельно.

LucySampler

Sometimes stripes just look lovely. But if I dont want stripes, I do avoid stitching in rows.
With variegated thread you should stitch both legs of a cross anyway before going to the next cross.
Depending what I stitch I figure a way to avoid stripes. When I do a Quaker motif for example, I follow the inner motif, then outer, instead of doing the whole thing in rows.
For a larger area, like grass, I might go up and down for several rows. then a bit diagonal, just playing around to avoid the rows.
That being said, rows can look just great too at times.
And really curious if there are other tricks.

IamJamie

Oh I like the idea of reversing the strands! Im gonna have to give that a try. Ill be stitching with variegated soon on wip and was wondering about how it will look. Thanks for the tip!

HollyBlue

Ive never used it for cross stitch - not even sure if I have any variegated threads ...

canaillou60

Im using them as they come.
Sometimes this stripe effect is so nice

LucyLiu

spiesformoon it depends on the design, i have stitched two ink circles designs using variegated both pictures are on the site, you can check them out, one is a cirque des circles and cirque des carreuax the later one is under the wip, i have stitched several more designs with variegated, and have not reversed the strands but it sounds a good idea, i will try it on any one of my small projects to check out the effect.

KIMJINOK

I put the number of two colors mixed with the one line I have seen.
as expected, I was pretty.^^;;
variegated thread seems to be a good thing to use.

Blackhat

LucySampler replied at 2012-4-16 09:52
Sometimes stripes just look lovely. But if I dont want stripes, I do avoid stitching in rows.
With  ...

o_o Oh, that is a good idea. I had never even considered starting in the inside and going around and around to the outside.... (is that what you meant?) Is there any sort of trick to doing this without wasting a lot of thread carrying it across the back for motifs that arent relatively filled like Quakers?

I think Ill try going diagonally next time... :D Thanks so much for the help!

LucySampler

SpiesForTheMoon replied at 2012-4-17 07:54
o_o Oh, that is a good idea. I had never even considered starting in the inside and going around a ...

Yes that is what I meant SpyFortheMoon. I dont think it cost me very much more floss. Bc when using variegated floss I stitch both legs of every cross immediately, I basically "wander around" anyway. It feels like taking simply a different direction.



In the picture you can see what I mean. First the inner motiv, then the star, with hopping in between to the little motifs. Even the outer edge is splitted in 2 parts.

rosebud

I stitch with many cotton and silk variegated threads.  I stitch both legs of the cross before going on to the next.  You get the full effect of the variances in the colors if you do it this way.  Depending on the individual design, I try to do my stitches in a way that best enhances the design.  As suggested previously, (and I agree) to stitch individual motifs of a Quaker design different from say a large multi-row area.  If stitching background of a sunset or water, etc you may want to work your stitches in a horizontal manner rather than vertically.  Also consider if using threads for both house and grass, I would stitch both areas in a horizontal pattern as much as the design allows so there is symmetry in the overall look when finished.  Most of all it is just your preference as to how you want the finished result to look.