We have shown this tutorial in long form for you to read on the site and also have a free downloadable PDF version for you to keep for future reference. Please do not copy, sell or post this tutorial on your own website, but you may mention it and link back to it here if you wish.
Tutorial #9 - Parking Threads While Stitching
When stitching in Petit point, we often “park” our threads so that we don’t have to keep starting and finishing a thread when stitching small areas. Here, I have taken a few photos to show how and why I park my threads.
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] .
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] .
Fig 1 - I have stitched some of the lighter blue before doing background, so that the dark blue doesn't show through. I don't wish to go too far and risk mis-counting my stitches, so once I have done a bit of it, I park my thread above the stitching so that it doesn't get in the way of the background stitching. (the light blue in the lower middle of the photo shows it the best. |
Fig 5 - Once I have done some of the lighter colored stitching, I begin filling in the background. As you can see, I am not filling in all the way across the row. I fill in between motifs. This way, my back is less thick, and you can still see the lighter colors from the back - see below. I do sometimes choose to carry the background thread across a motif if I am only crossing over 1 or 2 stitches, but the majority of the time I do not, simply because I prefer to see the motif from the back too, even if it isn't as pretty looking as the front.
When I get up to the top of the motif and need to stitch across where my parked thread is sitting, I move the thread to the bottom of my work, so that I can stitch across and not cover the thread. However, if I need to do some more stitching in the light blue a couple of rows above my motif, I will leave the thread where it is and stitch over it. I will then pick it up to continue stitching the color in the next motif. |
Fig 6 - View from the back. When working in petit point, we are often trying to get things as small and thin as possible. The overall thickness of your finished piece, when it is a little rug or wall hanging that isn't framed, looks better the thinner it is. For a little cushion/pillow, it doesn't matter because no one sees the back of it, so I often carry threads across and generally the backs are much messier, lol. |
I hope this helps you in your stitching journey and, as always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me using the email provided above.
Yvette M
Below, you will find the free downloadable PDF. Simply select "Download File" then save to your computer.

tutorial_9_-_parking_threads_while_stitching.pdf | |
File Size: | 744 kb |
File Type: |
This concludes our ninth tutorial. We hope it was helpful to you and clarified our method for you.
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