Final lesson.....

How have you been going

with your Chicken Scratch Stitchalong?

If this is your first visit, click

here to see where

we started.

If you have completed

all of your corners, now you

can work on the centre.

Sorry about the angle of the

photo, but this is what I did....

Here is a close-up of the centre diamond using stitches used in the corner design...

...and this is what I did each side....

.....however the end result

is up to you, and the number of squares you have, or want to stitch.... find the centre of your runner, and design your centrepiece from there, utilizing the stitches used in your corners ... :)

I hope you have enjoyed this

stitchalong, and my

instructions have made some

sense...lol... 

Let me know

what you think, and what you

did for the centre of your design ....

and also if you want me to

stay clear of stitchalongs...lol...:)

Thanks for joining in, and
happy crafting,  Jenny

Lesson 4.....

Okay, now the fun
part.... finish filling in
the triangles :)

Bring the needle up
very close to your straight stitch...


Pass the needle under the
straight stitch... you don't go
back through the fabric...


Imagining your brought the
needle up at 3 o'clock, and
passed it under the stitch and 12 oclock....

....continue to pass the
needle under the straight stitch
at 9 o'clock, then 6 o'clock, and back
under at 3o'clock.....

...gently draw thread firm...


....and repeat the above steps.....


....then take needle back down
fabric close to where you originally
came up....(apologies for the
blurry picture!)....


....and again pull thread at back
to firm stitching.....

....and repeat whole process
over each dark square.....

....as you can see, I made
good use of different threads.....
the main reason at the start of the project, was
for the photos, however the end result is up to you!



Enough for this week.



Next stitchalong post we
start on the centre.

'Til then, happy crafting,  Jenny

Lesson 3.....

Are you still there...lol......
if you have just arrived, the image above is on my left sidebar.... click it to see where we started...

It's time to fill in those corner triangles!

I guess the best way to
explain this, is you stitch a row

of straight stitch  across the
middle of the lighter  coloured squares.

After all that you had to
do in Lesson 2, I will
leave it there for this week, so
that you can do the same for each
of the corners, and I'll
be back again soon to
finish the corners.

Let me know how you are going :)

Happy crafting,  Jenny

Chicken Scratch Part 2.....

How did you all golast week? 

This week we actually
start stitching, however
it's not too late to join!

I designed my sampler around the number
of squares, and stitched the
corners first.

To start off with, I placed a pin in the centre of each side.  I then planned the size of my triangle on the number of dark squares on the short side of the fabric.  This is why I haven't stipulated how many stitches... it will depend on the number of dark squares you have.

Okay... let the stitching begin!!

The stitch illustrated above, is called a Double Cross Stitch.

To work this stitch, begin a traditional cross stitch (I have used the darker shade square for this).  Start at the bottom left corner of your chosen square, needle down at top right, then up from bottom right to top left.  The next step is to make like a 'plus' sign (or for easier explanation I'll use clock numbers) over the cross stitch.

Come halfway down the square on the left (9 o'clock) and bring needle down across to the right (3 o'clock)

then work from halfway along the bottom of the square (6 o'clock) to halfway up the top of the square (12 o'clock).  You should now have what looks like four big straight stitches at different angles to make.....

a Double Cross Stitch.

Using the darker squares only, continue to work Double Stitches to form a triangle.  A word of caution - be careful as you turn your work around, because the layering of your stitches will change.  You may prefer this. As I say, I will explain the basics - the end result is your choice, and sometimes the pictures are better to follow than words!


Continue for the three other corners, and I will be back with more.

Let me know how you are going :)

Happy crafting,  Jenny

Hi everyone.
I am really worried about doing this!
I have been sitting on it for quite a while now, unsure whether it will make sense to others or not!

For any newcomers, welcome to my attempt at Chicken Scratch Stitching.

I have made this into a tutorial to hopefully encourage others to give it a try, but I definitely don't claim to be an expert at it... this has been my first attempt, and I thought others might like to see what I learned along the way.  I don't intend to tell you right from wrong, but hopefully the illustrations will explain best.....as the saying goes - 'a picture says a thousand words'.  This comes in handy when words may not always make sense!

I won't show you the end result yet, as your finished design will depend on your fabric.... please bear with me on this, and I will explain more as we go.

Traditionally white thread is

used, and one colour to match your

gingham fabric, however to

illustrate things step by step, I have used more than one colour.

My fabric piece is approximately

25cm x 56 cm, then hemmed.

The squares  ( brown and white

in this case) are approximately

1/4 inch each.

I have designed my sampler 

around the number of squares.

You can use any piece of gingham you like, and adapt the pattern to your fabric.


I will leave you now to
sort out your fabric and threads, and
will start the stitching in the next 'stitch-along' post.


Let me know if you are happy to join in!
I'd love to hear what you think :)


For those of you who have come across this at a later date, I will add links below for you to continue each stage at your own pace....

Lesson 2.....

Lesson 3.....

Lesson 4.....

Final lesson.....

Happy crafting,  Jenny