Working with Multiple Colours

What you will learn

• Planning colour order
• Carrying thread safely
• Parking a needle

Materials and tools

• 14-count Aida cloth, white or cream
• Tapestry needle size 24 (blunt tip)
• Six-strand embroidery floss
• Embroidery scissors
• 4 or 5 in (10 or 13 cm) hoop (optional on stiff Aida)

1. Start with the colour that has the largest connected area near the centre. It gives you a landmark to count the other colours from.
2. Stitch all of one colour within a section before changing, instead of swapping colours square by square.
3. To move to another patch of the same colour, you may carry the thread across the back if the gap is three or four squares or fewer and it passes behind stitches that are already worked or will be.
4. Do not carry thread across areas that will stay unstitched. It shows through the holes, especially dark thread on light fabric. Finish off and restart.
5. Where you carry across existing stitches, slide the needle under their backs on the way so the thread is held down and cannot snag.
6. If you will need a colour again a few squares away soon, you can park it: bring the needle up in the next square where that colour is needed and leave it hanging on the front while you stitch another colour.
7. Keep a separate needle threaded for each colour in use. It saves constant re-threading.

Tips for a neat result

• Work light colours last where you can. They pick up fluff from darker threads.
• Label each needle's colour on a strip of card and park needles there.

Common mistakes and fixes

Check your result

• Held up to the light, no stray threads cross unstitched areas.

Projects that use this