Gentle Readers and Dear Friends - I wanted to thank you all for the kind words about Shores. I knew when this chart was released how much I would love working on this piece, but it does seem to be moving along much faster than I thought. I will have to break up the stitching like I mentioned yesterday to make it last. On another stitching point - I was reading on a Forum yesterday about rinsing/washing finished pieces. A stitcher had done this to a completed piece and her silks had run and now the piece has a pink cast to it - I have never washed or rinsed a piece of needle work - ever - the main reason being that once I am finished I have never felt the need to - the piece is not soiled and smudged. I will iron it, but never get it wet. Is washing/rinsing a regular practice? Should I wash/rinse completed projects? I really see no need to - and with all the over dyed silk and cotton floss I use I would be afraid that something would run and bleed all over the linen. I keep my hands immaculate when ever I am going to pick up any stitching for fear of getting it dirty.
The biggest problem I have is keeping the who-hound hair off - whenever I sit down to stitch I usually have at lest one of them in my lap - or on my shoulders - or snuggled up next to my leg - and - for them being "hairless" chihuahuas they shed like nobodies business. I usually have to go over everything pretty closely to get all the little hairs off. - Oh well, just wondering.
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The movie last night - should have been - a Netflix pic. But, when I opened up the little envelope out fell and multiply cracked disc. It was completely unplayable - so back into the little envelope it went and into the mailbox this morning. I reported it broken. The flicker was "Whispering Smith" -1948 - with Alan Ladd and Brenda Marshall. We'll see if they can come up with another copy to view. Instead we watched "The Picture of Dorian Gray" - 1945 - starring George Sanders, Hurd Hatfiled, Donna Reed and Angela Lansbury. This wonderfully shot and superbly acted film of gruesome horror is a really super film. Set in late Victorian London this story by Oscar Wilde of a portrait that grows old and horrid while the man remains forever youthful is lots of fun - it has music, it has rich folks, it has pretty women and it has murder!!!. I have always enjoyed this film and the growing suspense as it moves along is really great!!! I would recommend it for just the witty dialogue along, snarky in all the right places. If you get the chance give it a look.
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There you go sports fans - thanks again for stopping by, do come again!!
Take care,
edgar
I rarely wash completed stitched pieces. I will give them a good press (with a lite spritz with water on stubborn creases) and then they will be ready for finishing or framing.
ReplyDeleteThe last piece washed was Summer Queen. She was on white fabric, had taken a few *ahem* years to finish and was completely stitched in DMC. She got a bath before her visit to the framer to freshen her up :) She got a quick dunk in cold water and a dab of wool wash and was ironed dry!
SoHRH looks fantastic! Great progress.
ReplyDeleteI washed my needlework (DMC on un-hand dyed linen) when I first started but haven't in about fifteen years or so. I'm very careful with my stitching and make sure my hands are clean. The worst that might happen (knock on wood) is that in years to come, DNA experts will determine that I liked coffee from the way I, uh, moisten my floss so I can thread the needle. If they test the hair that's interwoven into every sampler that I stitch, they'll know that I always stitched with my fearless spaniel by my side. ;)
I do wash my stitching as long as I have not used hand dyed fabric or threads. It freshens up the stitching which can become flat especially if the piece has been worked on for na long time. Also as I'm not too good at removing tthe hoop each time i finish working it does help with removing hoop marks.
ReplyDeleteI am obssesive about washing my hands before and while stitching ... but there is no way to completely avoid one's natural body oils from getting on a piece. If I have used a solid color linen and DMC floss I might wash a piece ... but I let it "almost" dry, flat, on a towel and then press it completely dry, face down on a clean towel. When using overdyed linen or floss, I do not wash the piece ... though if it is very wrinkled, I do very lightly mist it before pressing it, again face down on a towel. The only things I feel are a "must wash" are things I stitch for babies, whether toys or wearables, since babies will put everything in their mouths ... hence I am careful to use only DMC on such things.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to add The Picture of Dorian Gray to my Netflix list ... I haven't seen it since high school ... a little over 4 decades ago!
I'm with you Edgar, I've never washed a finished piece. My hands are usually clean when I start stitching of an evening but I don't wash them specially and I do wear hand cream. I don't work "in hand", I use a siesta frame and I think that's what makes a big difference from my point of view.
ReplyDeleteI have never washed a stitched piece! I always keep my hands clean for stitching so it never crossed my mind to wash the stitching! I do use a steam iron on the back side when finished, but I haven't had any trouble with that. I guess I'm so excited to have something finished that I don't want to slow down and spend any extra time with details!
ReplyDeleteI wash completed things if the fibers are colorfast and it needs it. I don't do this with my hand-dyed pieces. If those get dirty, I use a Tide Pen, which works fantastic. I do try to think ahead on my pieces. Since I have so many pets, if it's a big piece, that will take a while, I use DMC floss, so in case something happens, it can be washed. My Chancey sat on HOHRH to keep the cats away, and it was OK, because I could get any stain out.
ReplyDeleteI never wash my work. I use too many overdyed fibers and fabrics. I start with clean hands and don't use lotions when stitching. My work has really never needed washing or rinsing
ReplyDeleteI'm another one that doesn't wash my stitched pieces, but never had felt I needed to, as my hands are clean. Like Edgar, I do have a few "specialty fibers" (dog hair) on my pieces, but I try to make sure they are all picked off before taking to the framer. With three dogs that shed, there is no way around it.
ReplyDeleteI rarely wash completed pieces, and I NEVER wash them if they're stitched with silks. I have Italian Greyhounds and like your who-hounds, for dogs that aren't supposed to shed, I fight tons of 'specialty fibers' in my pieces, too! LOL I keep a pair of tweezers in my stitching 'kit' to pull them out when I see them.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Edgar, my Netflix queue is growing by leaps and bounds thanks to you :)
I've had a broken DVD happen to me once with Netflix too. But just once so far, knock on wood! They're very good about it.
ReplyDeleteI have the shedding problem with our Mia too. I wish there was some solution!
I only wash pieces I stitched with DMC. Otherwise, it's just a quick dry iron. I'm too afraid of the thread bleeding! I have many "specialty fibers" interwoven in my work. With 3 housecats and a german shepherd, it's unavoidable! I just look at it as their contribution to my stitching!
ReplyDeleteI never wash my stitching as I am like you and wash my hands before starting. No pets here so no hound hair.
ReplyDeleteHappy Stitching!
Oh I do love a young Angela Lansbury! She is such an actress. Did you ever see the original Manchurian Candidate? She played 'the mom' and she was within a year or two age wise of the 'son' (whose name escapes me right this second) It was an unbelievable performance.
ReplyDeleteI do tend to wash and press my stitching, I was told that no matter how meticulous one is about hand cleansing, that there are natural oils that get on the fabric and eventually (thinking years and years here) can discolour it. I have only ever used DMC and I think if I ever used anything else I might think twice about the washing. It would still look pristine in my lifetime!
Lol on the who hound hair. I like to think of a little pet hair as adding to the individuality of a piece.
Dorian Gray is one of the few old movies I really like. At least that one was not broken!
ReplyDeleteI wash a lot in cold water and white ivory dish soap. Gently swish, role in a towel, the flat to dry. I have washed some silks if light colored. Have not washed overdyed threads and have used few overdyed fabrics so can't comment on that.
Mary in Tn
I forgot to add that most pieces have dog hair in them.
ReplyDeleteNo dog at the moment but soon!!
Mary in TN
I almost never wash a finished piece either. I say almost since I have had to spot wash one piece. How it got a smallish stain I'll never know but it did. Like you I always wash my hands before I touch my neeedlework. And like you I too have puppy hair on mine. And many of my finishes have been known to come with long cat hairs too. I feel they add some special character to me works. :)
ReplyDeleteI have never washed a piece of needlework either. I keep my hands as clean as I can get them while I'm stitching so no dirt on my pieces either. We do have cats, and an occasional hair will find it's way to the linen, but I shut the door where I stitch so there is a slim chance of that happening. If it's not dirty I see no reason to wash or rinse it.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the movie recommendation!
I don't wash, but I do mist before ironing very thoroughly front and back of piece with a very fine mister (ours came in a hair cutting kit) using distilled water. I'm talking so fine that you should need more than 10 shots in the same place on your hand to even begin to see it make a droplet of water. Then, I flap the piece back and forth to shake out the wrinkles, then iron face down on a towel. I hold my breath a bit if it's a red piece, though!
ReplyDeleteI use a tiny lint roller to pull out frogged areas; I wonder if that would help with who-hound hair control; (definitely on the back; have to be careful with silk esp. on the front!)
P.S. 3M is the best brand.
Nope, don't wash my projects, which is why I try to be verrrry careful about how clean my hands are, and I don't stitch when it's too hot and my hands are sweaty.
ReplyDeleteI spilled some water on a very large sampler I was working on, with lots and lots of over one stitching. The water hit a bush, the green dye bled, and I have a small greenish halo around one of the cows on my sampler. Sigh! I had put too much effort into the piece already to abandon it, so now I just have to live with it. But I would never voluntarily subject my silks and overdyed threads to water.
I've had a couple of movies arrive broken. The best thing is Netflix sends you another copy very fast, it would seriously grouch me to have to wait for them to receive the broken one first!
ReplyDeleteI always wash my regular DMC-stitched pieces. I find it "settles" the stitches. With overdyed cottons, I don't wash because they aren't color fast. I know silks aren't color fast but I am allergic so I never use them. As for the donated pet hairs (aren't our friends generous?) I use a low-tack lint roller.
Before framing, I do wash in cold water. DMC is usually OK and won't bleed. If making an ornament or anything else that won't be protected by glass, I don't wash unless there is a spot.
ReplyDeleteBefore stitching with overdyed threads, I soak them in water until no color bleeds out onto a white paper towel.
The Dorian Gray movie sounds like a good one, thanks! I wash DMC and regular, non-overdyed linen but never overdyed threads or linen. I try to keep my hands clean and never use lotion before stitching. And I have 4 cats, so keeping their hair off my stitching is near impossible unless I want to hunker down somewhere where the cats have never been. Not!
ReplyDeleteI once washed all of my cross stitched pieces in a very gentle bath of Dawn or Ivory but this was back in the dark ages when we only had DMC & Aida to stitch on. These instructions were given to me by at least two or three shop owners. Their reasoning was that this would shrink the Aida holes & plumb up the stitches & it worked & I did this for years but not now. With all of the over dyed threads it would I think be a disaster. I once by accident dropped a couple of drops of water on a piece I was finishing & the over dye I was using ran big time & so I had to put several leaf stitches to try & cover the stain up but every time I look at the piece I still see the stain.
ReplyDeleteSorry for being so long winded.
Barbara in Plano
After all of the stitching & to ruin a treasured piece would make me cry.
A million years ago I used to wash all my finished pieces, but that was before hand dyed linens and threads. I wouldn't dream of doing that now, but I do use a steam iron. I feel your dog hair pain! My sweet baby has the coarsest black hair that sticks like glue to all things fabric!
ReplyDeleteNope - never wash my needlework - I'm like you, REALLY careful about hand cleaning before and during stitching. Also, I never eat while stitching.
ReplyDeleteMary in MN
It's Friday morning and all of us on the East Coast are waking to news stories about the tsunami that devastated Japan and is heading toward Hawaii and northern California, Oregon and the Aleutian Islands off Alaska. I am hoping you will not be affected.
ReplyDeleteGood one Edgar...always wondered what folks did. My first few finished pieces had little spots or ring marks and I took a tooth brush and spot treated them. After that I have been very careful to make sure my hands are clean etc. To me they are pieces of art and I would never immerse them in soapy water, yikes! I do iron my pieces with a damp cloth from the rear.
ReplyDeleteI still find little white hairs from our 15 year old dalmatian and we have moved house since she has been gone. They tend to get deep into a fabric, photo frame, upholstered furniture etc. Makes me feel that she is still around...luv it!
EDGAR....Please be careful if there is any danger of the tsunami nearing you!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteA friend who has been stitching for years says if the coloring in a piece bleeds, soak in very cold water, you will have to change the water many many times but it will eventually take the bleedig away.
ReplyDeleteI too never know if I am doing it right or not. Wash no wash, frame with glass no glass.
Teresa's Heartfelt Stitches
(I usually have cat hairs in mine)
I always washed my sitiching with ORVUS quilt soap. But all I've ever stitched with is DMC/Anchor thread and standard evenweave cloth. I can't afford the fancy overdyed cloth, thread or silk. So I don't know what the outcome would be.
ReplyDelete