Today, I had a friend asked me to explain the difference between over 2 and over 1 stitching. On top of that, to complicate matters, there's also 2 over 2, 2 over 1, 1 over 2 and 1 over 1. Whoa... What?
To new stitchers, all that might sound pretty daunting. Still, let me try to shed some light on the subject.
Over 2 and over 1 stitching mainly refers to stitching on evenweave or linen. The stitches are made over 2 fabric threads or over 1 fabric thread. The first number on the other hand indicates the number of strand of floss used. Have I confused you enough yet?
I have to admit I was having trouble explaining partly due to the lack of quality illustrations online... at least none that I could find. Then again, it could be because I'm just a really bad teacher :P
When all else fails... Improvise. Thus, I hope this piccie would benefit all budding evenweave/linen stitchers out there and those who would like to give stitching over 1 a go.
Gotta love my L baby (macro lens) ^.^
*Click to biggify*
As you can see, stitches using two strands of floss are made with two colours to clarify matters. 2 over 1 stitches are usually half stitches as 2 over 1 cross stitches would be too bulky.
I understand this question has also surfaced numerous times in regards to over one skin stitching. Basically, every over 2 cross stitch would be converted to four tiny over 1 stitches. It is however personal preference on which you choice you make.
Here are a couple of photos for your reference. Human skin usually has very fine appearance and the texture of the different size stitches portrays that.
I prefer 1 over 1 cross stitches though that could be a problem if a design consists of tweeding (blended floss). To overcome this, a cross stitch could be made with the bottom leg stitched with the darker floss while the top leg stitched with the lighter floss.
The rest are self explanatory, I hope? Feel free to comment or email me if you have any more questions.
Happy Stitching!
