Are there advantages to one over the other? I know all y'all have done both, which did you prefer and why? Are there coverage issues? Is one fabric significantly more expensive? How would YOU decide? I feel like the two over two would be an added math complication, although probably easily overcome once you got accustomed to working in that method.
Posted by: rclclckc on 06/20/18
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There are several factors: I like Aida if all the stitches are whole x's & it's full coverage. I like the 32 count for partial coverage projects because the background material looks much nicer than Aida. Also if project uses fractional stitched , it's easier than trying to pierce the Aida material. If it's a coverall piece using whole x's then Aida is cheaper. I started on specialty material by doing a small project & I found that 2 over 2 became easy quite fast & it's my preference now for almost every thing. Hope this helps.
Posted by: terryd on 06/20/18
Hi, Having good eyesight and/or good lighting and magnification is probably a main reason a stitcher might choose 16 count (16 squares per inch) over 32 count fabrics. Doing ‘over one’ square on 16-count ends up being the same size as 32-count ( 32 squares per inch) stitching ‘over 2’ squares. It’s more difficult seeing the holes in 32- count fabric versus 16-count. Personally, I usually use an ‘evenweave’ fabric such as Lugana or Jobelan fabrics when I stitch on higher count fabrics such as 25, 28, 32 or 36 counts. AND I use a lot of bright light and magnification on these fabrics to see the holes clearly. Some stitchers, myself included, stitch on higher count fabrics because of the ‘finer’ background (where you can NOT see the holes of the fabric on the UNSTITCHED portion that is not covered by matting. If you put a piece of 16-count fabric next to a piece of 32-count fabric and stand back about 12 inches you’ll more likely to see the holes of the 16-count fabric as you move your face closer and closer toward the two fabrics. Prices are probably less for 16-count fabric than for the higher count evenweaves and linens. The difficulty of stitching ‘over 2’ versus ‘over 1’ is really not that difficult with a bit of practice. The only difference of stitching ‘over two’ is that you are skipping over the left and right upper corner holes of the fabric and going diagonally into the next upper left and upper right hole. There is a tutorial of ‘over one’ versus ‘over 2’ on ‘scarletquince.com’ and I would check on You-Tube for tutorials on this as well. :)