Chicken Scratch Curtains

Chicken Scratch is a type of Cross Stitch that is worked on Gingham Fabric. It is also called Depression Lace, Snowflake Embroidery and Gingham Embroidery. I discovered this type of embroidery a few months ago. I thought that it would work well for making  set of curtains for my kitchen. This type of embroidery is quick to work and I wanted to get them done in a hurry. The main stitches used are the Double Cross Stitch, Running Stitch and the Woven Circle Stitch. This makes it a great type of embroidery for beginners since the stitches are large and there is a grid on the fabric to follow.

I found a set of patterns online for Chicken Scratch snowflakes. They were small and  I thought they would be quick and good to practice on. I wanted to practice on a few smaller pieces before making a design large enough for the curtains. So I made a few of them for Christmas ornaments.

The pattern for the border I found online as well and adapted it to fit into the space available on the curtains. All the Double Cross Stitches must be worked first. Next the Running Stitches and any of the other stitches that are going to be used to anchor the woven stitches. On the left is a picture of just the orange stitches. On the right is the finished border with the whites stitches and all the woven stitches. It was essential with the fine fabric to weave the stitches through with the eye of the needle. It made them so much faster too. It is important to leave the woven stitches a little loose so they won't pucker up the fabric.

This is a close up of an end of the rectangle in the middle. If I were going to change anything about the design I would use a cross shape in the center rather than an x. So the stitches would show up better being on darker squares with no white on white stitches. In the end there will be two curtains. I am going to make a second curtain then later I will put up a picture of the two finished curtains.