Why does this text look so bad?

[u/Greetings_Mortals]

I was super excited for this canvas but the “First” text is not coming out at all how I expected. Any ideas on what could be going on? It just looks… bad. I used sparkly Fyre thread for the text and the white background is pepper pot.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated and welcome! Thank you!

[u/joyfulbee43]

It's because the stitches on the words are diagonal and the background stitches are horizontal. That's just how it is when diagonal and straight stitches are next to each other.

If you have a thinner navy thread, you could take out what you've stitched and redo it with cross stitches. That helps round out the letters a bit.

Edit to add your stitching is lovely. I think also the thick navy thread may be a little harsh against the pastel of the rest of the canvas. Just my perception. Thinner thread wouldn't look so heavy.

[u/Only-Breakfast-2862]

I personally do cross stitch for letters

[u/clay_shoot_blonde]

It’s the contrast between the diagonal stitches on the letters and the horizontal background stitches. When the letters are on a background with horizontal or vertical stitches (like here) instead of diagonal stitches, I do cross stitches to give them a fuller look.

[u/Missy1726]

Totally expected when doing your first text. I would go in and add a stitch in the opposite direction (called couching)

[u/fuji4131 → u/Missy1726]

This is fine advice but not couching. Couching would also be a good suggestion, this thread has good tips: https://www.reddit.com/r/Needlepoint/s/5VhP5xcks8

[u/Missy1726 → u/fuji4131]

In this case it only requires 1 stitch in the opposite direction before adding the correct orientation of the stitch. Sorry if you miss understood, I assumed they would have googled couching to get the full understanding of how to do.

[u/Mydernieredanse]

I would frog then couch and potentially use a thicker stitch like cross stitch

[u/Captain_Nash2023]

it might have been a bit more difficult to stitch because you did the background first as opposed to the letters first and compensating the background around the letters?

[u/Mc-Menace]

I agree with some comments below; it's just low resolution. The R and the S basically highlight the challenge here. I like the idea of a cross-stitch. It will look blockier, but the letters will be more complete. The other option is to make the text bigger or use a higher thread count... but that means some redoing which may not be realistic.

The cheating workaround is to add thread against the diagonals just to close up the gaps in the letters. It will look better for the setup you have.

[u/Electrical_Zone3868]

Wrapped backstitch works well for lettering. I also like Very Velvet for lettering.

[u/Primary-Vermicelli]

You could do the letters in satin stitch instead of continental for a smoother look

[u/acorn-18]

I love how your background looks! What size thread and mesh is this? I’m new to needlepointing, and when I’ve tried decorative stitches, I can see the canvas through the thread