Stupid Stitching Question

I forget how to figure out time when stitching. I am working on a piece right now that will be 9.27 "L X 12 " W when finished. I'm using two threads (eterna silk mini-twist) on a 33 ct. silk mesh. The stitches are

306 X 396, which means there are 121176 stitches total. I am less than half way finished, and I want to give it as a Christmas gift....THIS YEAR! LOL I know this has been posted before, but I can't find it for the life of me. Can someone please give me an AVERAGE stitch time, so I can work out a ball park figure for myself to know how hard I'll have to apply myself to actually make this do-able for Christmas. Thanks a lot.

Maureen

Reply to
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
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One way is to count how many sts you do in 10 mins, multiply that by 6 to get sts per hour. Then divide the stitch count of the piece by that number.

Some use a ballpark figure of 200 sts per hour, but I figure that could totally change based on the piece, since some fibers must be worked more slowly than others, some have lots of color changes, others none, and stitchers use different stitching methods.

Caryn

Reply to
crzy4xst

Stitch time is an individual thing. When I timed myself, I was up around 300/hour. Someone else timed herself and was lucky to do

50/hour. I heard from someone else that she does 700/hour, which is a little beyond believability, but I have no way of proving she doesn't.

If you're only doing half-crosses, then you might be able to do twice as many per hour.

121176 divided by 300 = 400+ hours but if you're only averaging 100 per hour, then you're looking at 1200 hours.

I think I heard 60 days till Christmas. So, if you're halfway and doing 300/hour, you've got 200 hours to go, which is 3+ hours a day. Good luck.

Reply to
Karen C - California

Personally I figure on one hour per 100 stitches as my average. That gives time for frogging and repair, backstitching, and slower stitching for small amounts of confetti. For a Silver Lining or for my Van Gogh piece, I estimated based on 1 hour per 50 stitches because of the amount of confetti.

Reply to
Jenn L

If you are less than half way through, find out when you started, and add that amount of time to where you are now; plus a little something. Clear as mud? HTH.

-- Jim Cripwell. A volante tribe of bards on earth are found,/ who, while the flattering zephyrs round them play,/ on "coignes of vantage" build their nests of clay;/ how quickly from that aery hold unbound,/ dust for oblivion!/ To the solid ground/ of nature trusts the mind that builds for aye. Wordsworth.

Reply to
F.James Cripwell

If I were in your place, I would seriously consider changing my plans and giving something else as Christmas gift... As others have calculated, you could finish your project just by working at it many hours a day EVERY day from now to Christmas...Is this really what you want to do? The next months will probably the busiest ones of the year (as they are for everybody, I suppose the same applies to you); there are gifts to buy, things to prepare for Chirstmas (decorations, meals, etc.) ; if you are not more than sure that you can set aside every day those few hours that you need for your stitching, probably it's better if you don't even try....Of course the choice is only yours, but in my opinion you risk to live these two months in a nightmare and not to end on time. You can always end your piece slowly, taking all the time you need to do an accurate work (and to enjoy doing it, which also is very important) and keep it as a gift for another occasion (a birthday, or next year's Christmas) Happy stitching Elena

Reply to
rossiele

Thanx for the input everyone. I went with Caryn's suggestion and timed myself for ten minutes, then multiplied by 6, and came up with 234 stitches per hour give or take for frogging, colour changes, etc. Then I gave a rough count to the number of stitches I have left, and I figure that if I spend 5 hours per day, every day until Dec. 24th, I can have it finished for Christmas. It's NOT going to happen. :(. Oh well, a May 24th birthday is the next best thing I suppose. But still a little disappointing me thinks.

As for seeing how long it has taken me to get this far....thanks Jim, but that wouldn't work with me. I can go for days without finding time to put in one single stitch.

Maureen

Reply to
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.

Sorry you won't have it done by Xmas, but birthdays are good (and May birthdays around the 23 thru 25th are really good ones).

Glad my suggestion helped you figure it all out tho.

Caryn

Reply to
crzy4xst

Don't worry, you're a bit disappointed now, but in May you will be happy to have an already-stitched present to give! I did the same for my mother, I'm giving her for Christmas what should have been her birthday gift...I was disappointed then, but I'm very happy now that I don't have to think of another gift for Christmas, and that I'm sure she will like her gift. Happy stitching Elena

Reply to
rossiele

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