Friday, July 23, 2010

Frog Stitch

Everyone makes a mistake now and then, even the most experienced stitcher.  That's when the "Frog Stitch" is invoked to "rip it, rip it."

The most important thing to keep in mind is to avoid cutting the canvas when you're ripping out a mistake.  If you can't remove the mistake by "unstitching" with a needle in the reverse sequence they were stitched, you'll have to cut the stitches.

Using a bent tip scissors lifts the stitches up and away from the canvas, thereby reducing the chance you'll cut the canvas.

Once the stitches are cut,  pull them out with a pair of tweezers.  The kind  you use to tweeze your eyebrows works pretty well.  A tool called "Uncle Bill's" tweezers, available at your LNS and outdoor sporting shops, is also very good.  The points are sharp and you can lift stitches with them without cutting the canvas.

In any case, relax, take your time, and look forward to getting it right the next time.

1 comment:

Luna said...

Every time I'm faced with the decision to rip out a stitch or "just live with it", I go back and forth hoping I'll decide to live with it. then I remember what my original stitching teacher told me - just rip it out, you'll always know the mistake is there.

She's right. Every SINGLE time I've gone through the pain of taking out stitching misfires or mistakes, I ALWAYS feel better about the replacement stitching. ALWAYS.