Floss coverage: What is that? and What can I do about it?
Floss coverage means the the amount of fabric showing through your thread once your cross stitch is completed. Assuming that the floss color is sufficiently different from the fabric the thread will be seen. Is it the best it can be? That’s
up to you. Too few strands will leave a lot of fabric showing through the floss. Too many makes it difficult to stitch (not to mention using a lot more floss). It can also look bulky.
IF SOME stitches show fabric and others do not, you have inconsistent stitch tension and it is incorrect. How so how do you fix this? If you increases the number of strands of floss in the needle the fabric showing through the stitches decreases.
CONSIDER THIS: the number of strands of floss that you stitch with may be changed for some colors of thread and not for others. Darker thread colors may need to have the number of strands of floss increased to provide the same coverage as lighter colored threads. The dyes in darker threads make each strand of the thread a little thinner, so the same number of strands in the needle do not cover as well as a lighter colored thread with the same number of strands. Also threads stick together more when using darker colors than lighter, which makes it a little harder to get those strands to spread out for good coverage.
IF THERE IS a large contrast (dark thread and white fabric) it is much easier to see the fabric than if you have light thread and white fabric. What I want you to consider is visual distraction is created when this happens. Mixed floss coverage will cause a visual distraction because it is different. Differences pop right out at you and your eye will stop at those places to look at it more closely. When everything is the same, your eye will glide over the area without stopping. This will result in a more professional looking stitching.
