Product Review: Bucilla Ready to Stitch Aida on a Wooden Frame

Cross stitch is not my go-to embroidery, but I do enjoy it. It's structured and easily accomplished. 

This week, a local shop owner asked me to review a Bucilla product - the Ready to Stitch Aida cloth. Basically this is a 14 count piece of embroidery Aida already stretched onto a square wooden frame. It comes in white, natural, and black.

I chose the black canvas and embroidered a Victorian rose on it.

So what do I think of the Aida canvas on a frame? 

I love that it's pre-stretched and square. It's a nice change from round hoops. It's a standard size for most patterns, 14 count. The wooden frame is sturdy and can be hung easily on a small nail. It's lovely for highlighting a small pattern.

That makes it great also for budding young stitchers who want to make a gift that can be instantly displayed on an honored wall. Because it's sturdy, it will also stand up well on a shelf or mantle.

Here's what I didn't like about the frame.

Like any Aida fabric, it can stretch during stitching. But because it's already on a frame, it can't be blocked once the work is done. Stab method, in and out stitching, is necessary rather than being able to stitch through from hole to hole.

Another problem was that borders and designs have to be inside the edges of the frame because, obviously, the frame is in the way of stitching. This means about an inch all around can't be used for stitching. 

This pattern, by the way, is the new free pattern you can download when you sign up for my weekly newsletter. If you are already a subscriber, you'll see the link in the newsletter.

Bottom line for me is that I would use this product again. While I would rather be able to create borders closer to the edge, this frame does allow for gluing on a lace or ric rac border. It's a great size for small projects, and it's easy to hang up to display.

Have you done any cross stitch on one of these ready-to-stitch frames? What did you think about it?

Cross Stitch/ Feather Stitch/ Fly Stitch - Lesson Five Embroidery School

 

How are you enjoying your time without buzzers and beepers in your hands? Mighty relaxing, isn't it? 

Now maybe you're remembering what it's like to have time for YOU. To refresh. To be tactile. 

That's what my patterns and stitching tutorials are all about. We all need that time. 

Time for the next three stitches in the sampler. Cross stitch. Feather stitch. And fly stitch. 

Now, I haven't used feather stitch in the tree sampler. I was saving that to add as a decorative border at the end of the work, so if you are stitching up that sampler, you'll only have two stitches today, unless you are using a large enough hoop to make the border. If you have used a 7" or smaller hoop, you'll have to move it around a bit to make the border or use a larger hoop if you can.

Cross stitch

This is a dream of a stitch and you'll see why people make whole pictures out of cross stitch. It's easy, can outline, can fill, and has a very simple and homey look about it. It's vintage, retro, and geometric modern all at the same time.

Bring the threaded needle up from the back side of the fabric at the lower end of one diagonal. Take the needle back down at the other end of the diagonal line. I used 3 strands here.

Repeat this line of diagonals all the way across.
 

When you get to the end of the row, bring the needle up at the bottom point of the diagonal line leaning the other way.
 

And head back the way you came, covering these diagonal lines in the same way.
 

When you get to the last one, bring it to the back and knot or hide the thread.
 

Feather stitch

When you look at all the lines drawn, it looks complicated, but it's really just a bunch of Vs connected at the points. 

Bring the threaded needle up at the top left of the first V and insert it back into the top right of the same V. Bring the needle back up at the point, catching the loop of thread and pull through. I used 3 strands for this stitch.

This is now the top left of the next V. And then you just make the next stitch the same way. Insert the needle in the top right point, pull through a bit, bring it up at the point, and pull through catching the loop to make the whole V.

At the very end, take a small stitch to the back to secure the point and knot or hide the thread end.

Fly stitch 

Oh dear! Isn't this like the last one? 

Yes, chickies! It is so much like the last stitch we learned. That's what makes embroidery so easy!

But in fly stitch, instead of joining the stitches up, they are separate.

Bring the threaded needle up at the top left and continue as if this was a feather stitch. But once you make the V, you bring the thread back down like a little tail and it becomes its own stitch.

And then you make the next one the same way.
 

These can be made in a row and pretty much connected, long or short tails, or further apart, so they show up like little seed pods, bird tracks, or flying geese.
 

Back of the work:

NOTE: It doesn't matter if you start feather and fly stitches from the left or right tips. I tend to start from the outer tip in a row of feather stitch. It's really up to you. Same goes for cross stitch. You can work the diagonals from left to right and then come back right to left, or vice versa. 

Here's the Alice Brooks-style tree sampler using cross stitch and fly stitch. As I said, I'll be adding the feather stitch border at the end, so you'll have to wait for the big reveal on that.

Cross stitch on the fence - 4 strands. DMC 783
Fly stitch as birds - 3 strands. DMC 310

Well, aren't you clever! You've stitched half a sampler already!

That's it for today! See you tomorrow.  Remember to share Embroidery School with your friends.