A Little Spooky...

It’s that time of year where ghosts and goblins are everywhere. I thought it would be a good idea to make a little something to get into the Halloween spirit. Recently I bought some DMC Glow in the Dark floss. I thought a glow in the dark spider web would be the perfect combination. Now I had a spooky project to test it out.

Since the holiday is fast approaching, I grabbed a 4” hoop for this project. The little hoops stitch up pretty quickly for me. I went with some black linen fabric since it’s the perfect color for something spooky and I love the texture of the fabric for the background. I didn’t sketch out a spiderweb before I started stitching because I thought I could make it up as I go, and that it would still look ok. Picking just the right stitch can be challenging at times. I opted for Back Stitch since it’s easy to do and it would stitch up quickly.

Beginning stitches.

Completed spider web with Back Stitch.

Once I finished the whole spider web with back stitch, I decided that the individual stitches were a little too noticeable. It felt distracting to the overall piece. Time to freak out? Absolutely not. I knew there was a quick fix to this issue. Whipped Back Stitch is perfect for blending all of those individual stitches together, so you get a nice smooth line. It’s great for evening out curved lines, too. In no time at all, I had my whole project “whipped” into shape.

A little trick for whipping the Back Stitches while turning a corner is to slide the needle under multiple stitches at the intersection, so you don’t have rounded corners.

Completed spider web with Whipped Back Stitch.

Now, it was time to really test that glow. I needed to super charge my floss in order to get it glowing. Holding it up to my photography lights did the trick. While holding it there, I thought the back of my work looked pretty awesome, too. You can also use the flashlight on your cell phone held really close to the floss. I actually tested the glow after the Back Stitch version too to see if it was enough. It didn’t really seem to glow really well. There was a much brighter glow with the Whipped Back Stitch.

Glowing DMC floss.

I think the back of the hoop is even spookier.

The DMC Glow in the Dark floss is new to me, so I wanted to see how it worked. It is a little finicky to work with, but not nearly as bad as the metallic floss. It’s really fine and gets caught on things very easily. I didn’t think my hands were in bad shape, but I’m really questioning it now. Any sort of rough spot on your hands or nails can catch the floss and pull it out of the needle. This might just be a good excuse to get a manicure before you start stitching, though. The floss does glow, but it’s not super powerful. This piece is just line work, so if you’re a few feet away from it, you can’t see the glow. It might work better in a more solid stitch. I might have to go stitch up a ghost now…

The DMC Glow in the Dark floss is a little more wispy than standard floss. It doesn’t look frayed when stitched, but the ends do separate easily.