In her blog post of 6 September, Mary Corbett talks about the back of embroidery, specifically the back of something like a tablecloth where the back remains exposed. Although you don't see the back when the tablecloth is laid out on the table, there are times when the back is visible. The question is just how much attention should you pay to the back while you are stitching.
You can read Mary's post here where she suggests a nice balance between keeping the back neat but not going overboard and spending too much time on it. Her tip for managing travelling threads by using an embroidered path on the back holds true for any type of embroidery.
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| Cupcake pot holder |
When considering how neat the back of an embroidery should be, take the type of fabric into account - whether it's a close weave or an open weave. I wrote previously about moving between pulled thread stitches on an open weave linen. Random threads across the back of the embroidery that show through to the front distract from the regularity of the counted work. Here's a link my blog post about how to minimize any show-through to the front of the piece by keeping a constant rhythm to the stitches.
The back does matter and it's worth thinking about how much the travelling threads on the back will show through to the front - whether it's surface embroidery with coloured threads like my cupcake pot holder, Mary's little tablecloth, or whether it's pulled thread work with white thread on white fabric.
Unless you are entering a competition, I think the back must be neat but it does not have to be perfect. Control travelling threads either by keeping a pattern or rhythm to the movement from one stitch to the next, or as Mary so clearly illustrates, by following a path on the back that's already been stitched.
'Till next time, happy stitching!
