Great Resource for Needlework Fabric and Supplies - and a Great Sale!
Since I'm exploring a bit of crewel embroidery these days, I thought I'd share some resources with you for different things relevant to crewel embroidery. You'll find that most of these resources are relevant to other types of hand embroidery as well, though, so even if you aren't into crewel, you'll probably find something here that entices you!
Transferring Your Embroidery Design
For transferring crewel designs, a reader suggested using a sepia colored micron pen, as it will be less likely to show (with anything except white). I totally agree! But sepia colored art pens are not always available at craft and art stores, so they're harder to come by. I just ordered a couple from Blick Art Materials. They have both the Sakura Micron Pens and the Prismacolor Illustration Markers. I like both. A product search for "micron" pens will bring these up.
A light table is also a great instrument for transferring designs. If you like to embroider your own designs instead of pre-printed designs, investing in one of these is a good idea. You can use it for all kinds of applications - not just for tracing onto fabric. I use mine for lots of things - card-making, embossing, designing layouts for needlework, etc. You can find these at Blick's as well, in all sorts of types and price ranges.
Fabric for Crewel Embroidery - Hedgehog Handworks Sale!
Traditionally, linen twill is favored for crewel work. Besides linen twill, you can also use a plain weave linen. Hedgehog Handworks carries Legacy linen twill for $84 / yard - and right now (through January) they're having a 15% off sale (on everything!), but the twill is 30% off - so it's $58.80 yard. That's an absolute steal. If you want to use plain-weave linen, they also carry Strathaven linen, which works well for crewel when backed by muslin. Both linens can be used for other needlework applications as well. I was thinking the twill would make a nice ground fabric for goldwork and needlepainting, so I'm planning on trying that out later. Hedgehog Handworks is also a great place to pick up Renaissance Dying wool, cotton floche, Gilt Sylke Twist, Soie d'Alger (best price online, while it's on sale!), and Hardwicke Manor hoops.... not to mention goldwork threads... and the list could go on. Do check out their January sale - it's a great time to stock up!
So whether you're exploring crewel embroidery with me right now, or you're playing with other surface embroidery endeavors, the above resources will help you find the tools and supplies you need for your needlework.
Try not to go hog-wild at Hedgehog! (Well.... I suppose you can if you want to!)
(I did.)
Transferring Your Embroidery Design
For transferring crewel designs, a reader suggested using a sepia colored micron pen, as it will be less likely to show (with anything except white). I totally agree! But sepia colored art pens are not always available at craft and art stores, so they're harder to come by. I just ordered a couple from Blick Art Materials. They have both the Sakura Micron Pens and the Prismacolor Illustration Markers. I like both. A product search for "micron" pens will bring these up.
A light table is also a great instrument for transferring designs. If you like to embroider your own designs instead of pre-printed designs, investing in one of these is a good idea. You can use it for all kinds of applications - not just for tracing onto fabric. I use mine for lots of things - card-making, embossing, designing layouts for needlework, etc. You can find these at Blick's as well, in all sorts of types and price ranges.
Fabric for Crewel Embroidery - Hedgehog Handworks Sale!
Traditionally, linen twill is favored for crewel work. Besides linen twill, you can also use a plain weave linen. Hedgehog Handworks carries Legacy linen twill for $84 / yard - and right now (through January) they're having a 15% off sale (on everything!), but the twill is 30% off - so it's $58.80 yard. That's an absolute steal. If you want to use plain-weave linen, they also carry Strathaven linen, which works well for crewel when backed by muslin. Both linens can be used for other needlework applications as well. I was thinking the twill would make a nice ground fabric for goldwork and needlepainting, so I'm planning on trying that out later. Hedgehog Handworks is also a great place to pick up Renaissance Dying wool, cotton floche, Gilt Sylke Twist, Soie d'Alger (best price online, while it's on sale!), and Hardwicke Manor hoops.... not to mention goldwork threads... and the list could go on. Do check out their January sale - it's a great time to stock up!
So whether you're exploring crewel embroidery with me right now, or you're playing with other surface embroidery endeavors, the above resources will help you find the tools and supplies you need for your needlework.
Try not to go hog-wild at Hedgehog! (Well.... I suppose you can if you want to!)
(I did.)
Labels: embroidery links, embroidery resources, fabric for embroidery, linen, needlework tools, supplies
Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, January 08, 2010
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4 Comments:
Since you mentioned marking pens (and I know you've addressed the subject before but I'm having trouble finding it), I recently bought a couple of Australian goldwork kits that called for using white gel grip pens to mark on white fabric.
I recall that you said white on white was hard to see . . . but have you ever used gel grip pens in general to mark fabric? Any thoughts on those?
Hi, Janice -
I haven't used the gel pens. I'm not quite keen on gel pens, whether I'm writing with them on paper, or working with them in any other application. I don't know how well they work on fabric. I would suppose that the designers would know, though, what works, and so if they recommend that pen, there must be a reason for it.
I've used white (chalk pencil) to transfer on a very light pale gold silk and also on white silk. The white chalk, because of the contrast with the shiny silk, is actually easy to see. I can't imagine that this would work on linen, but it certainly works when there is a contrast between the fabric and the transfer method.
Now, the nice thing about it is the fact that, even if you don't cover it completely, the white transfer is not noticeable once there's embroidery around it. It just sort of blends in. So you don't have to feel at all "stressed" about covering transfer marks when working with white-on-white transfers!
Hope that helps!
MC
Hedgehog also sells slate frames including small ones. They're probably on sale, too.
Mary - thanks for the info on white chalk pencil. I will consider it for these projects depending on what the designer says about the gel pen. I e-mailed her this morning and will post what I find out.
I also like getting your opinion on such things because of the extent of your experience: you're kind of a Consumer Reports/Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval arbiter for needlework products and techniques!
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