We're so pleased you found this helpful!

Thank you so much Emily, that makes me so happy! Can’t wait to see your hand stitched projects ☺️ happy stitching 🌸

I totally agree.

Hi Sue, Thank you for watching 😊 I do apologise for not including the left-handed tutorial, we’ll work on that and try to post one soon! 🤞

Thank you so much for watching Jane, I’m so glad you found it helpful ☺️ any questions, let us know anytime. Happy stitching in hand 🌸

Thanks so much for watching and for your lovely comment - so happy the video helped ☺️ happy stitching 🌸

Thank you so much for watching. This is definitely life-changing, can confirm ☺️ Happy stitching 🌸

Thank you so much for watching Alison ☺️

Thank you for watching, we're happy to hear you enjoyed it!

That's great news! Stick with it, you'll get there in no time :)

Hi Donna, thank you for watching and for your lovely comment, I am so happy it helped! 😊 happy stitching 🌸

Thank you so much Valerie, so kind of you 💕 I am so glad it helped x Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment Lynette ☺️ happy stitching 🌸

So glad we were able to help ☺️ happy stitching 🌸

Thank you so much for watching Susan, so glad we were able to show you a new technique ☺️ happy stitching in hand 🌸

Omg thank you so much Yanica, I'm so happy that the tutorial was helpful ☺️ Hope you'll love the new method when you try x Happy stitching 🌸

Happy stitching!

Thank you so much for watching & happy stitching 😊

Glad it was helpful!

thank you so much for watching Peggy, we're so happy you loved it! Happy stitching 🌸

You're very welcome!

Thank you so much for watching Penny, so happy you’ll be giving it a go ☺️ happy stitching 🌸

Thank you so much Maxine, I’m so glad it was helpful ☺️ I have a lot of projects I stitch in my lowery too, it’s usually the sampler type of projects I stitch in hand 😊

Thank you so much for watching 😊 I'm a firm believer that proper stitching is any stitching that makes you happy - we're not competing but enjoying the hobby we love ❤️ hope you're having fun stitching in hand! 💕 happy stitching 🌸

I do find that my stitches aren't as tight, but it's fast, so it's worth it if I have a few odd stitches

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for watching Sarah ☺️

Thank you so much for watching Kathleen, so happy it was useful! 😊 Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Thank you so much Diane 💕 Happy stitching 🌸

Thank you so much for watching Liz, hope you enjoy stitching in hand 😊

That is fantastic Jeanette, I am so happy to hear that ☺️ Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Thank you for watching! We're pleased to hear this helped!

Thank you so much for watching Karen 😊

Thank you so much for watching Janice - I'm so sorry to hear you suffer with your hands. I hope this will help you enjoy longer stitching sessions again 💕 happy stitching 🌸

Glad we could help!

Thank you for sharing!

Hi Puja, thank you so much for watching ☺️ for slow mo, I’d recommend changing the speed of the video to 0.25x (via the three dots in the right corner of the video frame) - hope this will help 😊 happy stitching 🌸

Hi Janice, thank you so much for watching, I'm so glad you found it useful! Thank you for the suggestion, we'll keep it in mind when planning future tutorials. What I would recommend meanwhile is to just take a scrap piece of Aida and practice the stitches without necessarily following a pattern, and then progress onto a beginner friendly small pattern. With a little bit of practice, you will be a pro in no time 😊 Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Thank you Justine ☺️🌸 in the beginning, I did think it was a bit untidy and it took a little bit of practice to get the hang of it - I’d say it took one project to practice and get neat. By now I can rarely see a difference between stitches I do in hand and stitches I do with the stabbing method. I got used to pressing my thumb against the finished stitch to help it lay nicely - that definitely helped. I also find that stitches that look a bit untidy start laying nicely on the fabric after I’ve ironed the project (on the wrong side of the fabric, I never iron the stitches directly). I also stroke the thread every so often to make sure it’s not twisted which makes it look untidy. Hope this helped 😊 any further questions, don’t hesitate to let me know x /Marie

Thanks for taking the time to send such a detailed reply! I will keep practising.... Thanks too for your tip about the wonder clips. I have started using them and they are making a massive difference!

@@justinestitching you are most welcome, so glad it helped ☺️

Hi Tammy, I’m so happy to read your comment, thank you so much for sharing ☺️ the little clamp is called Wonder Clip and the orange thingy a Spool Hugger - I got both on Amazon UK 😊 happy stitching 🌸

Thank you so much for watching Cortney - that's a great question! I'd say definitely yes, the only thing is the potential different look of the stitches. With a little bit of practice, the hand stitched stitches look just as tidy as the ones stitched in a hoop - I started with having a hand-stitched only small project to practice and since then, I happily combine hoop and hand stitching in one project as needed 😊 Hope this helped 😊 happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Hi Noreen, yes absolutely! I would recommend to start with Aida for practice as linen can be a bit more fiddly, so it’s good to build up your confidence and technique on Aida. But only sky is the limit with sewing method! I use it on everything from 14ct Aida to 40ct linen ☺️ any questions, let us know anytime. Happy stitching 🌸

Hi Loriel, thank you for watching and welcome to this amazing hobby and cross stitching community ☺️ Oh I know the pain of stiff Aida! I wash it in a lukewarm water with a little bit of dish soap and then iron it while still a little bit damp through a dry dishcloth. The reason why I iron it still a bit damp is that when Aida dries completely, it can dry with creases that are hard to get rid of afterwards. When ironing, go over the fabric only a couple of times and don't stay too long in one spot - it shrinks with too much heat but is absolutely fine with a few strokes of iron 😊 There's a great no-wash (spray water only) tutorial on this channel you can also check out 😊 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n6lofph2scCVlXk.html Happy stitching 🌸

Hi Michelle, many thanks for watching and for the great question - I too find that changing stitch type will result in a visibly inconsistent look of stitches in a block. What I could recommend is using the 180 degree turn method - so you'd stitch a line using Victorian stitch, then turn your fabric 180 degrees so it will effectively be upside down, and continue stitching the next line with Victorian stitch. This 180 degree turn means you will always use the same type of stitch, always stitch in the same direction with your hand (although different directions on the actual fabric), and although I find it's still slightly visible (especially in a block stitched in the same colour), it's the best and most consistent way I found 😊 I've covered this in the Stitch with Me video (the thumbnail has Christmas tree on it and I think it was published back in November 2022). It's one of the reasons I tend to use the Danish method of stitching even for variegated threads (I'm a rebel!) as long as the variegation is subtle. Stitching bottom leg first and then coming back definitely achieves the most consistent tidy stitches. Hope this helps! Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

@@CaterpillarCrossStitch Thank you, Marie for taking the time to share such a thorough explanation. I really appreciate it! I will definitely try the 180 degree method when using the Victorian stitch, or I'll stick to just using the Danish method. I really like stitching in hand rather than using a hoop. 🙂

Hi Joan, I’m so sorry you suffer from arthritis. The one thing that comes to mind is to hold the fabric at an angle - I hold it very straight in the demonstration but when I go to show how I’ve stitched on the trick or treat, I position the fabric at a degree to make the stitching more comfortable. When I do this, I notice that the stitching is more effortless and I don’t suffer from any cramps or finger fatigue. Perhaps that could help? 💕

Hi Becky, The third stitch is really designed to go from right to left (or up and down) and stitching it from right to left makes it for a very uncomfortable stitching indeed. There are 2 ways you can use this stitch when stitching from bottom right corner - either you can stitch with your left hand (that is how this stitch is adapted for left-handed stitchers), in which case you’d go bottom right corner-top left corner-top right corner-bottom left corner and repeat. If you are right handed, the only way to use this stitch in bottom right corner -> going left would be to rotate your work 180 degrees and work ‘upside down’. I do this regularly but it’s a bit of an advanced technique requiring a lot of focus on reading the pattern and remembering you’re stitching upside down. I hope this helps, please don’t hesitate to let me know any further questions 😊 /Marie

Hi Mary, it's called Spool Hugger and I found it on Amazon UK - just enter Spool Hugger in the search bar and it will come up with loads of options 😊 it is very inexpensive - I bought a set of 60 (to last me 3 lifetimes 😁) for less than £10 😊 Hope this helps & happy stitching 🌸

I’m always using a smaller needle for the sewing method - so on 18ct I’d definitely recommend using needle size 28 😊 my favourites are DMC and Bohin if that helps! I’m stitching on 16ct in the video but if you have the right needle size that should make much difference. Your Aida could be a bit too stiff as well and the starchiness could make it more difficult to get the needle through. If that’s the case, you can try to spray the back of your fabric lightly and iron it. This will break down the starch and soften the fabric. Hope this helps! Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Hi Margie, our newsletter link is here: eepurl.com/bMI7-L Hope you enjoy all the inspiration coming into your inbox - and a 10% discount on www.caterpillarcrossstitch.com for your first purchase 😍 Happy stitching 🌸

Hi Margie, the sign up link is here: eepurl.com/bMI7-L Hope you enjoy the free patterns and 10% discount 😊 Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Sorry I go top to bottom

As long as you go the same way consistently, there's no right or wrong :)

Hi Connie, thank you so much for watching 😊 Have you tried to use the 'speed' function? There should be a settings clog in the corner of the video - if you click it, you can change video speed in the parts of the video you'd like to see slower, the lowest would be 0.25x. Hope this works for you 😊 Happy stitching 🌸 Marie

Thank you so much for watching! We have released another Sewing Method video that is more a 'Stitch With Me' rather than just the technique of different stitches. I don't think we've used any speeding up so watching it might be helpful 😊 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sLGXZNqqurzeloU.html

Thanks for your feedback :)

Thank you so much Sharron ❤️ omg when you learn this, you will be unstoppable, a new finish every day!! 😁😍😍

@@StitchesAndDiamonds 😂🤣❤️❤️