I consider myself a fairly novice stitcher, as in, I have a few stitches in my repertoire and they serve me very well, thankyouverymuch. So whenever a discussion popped up over the years regarding the double running (Holbein) stitch, I just couldn't see why I should use it because it didn't seem that it was that different from a backstitch.
WELL. What a difference a day makes. I was bored with backstitching my long spans and tried this and WOW!!! It's just so much more...smooooooooooooth.
/scream'n'shout
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Mag
I'm going to go look up that stitch RIGHT now !!
mag
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lucretia borgia
LizardGumbo ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with
Looks even nicer (I don't know whether you did it) if as you come back on the second journey you pierce the end of the previous stitch.
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LizzieB.
Natch! A little bit harder to do with the tapestry needles, but a determined person can get that thing in there just right.
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Pat P
LOL - you know what they say? "There`s nothing worse than a convert!"
Pat P
A
anne
LizardGumbo said
me too!!
I never much cared for the backstitch and love the double running stitch. I use it even on 'regular' cloth.
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Mulyanti
I love double running too. I don't even care that it looks better; it's just so much FUN! I love figuring out where to go next and then seeing it all come out at the end of a "run".
LizardGumbo wrote:
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Michelle
Hmm, I think I'm going to try this. I HATE backstitching!
Mulyanti wrote:
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MargW
Well I find that using a tapestry needle for Holbein (running backstitch) makes it difficult to pierce the thread, and if you need to 'frog stitch' the pierced thread makes it difficult to take out.
Instead, as you take your run back along the line, you'll note that your first stitches actually have a slight angle. Your return stitches should come up on one side of the previous stitch and go down on the other side - trying to figure out how to explain this. OK, if your outward row is angled top left to bottom right, the return stitch should go top right to bottom left - the visual effect is a nice, even straight line. By doing this, your return stitches flatten and lift the first row. (I think it was Charland Garvin who taught me this in a workshop).
Obviously the angle below is exaggerated since I don't have the right graphics to draw it, but if you flatten out the line, you get the idea. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
You'll know immediately when you're doing it wrong as your line will be crooked, but when done correctly, the line will be nice and even.
I love Holbein, and almost always use it for outlining or backstitching unless I'm using over dyes, and even then if I'm careful and reverse the direction of the thread so the colour progression is reversed, I sometimes use it.
Marg
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gyrlcentric
i found an example here:
formatting link
too will have to try this it looks lovelyLizardGumbo wrote:
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