WIP: Lashiec (Phantasy Star IV)

[blackmageheart]

You're really making progress - keep it up!

[PixelPockets]

awesome!

[Jack Lias]

After a lot of trial and error (mostly error), I've finally finished my Lashiec stitch. I'm not as satisfied with it as I thought I would be when I started the project, but I do feel accomplished for actually sticking with it and finishing it. I can't say the same for a lot of my previous projects.

I would love constructive criticism (I'll welcome comments of all kind, but if you criticize, please do it constructively). I'll also list a few points that I've noticed about it which I wish I could have improved upon.

The following are areas that I've noticed could use improvement:
1) You can still see the canvas under the stitches because they don't look like pixels, as I've seen on other stitches. I'm not sure why this is.
2) It takes a lot of effort to get a new thread started. I feel there should be a much, much easier way to go about doing it. What I do is run the end of the thread under the stitches I'm making, and after about 3 or 4 X's, I make sure the thread is nice and snug.
3) The back still looks like chaos itself. I've seen stitches that are a lot cleaner than this mess.
4) I'm still concerned that the stitch looks nothing like its in-game sprite counterpart, largely due in part (no pun intended) to its size compared to the original sprite. I don't think you would be able to tell this is Lashiec unless you look at the stitch from far away.

Spoiler

Any recommendations on what I should do with it now? For those of you who have seen my Red Mage thread, you know that I've managed to mess up in the post-completion stage, so I'm afraid to touch it now.

Thanks. ^^

[blackmageheart]

Firstly, well done for finishing it! I think it looks great.

1) You can still see the canvas under the stitches because they don't look like pixels, as I've seen on other stitches. I'm not sure why this is.

Wash your project (see the guides in the Techniques / Guides board) and when it is dry, the stitches should cover the aida better. If they still don't, then next project make sure your X's aren't loose (but not too tight either).

2) It takes a lot of effort to get a new thread started. I feel there should be a much, much easier way to go about doing it. What I do is run the end of the thread under the stitches I'm making, and after about 3 or 4 X's, I make sure the thread is nice and snug.

That is how you should do it, and especially when using an odd number of strands. There's a neat little trick for 2 strands, and that is to use one long strand folded in half - you can use the loop to secure the thread when starting a new one.

3) The back still looks like chaos itself. I've seen stitches that are a lot cleaner than this mess.

Doesn't matter!

4) I'm still concerned that the stitch looks nothing like its in-game sprite counterpart, largely due in part (no pun intended) to its size compared to the original sprite. I don't think you would be able to tell this is Lashiec unless you look at the stitch from far away.

That's always a concern when we stitch the sprites, due to the nature of the aida we stitch on. It is very recognisable as Lashiec - the only people who won't recognise it are people who have not played Phantasy Star IV. But that's nothing to worry about!

[Jack Lias]

Thanks for the feedback, blackmageheart. I bought three new rolls of canvas, so I'm going to pick out a new pattern now. It always takes me a while since there's not a lot of simple patterns available that interest me.

[Pyper]

If its looking kinda thin and you ccan see the crosses a lot, try adding in another strand of thread or two next project. Generally I use 3 strands for 18 ct and 4 for 14 ct. I also try stitching a solid block about 3x4 stitches in a waste corner of the canvas to check how threadbare it looks and get the right number of strands