Lovely Congress Cloth

Recently, I came across a few pieces of 24 mesh or count Congress
cloth (by Zweigart) and felt as if I found a new treasure!

I've always liked working with Congress Cloth and so glad to re-
discover this is a wonderful material to work on with the softness of
cloth but with enough body for the look of needlepoint using a simple
tent stitch....of course half and full cross stitches can also be
used.

The other plus are the size of the holes or meshes at 24....not too
small to strain eyes but small enough for wonderful details!

Congress Cloth also comes in a variety of mostly soft colors......in
my collection right now are half yds of white, ivory and black....the
black will be an excellent base for stunning color works.
I've ordered more colors in the following pale colors of soft mocha,
light blue, moss green, light caramel, grey, grey mist, pale blue.

Other Congress Cloth colors available....sand, rose, pale blue and
metallic threads woven into white backgrounds, one with silver
metallic threads on white and the other with gold metallic threads on
white....these last two would be perfect for holiday and fantasy
designs, especially ornaments.

Speaking of ornaments, I've thought of using the Congress Cloth
similar to perforated paper with the resulting shapes to be used as
embellishments in other projects!

I've got many ideas for all those colors of Congress Cloth, especially
the black!! I can just imagine how those threads of silks, rayons and
cottons, plain or overdyed will glow off the black
background......also medici wools.....guess the designs will dictate
what types of threads I'll use! Not to mention the fun of adding other
embellishments such as beads, buttons, threads, silk ribbon embroidery
and whatever else one finds to enhance the design.

I love to mix threads and textures and the best way to find out what
works best is to experiment and probably a good bit of frogging before
I'm satisfied with a new design!!!
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com

I have never seen or better said , maybe i saw this cloth , but never
heard this name
mirjam


Recently, I came across a few pieces of 24 mesh or count Congress
cloth (by Zweigart) and felt as if I found a new treasure!

I've always liked working with Congress Cloth and so glad to re-
discover this is a wonderful material to work on with the softness of
cloth but with enough body for the look of needlepoint using a simple
tent stitch....of course half and full cross stitches can also be
used.

The other plus are the size of the holes or meshes at 24....not too
small to strain eyes but small enough for wonderful details!

Congress Cloth also comes in a variety of mostly soft colors......in
my collection right now are half yds of white, ivory and black....the
black will be an excellent base for stunning color works.
I've ordered more colors in the following pale colors of soft mocha,
light blue, moss green, light caramel, grey, grey mist, pale blue.

Other Congress Cloth colors available....sand, rose, pale blue and
metallic threads woven into white backgrounds, one with silver
metallic threads on white and the other with gold metallic threads on
white....these last two would be perfect for holiday and fantasy
designs, especially ornaments.

Speaking of ornaments, I've thought of using the Congress Cloth
similar to perforated paper with the resulting shapes to be used as
embellishments in other projects!

I've got many ideas for all those colors of Congress Cloth, especially
the black!! I can just imagine how those threads of silks, rayons and
cottons, plain or overdyed will glow off the black
background......also medici wools.....guess the designs will dictate
what types of threads I'll use! Not to mention the fun of adding other
embellishments such as beads, buttons, threads, silk ribbon embroidery
and whatever else one finds to enhance the design.

I love to mix threads and textures and the best way to find out what
works best is to experiment and probably a good bit of frogging before
I'm satisfied with a new design!!!
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com

Mirjam, Congress Cloth is rather like a stiff canvas - imagine plastic
canvas that is really made of fine string. I used it on that round
sampler because it was so easy to trim and did not ravel. You don't
need a hoop to work with it, either. There are probably other names
or something similar, but I have known it as congress cloth for a long
time. I have a tall roll of it I got on sale about 25 years ago. It
is invaluable for certain kinds of projects.

Deb in Idaho

says...
Recently, I came across a few pieces of 24 mesh or count Congress
cloth (by Zweigart) and felt as if I found a new treasure!

She's back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've worked one or two projects on Congress cloth and had less
difficulty counting than I do on aida or even weave. I also liked
working with it because unlike canvas I didn't feel the need to stitch a
background. Instead, I put a colored paper behind the congress cloth for
a hint of additional color.

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

Hi Anne,

Thanks for the great idea adding more color to a design by placing
another color underneath the Congress Cloth!! I never thought of doing
this until you posted!!

You've got me thinking about tissue lame with that cool metallic
glitter.....
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com


On Nov 26, 9:03 am, anne wrote:
says...

Recently, I came across a few pieces of 24 mesh or count Congress
cloth (by Zweigart) and felt as if I found a new treasure!

She's back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've worked one or two projects on Congress cloth and had less
difficulty counting than I do on aida or even weave. I also liked
working with it because unlike canvas I didn't feel the need to stitch a
background. Instead, I put a colored paper behind the congress cloth for
a hint of additional color.

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

wrote:
Hi Anne,

Thanks for the great idea adding more color to a design by placing
another color underneath the Congress Cloth!! I never thought of doing
this until you posted!!

You've got me thinking about tissue lame with that cool metallic
glitter.....
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com


Hi, Lula -

I almost always put tissue lame behind the linen on my ornaments. The
glitter that comes through is lovely.

Sue

--
Susan Hartman/Dirty Linen
The Magazine of Folk and World Music
www.dirtylinen.com

says...

Thanks for the great idea adding more color to a design by placing
another color underneath the Congress Cloth!! I never thought of doing
this until you posted!!

I'm not that smart sigh. I got it from Kathy Fenchel at an EGA
seminar.

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

On 11/26/07 4:07 AM, in article
,
" wrote:

Recently, I came across a few pieces of 24 mesh or count Congress
cloth (by Zweigart) and felt as if I found a new treasure!

I've always liked working with Congress Cloth and so glad to re-
discover this is a wonderful material to work on with the softness of
cloth but with enough body for the look of needlepoint using a simple
tent stitch....of course half and full cross stitches can also be
used.

The other plus are the size of the holes or meshes at 24....not too
small to strain eyes but small enough for wonderful details!

Congress Cloth also comes in a variety of mostly soft colors......in
my collection right now are half yds of white, ivory and black....the
black will be an excellent base for stunning color works.
I've ordered more colors in the following pale colors of soft mocha,
light blue, moss green, light caramel, grey, grey mist, pale blue.

Other Congress Cloth colors available....sand, rose, pale blue and
metallic threads woven into white backgrounds, one with silver
metallic threads on white and the other with gold metallic threads on
white....these last two would be perfect for holiday and fantasy
designs, especially ornaments.

Speaking of ornaments, I've thought of using the Congress Cloth
similar to perforated paper with the resulting shapes to be used as
embellishments in other projects!

I've got many ideas for all those colors of Congress Cloth, especially
the black!! I can just imagine how those threads of silks, rayons and
cottons, plain or overdyed will glow off the black
background......also medici wools.....guess the designs will dictate
what types of threads I'll use! Not to mention the fun of adding other
embellishments such as beads, buttons, threads, silk ribbon embroidery
and whatever else one finds to enhance the design.

I love to mix threads and textures and the best way to find out what
works best is to experiment and probably a good bit of frogging before
I'm satisfied with a new design!!!
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com


As always Lula, you inspire me!

Hi Anne,

Give yourself credit for learning something new & passing on the info
in a good FYI post!

IMO, you're a very creative stitcher always looking for new ways &
techniques to enhance your very original needlework pieces...I always
enjoy seeing your latest works...so stand up and take a bow!! You
deserve it!!!
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com


On Nov 27, 2:02 pm, anne wrote:
says...



Thanks for the great idea adding more color to a design by placing
another color underneath the Congress Cloth!! I never thought of doing
this until you posted!!

I'm not that smart sigh. I got it from Kathy Fenchel at an EGA
seminar.

--
another anne, add ingers to reply

Hi Cheryl,

Thanks for your kind words! Makes me happy to share ideas with fellow
stitchers.

Great news, I just got the new colors of Zweigart's Congress Cloth I
ordered yesterday just before I went for a root canal no less...it
helped me get through the day thinking of my ideas...hopefully, I'll
be able to keep up the daydreaming as I've got to go back two more
times as I've ended up with unexpected root canal problems!

Anyway, I'm itching to see how well one of my illustrations will
translate to the 24 "mesh" Congress Cloth.
In the past I've stitched simple motifs painted on Congress Cloth and
can "see" the illustration in my mind already...wondering if what I
see will work out the same way!

Will have to mount the cloth on a table or floor frame after drawing a
few very light lines to block out the main parts of the illo but if I
use the black background will have to use the white marking pencil and
hope it comes off with a damp cloth as the instructions say or make
sure I stitch over the areas.

The thing I least like doing is prepping for a project!! Wish I could
just dive right into the best part immediately instead of sewing on
the fabric to the scroll bars and other mundane work setting up a new
design!

Actually, if I was "smart", I'd stitch a small design first and not
into a full sized one! That way I might learn a few things and maybe
not have to frog as much!
But, I'm impatient and itching to stitch & create...hmmm...maybe I can
get Mr Wooly to do some of the boring stuff...a little flattery can go
a long way!
---
Lula
www.woolydream.com


On Nov 28, 6:34 am, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 11/26/07 4:07 AM, in article
,



" wrote:
Recently, I came across a few pieces of 24 mesh or count Congress
cloth (by Zweigart) and felt as if I found a new treasure!


As always Lula, you inspire me!