I see where people wrap "background" in bands when doing closed wraps. I'm not sure what constitutes "background" though, for, let's say a spider. Is the background everything on the "box out" plus 1 wrap? Let's say I'm on the 3rd pass on box out plus 1, creating the background that the spider legs sit on top of. would i wrap a single band of 3 threads out on all 4 sides of the box? our would I lay one thread up on top of box, on thread down top of box, on thread up bottom box, one thread down bottom box, repeat 3 times? (in this case, bands wouldn't be used until the spider is complete, and I am filling in space between spiders.)

Got my layout threads ready.... Thanks. Jim.

To me, a band is two or more threads wrapped next to each other.

As to your question, you can do a band at that point in the wrap or lay the threads singly.

Bands lay down quickly compared to single threads and they can be moved more easily later on because of the fewer cross points with other threads crossing the band.

When Bands cross each other, they create a sawtooth effect. When single threads cross each other you would have a straighter seam.

This is my own personal opinion: to me I think decorative wraps look better when made from single threads if they are well executed and the wrapper takes the time to make everything look perfect. However, in some cases (such as when completing some geometric wraps) having perfectly vertical and horizontal "seams" formed from laying bands as single crossing threads can actually change the appearance of a pattern that relies strongly on angular geometrics in the background to compliment angular geometrics in the foreground pattern colors. One example comes to mind, a foreground image of a Thunderbird (or spider, fish) with a shaded transition background of many colors (of uniform band width among colors); in this case the uniform width of the bands would generate a uniform sawtooth effect where the bands cross and might compliment the foreground pattern, whereas if the background used varying width bands of colors in the transition, the sawtooth crossings would be of various matching sizes and not look uniform, thus detracting or distracting from the foreground pattern.

It should also be noted that straight seams, or sawtooth bands, of background tend to be more visible with regular threads and less visible with NCP threads, so you can take that into account also.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2014 10:43AM by John E Powell.

OK, John, Thank you. I did this wrap single thread at a time, and it did not take me that long. I am not in a race! It is 35 degrees outside!
But i understand exactly what you are saying, and I will think about this next wrap. I will also keep my eyes out in pics of other wraps and see if i can see this effect you are talking about at the seams. Thanks. Jim