This past weekend, I received a lovely gift in the mail - a beautiful book, in French, called Abécédaires de Tradition, published by Sajou, in conjunction with marie claire idées, which is a popular needlework (and other stuff) magazine in France. I know I've been on a French book and magazine kick lately - Mains et Merveilles and the the perforated paper and embroidery book - but I can't help it! I think you deserve to see these great resources, too, and this one is particularly nice if you like monograms, and it's available in the US. So take a look...

Though written in French, Abécédaires de Tradition is not a book that requires you to know the language, in case you can't read French. Why not? Because it is primarily a design book, plus a little bit more.



Traditional Alphabets abound in this book of traditional alphabets. It is a "stiff" paperback book, printed on high quality paper, with beautiful color photos within.



Maison Sajou, a French needlework establishment, has been well-known for over a hundred years for their quality needlework products. When I think "Sajou," what normally comes to mind are their alphabets.



The book is packed with decorative monograms which are first presented to the reader via colored plates.



Many beautiful monogram styles are featured...



... and they are all accompanied by photos of embroidered pieces featuring the monograms.



There's a wonderful animal alphabet. Granted, the names of several of the animals don't match the English translation. "C," for example, is illustrated with ducks ("canards" in French). But many of the letters do match up - Z: zebra; Y: yak; P: peacock; R: rhino, etc. Personally, for me this isn't a bother - I like the idea of a foreign language alphabet. You can look at it as a teaching moment for kids.



Oh, yes, pictures of monograms are nice - but this is the best part of the book.



The whole last half of the book is made up of iron-on transfer sheets for all the alphabets within....



... along with some nice borders to dress up your monograms.

The book contains 10 full alphabets in various sizes and in varying degrees of formality and informality. Each alphabet is attractive, and can be used on anything from household linens, quilts, and so forth, to handbags and clothing. You can even stitch up full alphabets to hang as samplers. From beautiful to downright fun, there's something in the book for everyone.

Here's a thought: Are you planning to make Christmas presents this year? How about personalizing some gifts with a monogram? That's what I'm planning to do! And these monograms will be just the thing.

You can find Abécédaires de Tradition in the US through The French Needle, which specializes in all kinds of European-style stitching kits, books, threads, and accessories. (I love this shop - this is where I got the Bayeux tapestry kit). Lisa carries some beautiful surface embroidery kits that would be great fun to work. I love the large monogram (majuscule) kits. When I saw those, I suddenly longed for a name beginning with "W" or "Y"!

Anyway, at the time of publishing today's article, the book is not listed on The French Needle website yet, but it will be posted there some time today. Click on 'boutique' in the left column of the site, and you'll see an extensive list of everything available. Go to the books category to find this particular book.

If you like the idea of hand embroidering some monograms on various and sundry articles, then, do check out this book! The beautiful monograms within it are worth the price alone, but coupled with the convenience of iron-on transfers, how can you miss?

Later in the week, I'll be showing you a thread that works well for all kinds of surface embroidery, including monograms, so keep an eye out!

Until tomorrow.... au revoir!

Labels: book review, embroidery resources, iron-on embroidery transfers, monograms, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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While at Threadneedle Street in Issaquah, Washinton, I picked up a new book on hand embroidered monograms that is more than just a book on hand embroidered monograms - it is a fascinating glance into the House of Malbranche, a French institution dedicated, since the mid-1800's, to the creation of beautiful household linens.

Letters and Monograms from the House of Malbranche by Yvonne Van de Velde-Malbranche and Christine Rosenthal is a hard-bound book that contains practical information for the embroiderer - instructions on creating beautiful monograms for household linens - as well as a unique look into an interesting part of textile history: the established "institutions" or "houses" that produced luxury embroidered goods for the rich and the royal.



The text of the book is presented in three languages: French, Italian, and English. The book begins with a history of the House of Malbranche, detailing how the insitute would fulfill orders for custom linens - from the consulting stage, to the designing, to the distribution to embroiderers, to collections and payments.



It then progresses to practical information about the embellishment of fine household linens, including embroidering to appliquéing linens for the home.



The monograms featured range from elaborate in form - scrolly, intricate letters entwined around each other - to simple, clear individual letters.



Technical information on completing the monograms is arranged alongside the photo samples included.



Along with patterns, detailed explanations of stitch direction (especially for satin stitching) are included. This type of information is of great help to the beginner who desires to achieve perfect satin stitching around the curves of graceful letters.



Appliqué and pin stitching are featured on a "modern" looking monogram - quite art nouveau-ish - worked in white on natural linen. Not only do I love the combination of white-on-natural, but I love the clean look of this monogram set!



Diagrams covering different technical aspects of the art of embroidered monograms pepper the book, helping to illustrate the instructions in the text.



One of the most helpful topics in the technical instructions is the stitch direction for satin stitching, as mentioned above. Here, you can see that stitch direction on rounded tips of letters is being discussed and drawn out.



Throughout the book, there are many beautiful alphabets suitable for a variety of interpretations.

If you're interested in whitework, in monogramming, or in the history of textiles, I think you would enjoy this book! The English translation is a little choppy here and there, but the wealth of information and beauty within the pages makes up for this.

I found the book at Threadneedle Street in Washington, but I do not know if they still have it available, as it isn't presently on their website. They can probably order it for you, if you're interested in it. Note, though, that the price tag was pretty hefty - around $50.

You can also find the book through Mad Sampler Books, available for special order at $48. I couldn't find it in too many other places online, so if you happen to know a resource, do please feel free to let us know!

I think, overall, this is my favorite purchase from my recent road trip. I picked up a lot of fun things, but this was a nice find of a not-so-common book, on a topic I like, in a beautiful format, with an interesting story to read. I really like it!

Labels: book review, embroidery resources, historical needlework, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 09, 2009
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At long last, the end of this monogram alphabet! I don't know if there's anyone out there who will ever embroider this particular "Z" onto anything, but still, there's a great sense in satisfaction about completing this alphabet! So, here it is, the last monogram...

I hope you like the monogram alphabets I've been posting - if you do, let me know, because I do have others that I still want to add to this online collection of monogram patterns. But sometimes I worry that I bore you to death with these repeated letters popping up every now and then!

Well, without further ado then, here's the large Z:



And here's the small Z:



You can find the rest of this alphabet, as well other monograms, on my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for stitching suggestions for this particular alphabet, check out the Celtic A Monogram, where I went into a little detail on how you might stitch it.

Yippee! The END!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, May 29, 2009
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Coming close here to the finish of the Celtic Monograms for Hand Embroidery series, here is the letter Y. Only one more to go!!!

If you would like suggestions for stitching these monograms, including what stitches and threads to use, please visit the "A" in this alphabet. There, you'll find some more detail on the monograms. You'll also see how the inside areas between the loose knotwork is supposed to be shaded with a kind of "stippled" effect (easy to accomplish using seed stitch or French knots).

Here's the small Y:



And here's the large Y:



For the rest of this alphabet or for other monograms, please visit my list of monograms here on Needle 'n Thread. You'll also find plenty of other hand embroidery patterns here, if you're looking for something more to do with your needle and thread!

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, May 24, 2009
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Here's the X for the Celtic monograms for hand embroidery. Only two more to go, and the alphabet will be finished! I'm so glad. Whew. It'll be nice to do some other patterns without the guilt of an unfinished monogram alphabet hanging over my head!

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small X:



And here's the large X:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, May 14, 2009
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After a long pause in monograms for hand embroidery, I'm going to make every effort to finish up the Celtic alphabet this week! ('Bout time, I know!) Here is the letter V...

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small V:



And here's the large V:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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I can hardly restrain my blissful giddiness over the fact that I'm almost finished with the Celtic monograms for hand embroidery! After this one, I think only four more to go! You're probably just as glad as I am, because these monograms are getting kinda... well... old. But then, after all, they are old. :-)

Here's the long and really short of it on the Celtic monograms: for stitch suggestions, check the Celtic A!

Here's the small version of the Celtic U:



And here's the large version:



Now, today, if all goes well, I will at least manage two things: setting up a simple embroidery project (for a grab-and-go project), and stitching a bit on my whitework sampler! Keep your fingers crossed for me, that I get something accomplished, because otherwise, I just may go nuts!

But, before I can launch into that, I have to frost my own birthday cake to take to my sister's for a birthday party this evening. It's somewhat strange, to make one's own cake, but hey - it's just dessert! I'm thinking about doing something really bizarre so that my sister officially proclaims that I shall never make the dessert again! Something like... oh, Pink Mountain Icing on a chocolate cake. That'll gross her out (but the kids'll love it!).

And, by the way, it's not my birthday (yet) - that's Wednesday, the 8th, which will be the perfect day for a give-away! So stay tuned for that on Wednesday. You can help me celebrate!

Have a terrific Sunday!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, April 05, 2009
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Continuing with the Celtic monograms for hand embroidery: the letter Q...

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small Q:



And here's the large Q:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, March 28, 2009
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Continuing with the Celtic monograms for hand embroidery: the letter P...

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small P:



And here's the large P:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, March 26, 2009
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Continuing with the Celtic monograms for hand embroidery: the letter O...

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small O:



And here's the large O:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, March 21, 2009
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Continuing with the Celtic monograms for hand embroidery: the letter N...

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small N:



And here's the large N:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, March 19, 2009
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Continuing with the Celtic monograms for hand embroidery: the letter K...

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small K:



And here's the large K:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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Here's a little update on my whitework embroidery sampler. I haven't gotten tooooo far, but I did manage some stitching last weekend. I'm still working on my 15 minute sessions, and I haven't forgotten the goldwork iris, either! Juggling two projects at a time has its drawbacks - but more on that later!

The last time we visited this project, I was doing some drawn thread embroidery in the scrolls, in a 15-minute session. I haven't finished the scrolls. Come to think of it, I haven't finished the Schwalm pomegranate motif, either. Don't worry! I will. That's part of the fun, perhaps, of a sporadic embroidery sampler - you can pick up and leave off different parts, moving around hither and thither as the creative spirit moves you, reinvigorating your interest in the piece if need be.

So, this past weekend, I placed a monogram:



It's a large monogram. I chose the "M" for unusual reasons, actually! It has nothing to do with the letter itself - I would have chosen any letter that fit my plan. See the last downward stroke on the "M" on the right? It's perfect for demonstrating a satin stitch technique called trailing. Hence, the "M."

I like this monogram style, by the way. I think it's really pretty. It's from an early 20th century ladies' magazine, too, so eventually, I'll clean up this set and share them with you. (First, I will finish the Celtic monograms, though!!)

To transfer the design, I'm using tacking stitches and tissue paper, as I demonstrated before with a photo tutorial. I would like to have used regular tissue paper - the kind you use for wrapping gifts - but I didn't have any on hand, so I stuck with this yellowish stuff.

After using large stitches around the monogram to hold the tracing paper in place, I turned the frame around to work the tacking stitches.



It was easier to reach the top of the design that way. I suppose I could have re-adjusted my frame and stand, but I didn't. I just turned the frame... After stitching the tacking stitches all over the design, I took a sharp needle and ran it over all the stitches to split the paper and make it easier to remove. It came off great!



So, here's the transfer. It's nice and clear. This time, I worked the stitches in white (rather than green, as in the tutorial on transferring patterns this way.) MUCH better in white, methinks. Whatever possessed me to use the green, I shall not know. Anyway, the white worked great, and I don't have any worries, in case I can't remove some of the tacking stitches. They'll work right in to the embroidery.



Farther away, you can't see it so well, but you can get a hint of the size of the monogram placed on the sampler. You can also see all the little bits I haven't finished!!

I've found a nice cutwork design from another early 20th century magazine, too. It's a fairly complex design, but complete in itself (not the edge of a tablecloth or runner or anything). It's not too big - perhaps 4.5 inches tall and about 3.5 inches wide. I'll be transferring that on, right above the Schwalm pomegranate somewhere. Those will be the last two "large" motifs on the sampler, and everything else I do will fit between and around everything that's there, I think... though there is that upper left corner that could accommodate something a bit larger. Hmmmm...

So, that's where I am. Keep your fingers crossed that I can squeeze in some 15(0)-minute sessions and make some progress on this thing, will you?

Have a terrific Wednesday! (Halfway there!)

Here's my "further information" blurb:

More Drawn Thread and Whitework Embroidery

Drawn Thread - Securing Edges with Re-Weaving
Drawn Thread - Securing Edges with Satin Stitch
Drawn Thread - Hemstitch Tutorial
Drawn Thread - Chain Loop Bunches
Sampler Update with Schwalm Embroidery
Online Book on Drawn Thread Techniques
Diamond Stitch in Drawn Thread Work
Coral Knot Bunches in Drawn Thread Embroidery
Zig-Zags in Drawn Thread Embroidery
All Whitework Articles on Needle 'n Thread

You can find more tips and tricks for hand embroidery - including all the above tutorials - indexed on my Tips and Tricks for Hand Embroidery page.

Labels: drawn thread embroidery, embroidery tips and tricks, monograms, needlework pictures, pictures, sampler, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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And yet another Celtic monogram for hand embroidery: the letter L...

I'm almost finished with this monogram alphabet!! Yippee! The funny thing is, I've got several more alphabets I wanted to clean up and post! This is turning into a never-ending project!

Again, you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small L:



And here's the large L:




For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, March 14, 2009
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Continuing with this set of monograms for hand embroidery, here's the W.

Again, you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small version of the W:



And here's the large version:



For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, March 13, 2009
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I'm getting there!! I'm utterly determined to finish this alphabet, so I can move on to other hand embroidery patterns without having this unfinished business hanging over my head! So, on that note, here is the Celtic I...

Again, you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the small version of the I:



And here's the large version:



For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, March 12, 2009
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Here's the next monogram for hand embroidery, the Celtic H.

If you're looking for embroidery stitch suggestions, please visit Celtic A monogram, where you'll find several ideas for stitching up the monograms in this series.

Here's the large version of the H:



And here's the smaller version:



For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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Continuing with the Celtic-styled monograms for hand embroidery, here's the T.

If you're looking for stitching suggestions, check out the Celtic A monogram, where you'll find stitching recommendations. But don't just rely on my recommendations! Feel free to experiment!

Here's the large version of the Celtic T:



And here's the smaller version of the monogram:



For more hand embroidery monograms, check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. If you're looking for other hand embroidery designs in general, check out my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns, where you'll find an updated list of hand embroidery designs here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, March 09, 2009
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It's been a long while since I've posted a free monogram for hand embroidery! I'm determined to finish up this Celtic alphabet, though... so here's the J.

You'll find suggestions for embroidering these monograms under the Celtic A. You'll also notice, on the Celtic A, that the area inside the loops formed by the knots are seeded with little dots. To cut down on the time spent cleaning up the monograms, I skipped the dots, but you can certainly add them into your embroidery, using seed stitch or French knots, if you wish!

Here's the large version of the J:



And here's the smaller version of the J:



For more monograms - in this alphabet and one other floral alphabet - please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. You'll also find a bunch of free embroidery patterns here on Needle 'n Thread under my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, March 08, 2009
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Here's a little hand embroidery pattern that's quite simple. It can be used for a number of items - whatever use your imagination can concoct, really - but it has one specific purpose to which it is quite well suited.

This little design is typical of the "frames" that encase a hand embroidered monogram. You can put anything in the middle, really, but, back in the day, it was often common for little embroidered monograms to be surrounded by a frame such as this one.

I think this will print around 4" square. You can save the design straight to your computer (in gif format), or you can use the PDF of the design below. To enlarge it or shrink it, you can play with it in a photocopy machine or on your computer, or you can simply reset the PDF settings for a different print size.



Medallion Frame for Hand Embroidery (PDF)

The piece could always be worked in satin stitch, but I think it would look better with the lines stitched in Palestrina stitch (or something similar), and then either the square frame or the shaped frame to be filled with seed stitches, to enhance the distinction and the intertwining.

I think the design would be very pretty, worked small, in the corner of a fine handkerchief - white on white, with delicate threads (perhaps white YLI silk?) - with a tiny initial in the middle. Perfect for a bride, or for mom for Mother's Day...

Those are just ideas, of course! I'm sure you can come up with plenty of stitching ideas for the design!

For more hand embroidery patterns, please visit my Index of Hand Embroidery Patterns here on Needle 'n Thread. If you're looking for stitch suggestions or directions, try the Video Library of Hand Embroidery Stitches. And if you need a monogram for the middle of the medallion frame, try the Monograms Index!

Check back this weekend for my stash giveaway for February! I've got all kinds of weird ideas milling around in my head for this one, thanks to a cleaning bout in the studio. I'm organizing threads with a new thread rack - and it's about time, let me tell ya!

Enjoy the weekend!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, February 20, 2009
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It's been a while since I've posted a monogram pattern for hand embroidery! One of these days, I really do plan to end this alphabet! In the meantime, here's the G.

To speed up the process of cleaning up this set of letters, I've not put the little shading dots in. You'll see where they fit if you check out the first monogram in this alphabet - the A. You'll also find some ideas there for stitches to use.

Here's the small version:



And here's a larger version:



For other patterns that can be used for hand embroidery, please check out my index of hand embroidery patterns, and, for more monograms, you can check out my index of monograms for hand embroidery. Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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I've been a wee bit slow about posting these monograms for hand embroidery, haven't I?! Well, if you have someone whose name (first or last) begins with an "R" on your Christmas list, perhaps you can do something with this "R" monogram!

I gave stitching suggestions for this set of monograms under the Celtic A, if you want some tips on how you could hand embroider something with a monogram like this. You can also use the monograms for other applications... a reader sent me an e-mail and said she was using them to etch beer mugs as Christmas gifts! What a terrific idea! (If you know how to etch beer mugs....)

Anyway, here's the R, in a smaller format:



And here it is, a bit larger:



If you're looking for something to stitch, check out the other free hand embroidery patterns on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, December 14, 2008
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A couple weeks ago, Marika sent along photos of a beautiful and cleverly designed piece she embroidered for her brother and his new fiancee. Her combination of colored embroidery and whitework is really well done! I thought you might enjoy the photos...

The piece of embroidery is a set of monograms - two S's - for his brother and his fiancee, both of whose names begin with S. It seems that Marika's soon-to-be sister-in-law likes her whitework, while her brother likes her colored embroidery. So Marika cleverly combined the two color options in a double monogram set.



Using the monogram pattern for the letter S here on Needle 'n Thread, Marika designed the piece so that the two letters were joined by a central flower combining both whitework (on the petals) and color (the center). The whitework monogram is entwined with colored flowers and the colored monogram is entwined with whitework flowers. I don't think I would have ever thought of doing that - I think it's really cleverly done, especially considering it's an engagement gift.



She worked the monograms and flowers with a split stitch outline, then filled them with long straight stitches, over which she worked satin stitch, using one strand of DMC stranded cotton for the white, and the color is worked in Chameleon Threads space dyed Soie de Paris for the colored threads. (More on this thread later - I'm intrigued by it, as I hadn't heard of it before. Anyone? I wonder if it's available in the US...)



I really like the blue with the whitework flowers - I love the contrast! It reminds me of my grandmother's Wedgewood Jasperware. Notice as well that she embroidered the date of the engagement just below the S, a very nice personal touch.



But I think my favorite is the white S with the colored flowers. It looks light and colorful. I want to try this combination.

Congratulations on a job well done, Marika - I'm sure the happy couple will love the gift!

Thanks, Marika, for giving us a new take on combining different styles of embroidery! I think I may have to try this whitework / color combination on an oatmeal colored towel... I've added it to my ever growing list of things I want to do...

If you have a project you'd like to share with the rest of us, please drop me a line and I'll send along my e-mail address to you. It's always fun to see what the rest of the creative world is up to!

I hope you're all having a pleasant weekend. For me, I've got heaps of school work to do (for my real job, I'm a high school English teacher...), so I'll be busy with that most of the weekend. But I do plan to get in a wee bit of stitching on my Christmas ornament later tonight! Here's hoping!

Labels: monograms, needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, November 01, 2008
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Here's another letter to add to my free hand embroidery monogram alphabets: a D with a Celtic flavor.

I should apologize for the time it's taking to get this whole alphabet on! I hope no one has an embroidery project awaiting a specific letter! If you do, leave a comment below, and I'll put that letter at the top of the list!

For stitching ideas, you may wish to check out the Celtic A monogram. I mentioned a couple ideas in that post on how you might want to stitch these letters. Of course, you can stitch them any way your imagination prompts you to do so!

Without further ado, then, here's the D.

The small version:



And the larger version:



Enjoy!

Coming up this week: an October stash give-away. I've been scrounging for some goodies to put together as a nice stash give-away, so keep an eye out for this month's stash contest as the week progresses!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, October 07, 2008
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Continuing on with the latest monogram alphabet for your hand embroidery projects, featuring a kind of Celtic-flavor alphabet of loose knotwork - here's the letter C.

I posted stitching ideas for this alphabet with the letter A, if you're looking for any ideas on how to embroider these letters.

Here's the small version of the C:



Here's the large version:



For more monograms for hand embroidery, visit my index of monograms, which can be found under Free Hand Embroidery Patterns here on Needle 'n Thread.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, September 28, 2008
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Here's the next requested letter for the current monogram alphabet for hand embroidery (or other craft) project - the letter E.

I've posted some stitching suggestions for this alphabet with the letter A, if you are interested in checking those out. You can also see what letters are currently available for this alphabet by checking the Monogram Index.

If you have a particular letter you'd like to see in this alphabet, just leave a comment below, and I'll move that letter to the top of my list!

Here's the small E:



And here's the larger version:



Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, September 20, 2008
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This is a continuation of the Celtic "flavor" monogram alphabet I've been posting lately - today's free hand embroidery pattern is for the letter M.

You can find stitching ideas on the post for the letter A of this alphabet, and you can also find more monograms for hand embroidery on the index page for the monograms available here on Needle 'n Thread.

Here's the smaller version of the M:



And here's the larger version:



Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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Continuing on with the Celtic monogram alphabet, here's another free embroidery pattern for you: the letter F.

If you're looking for embroidery ideas for this particular alphabet, check out the post for the Celtic monogram letter A.

You can save these letters directly to your own computer and resize them as you wish, either in a photo editing program or by printing them out and using a copy machine.

Here's the small version of the F:



Here's the larger version of the F:



For more letters in this alphabet, or for other monogram alphabets, please check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, September 14, 2008
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Here's the next monogram for hand embroidery - the Celtic B...

If you check out the post on the celtic A monogram, you'll find some stitching suggestions for this set of monograms.

Here's the small version of the B:



And here's the large version:



For more monograms for hand embroidery, feel free to visit my Index of Monograms.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, September 09, 2008
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Continuing with the new set of monograms for hand embroidery, here's an "S" for you...

You can find stitching ideas for this monogram pattern on the page with the "A" on it. If you have any ideas for good embroidery stitches for this monogram set, please don't hesitate to share them!

Here's the small S:



And here's the larger version:



For some reason, I really like the smaller version of this alphabet better, but in case you have some project that requires a Really Large Celtic letter, there you have one!

For more monograms, please don't hesitate to visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery!

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, September 07, 2008
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Here's the beginning of a new set of monograms for hand embroidery. This set is a bit Celtic in flavor, as it features some loose knotwork.

I like this alphabet a lot - there are many embroidery options for the letters. The original alphabet, from Journal des Demoiselles, features a specked area inside the curves of the knotwork. These areas can be filled with tiny seed stitching, or left empty. The shape of the letters can be satin stitched or simply outlined. You could also try a variety of different types of fillings that would take curves well. For a lighter look, you could try feather stitch, or fly stitch. You could also work the letters in chain stitch or any variations - rope stitch, heavy chain, etc.

I thought I'd offer two sizes of the monogram here, to make it easier for saving and printing. The original alphabet was small - about an inch and a half to two inches high.

Here's the small version of the Celtic A:



Here's the large version of the Celtic A:



You'll find more free monograms for hand embroidery on my Monogram Index. Just click on the letter you're looking for!

I'm a bit slow cleaning up the individual letters for the monogram alphabets, so if you have a particular letter you'd like soon, just leave a comment and let me know. I'll try to do popular letters first.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, September 05, 2008
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Finally! My first alphabet of monograms for hand embroidery is finally finished! The letter Z completes the set! Here it is...

I still have a little tiny bit of work to do on the monogram alphabet. Thanks to Margaret, I've got the first half of the alphabet traced in vectors, so they'll have the same smooth lines. I just need to replace the fuzzier letters - so I'll be doing that in the next couple days!

I have a Celtic-like alphabet I'm thinking of doing next. The letters are smaller than these, and a little more intricate, but I like the alphabet! I've got it on my list of Things to Do... you know the list - the kind that keeps growing!

Here's the Z:



And for the rest of this particular alphabet, you can visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery, and you'll find them all there!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, August 15, 2008
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It's been about a week since I've posted a free monogram pattern for hand embroidery - I'm slowly dragging to the end of this alphabet - not to draw it out, but just because life has been hectic! Here's the "Y"!

All that's left to give you to complete this whole monogram alphabet is the "Z." I'll be updating the first half of this alphabet with the cleaner patterns made from vector drawings (thanks to Margaret, who traced the first half of the alphabet for me!)

And then, I've got some letter combinations and a smaller alphabet I was thinking about cleaning up next...

Here's the Y:



For the rest of this alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 30, 2008
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I'm finally getting down to the last three letters for the monogram alphabet that you can use for your hand embroidery projects that just beg for monogramming!

If you're looking for the whole alphabet for the hand embroidery monograms, check out the Index of Monograms that you'll find on my Free Hand Embroidery Patterns Page.

Here's the X:



If you ever do anything with any of the monograms, I'd love to hear about it, and even to see photos! Just drop me a line, and I'll get back to you with an e-mail address!

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 19, 2008
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I have to admit, it's getting difficult to think of an "original" way to begin these posts for each monogram. I almost started off this one by singing the "W" song - but I thought I'd spare everyone! Here's the next monogram for hand embroidery - the W.

Oh, what is the letter we love? What sound are we extra-fond of? It's not any trouble, you know it's a "W" when you hear wuh, wuh, wuh, wuh... (or something along those lines... I couldn't resist.) I didn't grow up with Earnie and Bert, but I had a niece who used to listen to that tape over and over and over again!

I think it would be fun to embroider the "W" - lots of curves and smooth long lines.

Here's the letter:



You can find the rest of this alphabet (it's almost complete) at the Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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Slowly but surely, this monogram alphabet is filling up! Here's the U...

I figure "U" is probably not the most commonly used letter for monograms, but I know that someone out there is bound to want it, at some point! So, without further ado, here is the U... (I'm such a poet...)



For more monograms from this alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Have fun with it!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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Yet another monogram for hand embroidery - the letter T...

The T is a little different from the other monograms patterns so far - it has slight points at the top of each arm. It makes the whole thing look a bit more angular than the rest of the alphabet, although it still has the curves on the stems and the base. I like it!



If you want other letters in this particular alphabet, check out the list of monograms - which is slowly but surely filling up!

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 12, 2008
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Here's the next monogram for hand embroidery - the letter P.

I'm still playing with these embroidery patterns in vector format. Has anyone tried printing them yet? Just curious - I (ahem) don't have a printer right now! Bad situation, I know!

There are quite a few areas I'd like to straighten up on this, but anything that is too worbly, I think you can straighten up in the transfer... but if you think it's just impossible, let me know! I neeeeeed to perfect this whole graphics thing!

Here's the P - any feedback would be wonderfully appreciated!



For more monograms in this alphabet, check out the monogram list!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 11, 2008
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Here's the letter G, in its own official spot, without a confusing title!

For more letters of this monogram alphabet, please visit the Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 11, 2008
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Here's one more hand embroidery monogram for today - the letter R - but you'll probably notice something a bit different about this pattern...

I mentioned earlier today in my post on the O and Q monograms that I was working on cleaner versions of these monogram patterns, thanks to Margaret's tutorials she sent me on how to trace a design as a vector image. So here's my first attempt! There are little points that are a bit more wobbly than I like, but overall the lines are smoother and clearer, and I think they will print a lot clearer on your printer!

Anyway, what do you think? Do you like them better this way? I thought I'd poll readers to hear your impressions. What do you like better, since the patterns are here for you, after all!

Here's the R:



For the rest of the alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery!

And let me know what you think about the different look of the letters!

Thanks!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 10, 2008
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Here are two monograms for hand embroidery - the "O" and the "Q."

Since these are the same letters, I thought I'd post them in the same post. The only difference between the two is the "tail" on the "Q."

I hope you enjoy these! If you embroider anything with them, let me know! I had an e-mail from someone yesterday who said she was going to embroider a whole quilt with the whole alphabet! I can't wait to see the restults of that!

Here's the O:



And here's the Q:



If you're looking for a specific letter, check out the rest of the alphabet at my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

EXCITING NEWS: Ahhh - breaking news. I'm very excited about this! Thanks to Margaret C. (the other MC!), who developed and sent me an excellent series of video tutorials on using Inkscape (free software for creating vector images), I can now give you a Much Cleaner Version (no comparison, really) of these letters! I'm hoping to show you what I mean when I post the "R," which still needs a lot of tweaking, but which will be up soon! THANK YOU, MARGARET!!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 10, 2008
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Here's the latest monogram for hand embroidery - the letter N.

Because of the turns on the N, if you're planning to satin stitch this monogram, you should think in advance of your stitch direction. When you embroider a letter, you want the stitch direction to make sense - that is, you don't necessarily want to change the direction of your stitching on each different "leg" of the embroidery. Try to keep an overall consistent stitch direction in the main parts of the monogram.

When you start thinking about stitch direction on something like this letter, things can start getting confusing. I suggest marking in your stitch direction lines before you begin to embroider, using a very light pencil.

Of course, monograms are not relegated to satin stitch only - you can use all kinds of stitches to fill, including long and short stitch, stem stitch used as a filling, chain stitch, split stitch, and so forth.

Well, here's the "N" - I hope you like it!



Check out the rest of the available letters of this monogram alphabet, which you'll find listed in the Monogram Index.

And, next up is the O and the Q, which are incidentally the same monogram - you have to remove the tail for the Q - which I may do in advance for you, just to avoid the confusion!

Have fun with it!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 09, 2008
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Here's another monogram for hand embroidery - this time, the letter "L."

Slowly but surely, the monogram alphabet is filling up! Before you know it, I'll reach "Z." I wonder if there will be any takers for the "Z"??!! More likely than "X," I suppose....

In the last few days, I've received four requests for the "L," so I'm glad to get it out here for you all. I responded to all the e-mail requests, but two of them failed in delivery (I think AOL users need to add me to their address book, or something, before I can get through!).

Ok, without further ado - here 'tis:



For more letters of this alphabet, please visit my Monogram Index!

Have fun with it!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 08, 2008
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Continuing on with the monogram alphabet here... I'm trying to double up on the letters to get them finished a bit sooner! So, here are the I and the J for your embroidering pleasure!

If you want to check out the rest of this monogram alphabet, visit my index of monograms for hand embroidery. I think I'm a good half-way finished now on this particular alphabet!

Here's the "I":



And here's the "J":



Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 07, 2008
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I'm glad to see that some readers are having fun embroidering some of the monograms from the alphabet I've been posting recently! Meeta sent photos of her recent hand embroidery project - a guest towel made from dark brown linen, with the "K" on it worked in white....

Meeta used a nice combination of embroidery stitches - seed stitch for the filling on the K, stem stitch around the outside, and the flowers are satin stitched.



I really like the effect of the embroidery in white on the darker fabric! I find it very striking!



I like it!!! Thanks for sending along the photos, Meeta! Congratulations on a job well done!

Labels: monograms, needlework pictures, pictures, readers embroidery, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 06, 2008
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This time, two monograms for your hand embroidery projects - letters E and F!

For more free monogram patterns for hand embroidery, please visit my Free Embroidery Patterns page, where you'll find the link for an index of monograms here on Needle 'n Thread.

Here's the E:



And here's the F:

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 06, 2008
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Back onto my schedule of supplying you with the whole monogram alphabet for your hand embroidery projects, here's the letter D...

I just received an e-mail from a reader who sent pictures of her latest embroidery project - she used one of the monograms on a dark guest towel, stitched in white with seed stitching and satin stitch. It's really beautiful. Once I have permission, I'll post it for you to see, too!

In the meantime, here's the letter D:



For more monograms from this alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 05, 2008
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Here's the next monogram for hand embroidery - the letter "B." I think it's a bit fuzzier than I would like, but if you're tracing or transferring the design onto fabric, I think it'll work fine.

This whole alphabet of monograms for embroidery is filling out ok, but it seems like a slow process at this pace! I keep forgetting that, at one letter a day, it will take 26 days to finish one alphabet. I shall pursue a solution to that!

But in the meantime, enjoy the B:



For the rest of the alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 03, 2008
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Continuing with the whole alphabet for hand embroidered monograms, here's a free pattern for those of you wish might wish to embroidery the letter "H" on household linens, towels, wedding gifts, and whatever else you can think to use a monogram on!

To get down to business and keep this post somewhat short, here's the free embroidery pattern for the letter H:



For those of you using a PC, you can right click that and save it to your computer, then do whatever you want with it!

For more letters in this alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 02, 2008
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Here's another monogram for hand embroidery, this time, the letter "V."

I'd love to hear if anyone is planning on doing anything in particular with these monograms. I suppose they could be used for other applications besides hand embroidery, but when I think monograms, I automatically think hand embroidery. And, well... this is an embroidery website, after all!

For more monograms, please visit the Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery, where I'm trying to fill in this whole alphabet!

Here's the V:



Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 01, 2008
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Yet another monogram for hand embroidery - the letter "S." I've been posting twice a day, with the intention of getting this whole monogram alphabet online for you - but I don't know if I'll be able to keep up the pace! We'll see. It's been kind of fun and challenging, anyway! If you've liked this monogram alphabet so far, I think you'll really like the "S." It's pretty!

I think I may have given the impression previously that monograms can only be hand embroidered using specialty threads, like coton a broder. Not so, not so! In the next couple weeks, one of my summer embroider classes will begin monogramming a hankie. They're using DMC stranded cotton, and I'm sure it will turn out just fine! I'll post photos of the class sample as soon as I work it up!

For the rest of this monogram alphabet, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery. You'll also find it listed on my Free Hand Embroidery Patterns page!

And so, here's the S - Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, June 30, 2008
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Here's the next free monogram for hand embroidery... the letter K. At this rate, it should only take about ten forevers to finish one monogram alphabet! I may have to find a different approach! Be that as it may, in the meantime, I hope you are enjoying these particular embroidery designs!

In the previous articles featuring these free embroidery monograms, I've gone on at some length about techniques, so if you haven't read those, you might want to check out the posts on the letters A, C, G, and M. You can also visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery, which you'll find listed on my embroidery patterns page.

Without further ado, here's the K:



I tried cleaning this one up a little differently, scanning it first as a bmp, then cleaning it up and saving it as a gif. The others I worked on as jpgs, which allowed me a little more leeway in smoothing up the lines and filling in the gaps. I may have to go back to jpgs for the clean up...

But, whatever the case, enjoy the monograms!!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, June 29, 2008
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As promised, I'm adding the "M" to my index of monograms for hand embroidery. Here's the free embroidery pattern...

This was another messy monogram - when I scanned it, despite the resolution, I ended up with lots of broken or absent little line fragments, lots of fuzz, and there was also a slight wrinkle in the page, so a there was some creasing. Anyway, I think it's ok now to use for an embroidery pattern! It's no perfect graphic, but it will certainly serve for transferring an embroidery design, don't you think?

I'm slowly cleaning up the whole alphabet. In the order of "most wanted," the "S" will be up next. Then the "K" and the "V." So keep an eye out!

Here's the "M"...



Feel free to check out my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery for other letters.

Enjoy!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, June 28, 2008
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Sorry about that big blunder yesterday! If you want to embroider a "C" on something, here's the design for the monogram!

In case you're debating how to transfer your monogram to your fabric before embroidering it, there are a number of ways to do that. For the oatmean colored guest towel I embroidered, I used an iron-on transfer, so I didn't really have to deal with that issue. When you're printing a design, though, you do.

I find the most accurate way to get a pattern down for a project is to trace it. If you don't have a light box, use a sunny window, taping your pattern to the window and your fabric on top of your pattern. Use a regular #2 pencil and trace it lightly. If you're sure the design will be completely covered by your stitching, after you've traced it with the pencil, you can go over it with a fine-tipped micron art pen.

The pencil will wash out! I generally starch my fabric and iron it well before tracing on it with a pencil, and the pencil always washes out. The pen will not wash out.

And, as I've mentioned before, if you don't want to trace, you can always use dressmaker's carbon - or turn your design over and trace it with pencil on the wrong side, place the pattern on your fabric (pencil-traced side down), and, using a ball point pen or a stylus, trace over the pattern. In effect, you're just making your own carbon paper...

Anyway, I know I harp on the design transfer point a lot. It's one of those questions I get asked a lot!

Here's the C - yes, it's the C!! This design was pretty messy, so you can probably tell where I've reconstructed some of the lines. I probably should have just reconstructed (redrawn) the whole thing!

For other monograms, check out the Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery!

Enjoy!

Labels: embroidery tips and tricks, free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, June 27, 2008
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, June 26, 2008
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I'm using this page to create an index for monogram patterns used for hand embroidery. As I clean up some old monogram patterns I have, I'll post them and add them to this index. I'll include a picture of one letter, so you can see what the monogram style looks like, and then links to the individual patterns for the monograms. I hope you find these patterns useful and inspiring for your needlework endeavors!

For each letter of each alphabet, there will be a post with a full sized pattern on it. I'll also include tips on how it might be hand embroidered. The individual letters are links to each full-sized monogram.

Flowered Monograms from La Broderie Blanche, 1912



A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Celtic Knotwork Monograms
This set, from Journal des Demoiselles, features a specked area inside the curves of loose knotwork.



A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Keep an eye out for future updates to the alphabet and additions of new alphabets.

Please note that all images here, to the best of my knowledge, are out of copyright. They come from old publications of magazines or needlework flyers that I'm trying to collect, most from the early 1900's. If you wish to link to these on your own website, please feel free to do so. If you wish to add the images to your own website, I ask that you please note Needle 'n Thread as the source, with a link. Thanks!

I'm always happy to hear about sources for these old publications, so if you know of any sources or have any that you are interested in selling, please contact me.

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, June 26, 2008
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I'm doing some clean-up work on posting mistakes, so here is really the Letter C - but I will repost the letter G in its own spot. If you added the monogram for the G to your favorites, you'll want to visit the list of monograms and go to the "real" G! Thanks for understanding!

I'm sure I'm stating the obvious when I tell you that monograms don't have to be white, and they don't have to be embroidered in satin stitch! If satin stitch intimidates you, try other stitches! For example, a simple stitch combination is the whipped backstitch as an edge, and seed stitch as a filler. Although I've shown it before, here's a leaf worked in that combination:



These are two very easy stitches, and the nice thing is that the whipped backstitch can be a very precise stitch, so it takes curves and points very well.

But for some of you, it may not be Intimidation by Satin Stitch that inhibits you from embroidering monograms. It may be that the satin stitch just doesn't thrill you.

If this is the case, you have GOT to check out Paule's website, where you will see a gorgeous variety of stitches used on monograms, in beautiful shades of roses and reds. They are stunning, and so perfectly stitched. Look, for example, at the "B" and "T" worked in feather stitch, or the outlined "O." Aren't they pretty? If you take the opportunity to browse through the images of Paule's sampler, I think you'll find some very inspiring ideas for working monograms!

So it's pretty feasible to embroider a monogram and completely avoid the satin stitch altogether. If nothing else, you could have fun experimenting with all kinds of stitch combinations!

Here's the "C," then:



Once the clean up work is done on the "M," I'll post it - and the "S" seems to be a popular request, too. If you haven't seen it yet, you can find the "A" here.

I'm also going to make up a monogram index page to make finding them a lot easier! I'll list that under my index of hand embroidery patterns, which probably needs the same kind of attention I gave my gallery last week!

Enjoy!

For more monogram patterns, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, June 26, 2008
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Since we're on the subject of hand embroidered monongrams (are you sick of it yet?!), I thought I'd share with you an alphabet! Unfortunately, it has to come in bits and pieces, since it requires a lot of clean-up work!

Here's the first letter! This is taken from an old publication (1912) called La Broderie Blanche, an old French magazine that sported lots of embroidery patterns. The image is not as clean as I would like, but it does suffice for a pattern!

You can enlarge the monogram or reduce it either on your computer or on a photocopier. An easy way to transfer the monogram onto white fabric is to use a sunny window. Tape the monogram onto a sunny window, tape your fabric over it, and trace it. If you have a light box, it may save your arm a bit!

You can also trace the monogram onto good tracing paper (use red ink), then turn the paper over and trace over the design with either a regular #2 pencil or with a white dressmaker's pencil (if you're transfering onto darker fabric). Place the monogram red-ink side up on your fabric where you want it, and use a ball point pen (don't break through the paper!) and trace back over the monogram. This should transfer your design clearly enough to see it, and then you can go back and touch up if needed.

Anyway, here's the A. I'll post the rest of the alphabet as I get it cleaned up.



Ain't it perty? I love this alphabet! I like it a lot better than the one I used on my guest towel project; it just lacks the convenience of an iron-on.

As far as embroidering, and what stitches to use, it really depends on your project. If you're doing something large, like a pillow case or sheets, or something medium-sized like a guest towel, you could outline the letter and fill in with tiny seed stitches, then satin stitch the flower petals and leaves, which would give a nice, light effect, and good contrast in texture and so forth. If you're doing something small, like a hanky, I'd probably go with overcast (barely padded, if at all) satin stitch. For hankies, the monogram needs to be pretty small, so in reducing this, I think you'd get to the point where you wouldn't have double lines on some parts of the letter. I think overcasting would work well in areas like that.

If anyone's positively antsy for a specific letter, let me know! I'll skip ahead.

For more monogram patterns, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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The hand-embroidered monogram I've been working up on a guest towel is finally finished! The whole point of this "little" project was to work it up as a class sample, so I tracked the statistics on it so I would know how to gauge our class time and our supplies. So here's the finished product, with the final statistics on how long it took to embroidery the piece, how much thread, etc.

Time-wise, it took me about 8 hours and 15 minutes to embroider the monogram. A little bit of that time was taken up in removing stitches (I started with the wrong sized thread, for example, and at another point, I didn't like the shape of some of the petals on the ornamentation, so I took those out, too). The majority of the time was just regular stitching, though. I didn't rush, really, and, looking back on the project now, I think I could've sped it up a bit if there had been any real pressure to get it done faster.



After I finished the embroidery, I filled a glass bowl with cool water and rinsed the piece. I let it soak about 10 minutes, and then smoothed it onto a towel to dry.

Before it was completely dry (still a little damp), I ironed it, wrong side up, on several layers of flannel covered with a pillow case. It's important, especially with any raised embroidery like this, to place the piece on something well-padded when you iron, in order to avoid crushing the stitches.

Now, keep in mind that, as a guest towel, it is reasonable that this thing will have to be washed. So I didn't treat it with any kind of ginger care or anything. I treated it like a household linen that would go through a regular washing and ironing process! The only exception is padding the surface of the ironing board really well, and ironing on the wrong side of the work.

After it was all ironed and ready to show off, I took it outside to photograph it, since the light was pretty good!



And there's the completed piece. I do like the natural colored linen. I was thinking I might touch up that drawn thread edge with white stitching, just to set it off, but perhaps not. It might look too "accented," if you know what I mean! What do you think?



And here's a close up.

Overall, I'm pleased with the way it turned out. It's always a good thing to work through a project that you're going to be teaching, so that you can know what points will need careful instruction and so forth. So I'm glad I managed to work up the whole sample. It isn't perfect, which is good - so I know the pitfalls when I teach the monogram!

By the way, I used about 35 strands of #20 coton a broder, and the strands were about 14" long, so about 13.6 yards of thread (I think that's about half a skein, maybe...)

Now, I'm off to prepare for my Monday morning class, which is the youngest group of children. I spent days and days last week (it seemed like years and years) tracing designs on towels, ironing, separating threads, and on and on. And here it is, Monday morning, and guess what? I'm not ready! Aaaack!

I'll be showing you some other samples and classwork along the way. Hope you enjoyed the monogram!

You can follow this project step by step with the following links:

Part I - Setting up, transferring design, discussion of supplies, and beginning the stitching.

Part II - Continuing the stitching, discussion on working padded satin stitch, stitches used, and some trouble-shooting.

Part III - Discussing taking the curves with satin stitch: how to work around the tight curves in a monogram, stitch direction, and so forth.

Labels: linen, monograms, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, June 23, 2008
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Continuing on the the embroidered monogram on a linen guest towel, today I want to show you how to manuever around curves with padded satin stitch. If you haven't read the articles yet on the guest towel, you might want to check out the first article on setting up the guest towel and the second article with an update on the stitching.

These are photos of the curves on the "B" monogram. Satin stitch takes curves - even tight curves - well, if you keep in mind the concept of "fanning" your stitches. I want to show you two things in this post: 1. the pictures without any markings, so you can see the stitches; and 2. the pictures of the embroidery with lines showing the change in direction on the stitching.



Here's the curly-que tail on the back of the "B."



Here's the base of the back of the "B."



Here's the tight loop on the inside of the front of the "B."



And the inside of the front of the "B," from a different angle.



And this is the curl at the top of the front of the "B."

The curly-que on the back tail of the "B" and the inside loop on the front of the "B" are the tightest curves. The principles are the same, whether you're working on a tight curve or a gradual curve, so we're going to look at the tight curves, since they are usually the more difficult to work around!



When you're working around a curve - whether tight or gradual - your stitch direction changes. You want to ease your way around the curve, but in tight spots, that easing has to be done a little more dramatically!

So as you work around a curve, you fan your stitches. The stitches on the inside of the curve need to be a lot closer than the stitches on the outside. But the trick is to not overlap the stitches, no matter how close they are on the inside; otherwise you'll lose the smooth effect of the satin stitching.



This photo shows a bit better the dramatic change in direction. The outside of the curve (especially when working a padded satin stitch, as the padding helps hide the fabric underneath) can even be spaced a bit further apart than normal, in order to compensate as you work around the tighter curve. However, if you aren't padding your stitches, you'll want to make sure there is complete coverage of the ground fabric.

The trick to making tight loops look good is keeping your stitches as close as possible on the inside of the loop, without allowing them to overlap, and spacing them "just far enough apart" on the outside to allow them to fan properly and to get your stitches going in the direction you want them to go!

Satin stitching on a curve is not hard - it just takes practice. One thing that might help is trying your stitches from different directions. Try coming up on the inside and going down on the outside of the loop. If this doesn't work well for you, turn it around - go up on the outside and down on the inside. Stick with what works best for you. I bring my needle to the front of the fabric on the inside of the loop and take it down on the outside, because I think it's easier to see exactly the stitch direction.

Another helpful trick, if you're not padding your satin stitches, is to mark your stitch directions in pencil inside the lines. This will help guide you around the curve. If you are padding your satin stitches, you could use a contrasting color of thread - just regular sewing thread works! - and baste in some directional lines that can be pulled out when you're finished with the curve.

Ok, I'm going to finish this project today, so I'll post photos of the completed monogrammed towel, washed and pressed and ready for display as a class sample, soon!

If you're taking up a monogramming project, feel free to send me a photo! I'd love to see other people's work!

This project is in four articles, besides this article. You can find the other parts of the project through the following links:

Part I: setting up the project, transferring the design, discussion of threads

Part II: stitching, information on padded satin stitch and other stitches employed, some trouble shooting.

Part III: that's this article!

Part IV: The finished guest towel!

Labels: embroidery tips and tricks, linen, monograms, needlework pictures, needlework tutorials, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, June 20, 2008
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Following up on my first article about hand embroidering a monogram on a linen guest towel, where you'll get details of supplies and technique, I thought I'd show you progress on the monogram and discuss the importance of precision in the outline.

After I finished the tip of the B, I continued backstitching the outline of the letter.



Now, this is the thing: when you're stitching your outline, it is best, on the long stretches, to work with relatively longer stitches, so that you get a smooth, flowing line. As you work into the curves, your outlining stitches can shorten up a bit, in order to take the curves well.

My stitches here could have been a little longer. The difficulty is that, with shorter stitches, you tend to focus more on the fabric than on the smooth flow of stitches. And when you're focusing closely on the fabric, you end up naturally wanting to stitck your needle into the holes corresponding with the threads in the fabric, rather than sticking faithfully to the sweep of the line. So the result can end up a bit bumpy.

In the long run, you'll be much happier if you take your time with the outlining steps - make sure that your lines are nice and smooth, because you'll be using them to hold the edge of your satin stitch. A messy satin stitch on a monogram is never desirable, so take good care while you're outling - it will save you frustration later!



When you look up close at the backstitching, you can see where the line jiggles in and out a bit. In the long run, the slight variation in the line didn't bother me too much, but I kept an eye out for it and compensated with my satin stitches.

The white little blob inside the lines of the letter (upper left of stitching) is where I ended my threads. Since that area is going to be covered anyway, I began my stitching by taking about three tiny little stitches into each other, inside the lines of the letter.



And here you see the back of the stitching so far.



When you see even more of the backstitching, you can see the jiggling of the line. Tsk tsk!



And, the back of that - a combination of stem stitch and split stitch show up on the back. These stitches on the back will be mostly covered up by the satin stitching, although often you'll get a little border of half-stitches along the satin stitch line on the back, because the stitches tend to be split as you pass your needle to the back.



The purpose of this photo is two-fold: 1. you can see the height on the embroidery; and 2. to show you again how I'm ending my threads - you can see the white marks inside the letter lines again. These are just little tiny stitches taken into each other; they serve to anchor the thread very well. As long as you're covering up the area with other stitches, this is a great way to begin or end your threads.



The outlining on the whole "B" is almost finished!



Ah, I like this! See the thread ring? Those are great for hitching up your whitework threads. Coton a broder, when left in the skein form, doesn't operate like regular stranded floss - it doesn't "pull" out of the skein. To make it easy to take a length of thread, I precut the skein in two pieces, to make about 14" - 15" lengths of thread, which I hitch up on a large thread ring. (This is a mother of pearl thread ring, large size, from Kelmscott Design). Then you can just pull your thread straight from the front cross over on the ring, without untying the bunch (the same way I did with the kids' threads and the craft foam mentioned yesterday).



And, the back of the "B."



With the complete outline finished, it's time to put the padding stitches in!



Here's a close-up on the padding stitching - long stitches filling in the centers of the letter lines.



And, finally, satin stitching over the padding, from the base of the B up. I also added some of the vine and flowers, so I could see what it would look like when finished. Notice that when you outline your satin stitch area and pad it, then satin stitch it, you end up with a slightly larger sized design. The little petals on that inside flower sure didn't look that big before they were stitched. Still, I like them.

So there's the progress on the monogram - what think you so far?? You'll hopefully see the grand finale on this one before the week's up! Holy cow! I better be finished by then!

This project was written up in four articles, including this one. You can view the progress on the whole project through the following links:

Part I - setting up, transferring design, discussion of materials, beginning stitching

Part II - (that's this one)

Part III - taking the curves with satin stitch - stitch direction and working around tight curves with satin stitch.

Part IV - the finished project!

Labels: embroidery tips and tricks, monograms, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, June 18, 2008
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I mentioned in yesterday's post (the beginning of a monogrammed linen guest towel) that, to make my embroidery classes a little easier this summer, and to eliminate the time for transferring designs, I decided to go with iron-on transfers. I think there's a knack to ironing on a transfer - you'd think it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I'm finding that it actually is.

As I started looking for suitable iron-on transfer books for the embroidery classes, I concentrated on monograms first. We're embroidering a selection of different household linens, and monograms always work great for any kind of linen in the home, I think. Even kitchen towels are suitable for a monogram! (Like this monogrammed kitchen towel my mom received for her wedding 51 years ago, hand embroidered by a friend - and it's still being used!)

I started searching, and I came up with several iron-on monogram books that I purchased, to add to a few books I already have.

First off, are two books by Leisure Arts, called Monograms & More, and Monograms & More, Book 2.



I like both books a lot - there's quite a variety of styles of monograms in both books.



If I were selecting one or the other, between the two books, I think I like Book 2 best. I took the "B" from the sample I'm working from an alphabet in Book 2. I'm glad I got the first one, though, too, because now I have a wide variety of alphabets.

I also picked up Repeats and Borders, by Dover Publications.



This is a great book, chockful of iron-on designs for borders, with corners and everything. They range from simple borders to much more complex ones, like the one pictured on the cover. There are "cutesy" little borders (animals, fish, etc.) and sophisticated, stylized borders.

I haven't tried ironing on a repeat pattern yet. That seems like a complex undertaking, if you want to get it just right. Most of the items we're working, though, don't require a long border. I'm thinking more in terms of small designs in corners.

Finally, I also picked up this Fun and Funky Embroidery Designs, also published by Leisure Arts. The designs are just that - fun, and a little funky in some parts. There are a few alphabets included as well.



Besides the above books, I also have in my own stash several of the Mains et Merveilles magazines, which are French publications full of iron-on transfers of neat designs. Hedgehog Handworks used to carry a larger selection of these, but I notice they are down to offering just one issue now. They are beautiful and excellent magazines, if you can get your hands on them. In fact, that's a magazine I'd love to subscribe to, but my limited French can't assist me in finding out how to do so! I can't seem to find out if they are still being published - anyone know??

And finally, I've got another tiny little French-published book of iron-on monograms that are small, perfect for hankies.

So that's basically what we're using for patterns for this summer's classes, with the exception of a few projects which are hand drawn, and a few embroidered greeting cards (also hand-drawn).

If you're looking for iron-on transfers for your own monogrammed or decorated stuff, you might want to check out the books available from Leisure Arts. They're fun and pretty, and economical (well, they'll save you a lot of time, anyway!).

Back to playing catch-up with my needle 'n thread!

Labels: book review, embroidery books, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, June 15, 2008
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Here's a sample I'm working up for my adult embroidery class, which is also looming - it starts a week from Tuesday, and I have two more samples to work up for it. At the same time, I am setting up a Big Project that needs to be finished before the end of July! So things are hopping here!

This is an embroidered guest towel. It's an oatmeal-colored linen-cotton blend with a drawn thread edge, from All About Blanks. You'll notice the note on the page there - to pre-wash before embroidering. These do shrink quite a bit, but I still like them, and I like them smaller!

I wanted an oatmeal colored towel to monogram in white for two reasons: I love the look of the white on natural-colored linens (I think it's pretty!), and I think, when it's the first time monogramming something, it's easier to work on a color with white than to work white-on-white. The fabric has been really easy to stitch on, but it's not crisp like a 100% linen fabric would be. It's soft, and it does have a bit of a fuzz to it - I like it a lot, and I think one of the reasons is the softness and the fuzz and the ease of stitching on it (or is that three reasons?).

I started by ironing the towel after laundering it and drying it. I folded the towel in half, long ways, to mark the center.



Then I unfolded it, but I noticed that the crease would probably cause difficulties placing the monogram!



I like the wide drawn thread hemstitching there, don't you? Anyway, I pressed the crease out lightly - just enough to still see where it was!



For the first time ever, I am using iron-on transfers. I don't think I've ever actually used one myself, though I've seen lots of people use them and I know lots of people like them. I figured it would be a huge time-saver for me, to have a good selection of iron-on transfers on hand, instead of our having to hand-transfer all the designs, which takes up a whole class period in itself!

So I centered the initial - I'm using a "B" - and followed the pressing directions.



And that's what I got. It's there, more or less - there's some kind of streaky thing going on there, but that's ok. That's the fastest I've ever put a design on a peice of fabric. I was elated!



But I found the blank streaks a bit distressing.



So I took a fine-tipped Micron art pen and drew in the missing lines. No big deal!



I hooped it up. I use Hardwick Manor hoops, made in Germany. They're an excellent embroidery hoop - very firm, very stable-feeling, and the hardware on them is solid brass and very sturdy, so you can use a screw driver and really tighten the hoop. They hold fabric quite well, and even better if you bind the inside ring, which I didn't on this hoop!

I hooped right over the drawn thread hemstitching - the towel is sturdy, and I'm not worried about damaging it. I don't keep my work on the hoop when I'm finished stitching for the day (always take your work off the hoop when you're finished for the day!), so I am pretty confident that this will be just fine!

It's nice to work on a hoop for a change. I usually have my work set up on a frame (stretcher bars, generally), which I clamp in my floor stand (I have the greatest floor stand ever!). But now and then, I think it's really nice to be able to sit on the couch or even at the table visiting, without dragging out my floor stand or a larger frame.



So, the fabric ready, it's time to pick out threads. Ahhh. I love Lacis (Incidentally, they now have free shipping). Here's my box of coton a broder and white floche. I have several skeins of each size, from 16 up to 40.



I originally thought that size 40 would be the way to go. So I began stitching with it, but it really got lost in the towel fabric. I wanted something that would sit up on the fabric!



Soooo... I split it in half, and tried size 20 instead, which I found to be just right. I want the monogram to sit up off the fabric, and there are a couple ways you can achieve this with monograming. One is to use a technique called trailing, where you satin stitch over bunched string. Whenever you need to narrow your design, you sink one or more of the strings in your bunch to the back of your fabric. But trailing is a technique you have to get a feel for - you want to sink your threads so that the change in size is gradual and smooth.

Since this is for more or less a beginner's class, and since the design itself doesn't really come to a tip anywhere (trailing is great for lettering that comes to a tip), I'm sticking with outlining, padding, and then satin stitching.

For the outline, I'm using backstitch. You can also use split stitch to outline under satin stitch. It doesn't really matter which one you use, except I kind of think split stitch might create a smoother line. In any case, I used backstitch.



After backstitching the outline, a worked the padding in long straight stitches, occasionally splitting them to fit a thread in, working down the length of the letter. My satin stitching will be worked on top of this, perpendicular to the padding.



Wow! All those pictures, just to show you an inch of real work! So there's the beginning of the "B."

Quick overview:

Ground fabric: Oatmean colored linen / cotton blend guest towel from All About Blanks.
Thread: DMC Coton a Broder #20, cut in 14" lengths
Needle size: #8 crewel
Stitch: Padded Satin
Stitching Time to this Point: 30 minutes
Thread: 3 14" inch lengths

So that's the beginning of my monogrammed guest towel sample. I'll show you an update soon!

By the way, any good recommendations for iron-on transfer books? I've found a few I really like, but I'd love to hear of others!

This project was written up in four separate articles. If you'd like to view the progress of the project, please follow the links below:

Part I - (That's this article!)

Part II - Continuing stitching, discussion of stitches, some trouble-shooting

Part III - Taking the Curves with Satin Stitch - discussion of stitch direction and working around curves using the padded satin stitch

Part IV - the finished guest towel!

Labels: Embroidery for the Home, Embroidery Projects, gift ideas, linen, monograms, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, June 14, 2008
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Embroidered monograms fascinate me, and I love to see the art of hand embroidery displayed on usable linens and household goods. The best way to add a personal touch to these types of items is to add a monogram. But sometimes I get stumped when trying to think up a pattern!

Designs for hand embroidery can be found all over the internet - it just takes some looking, which unfortunately, can take time. That's why I put together the list of online hand embroidery patterns - so that you don't have to spend as much time hunting! The list grows slowly, and I'm always glad to take recommendations to add to it.

Recently, I came across another gem. I just love it.It's a very pretty monogram and embellishment pattern. The pattern is shown as an embroidered handkerchief pattern, but it would look great on guest towels - perfect for a wedding gift, for example - on pillow cases, or even on the front of a tote bag.

The monogram design is offered by Plaid Online, which is a website devoted to all kinds of craft stuff.



So that's the page with the monogram project on it. Below the photo, you can click for a pattern. They also give you an alphabet, for the non-A people out there.

If you like monograms and embroidered household goods, check out this embroidered monogram pattern, and try it! I'm adding it to my (very-very-long-and-ever-growing) list of things to do .... someday.

Labels: free embroidery patterns, gift ideas, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 14, 2007
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Monograms have long been a part of hand embroidery. They're commonly seen on handkerchiefs and household goods. I wrote a little blurb on Initials for Embroidery a while back, and since I've always had an interest in monograms and old linens with monograms on them, I thought I'd share some monogram patterns.

This particular monogram - the letter A - comes from a monogram alphabet that I have in an old, old, old booklet. It's one of those pamphlets that's falling apart, yellow with age, and not of much use unless scanned and cleaned up. So I've been doing just that. The booklet is of French origin. It doesn't have a cover, but there's a French address on the bottom of one of the pages. It was a gift from a friend who loves antique book hunting, but isn't too crafty, so it ended up in my hands.

I believe it's from a series of "Sajou" pamphlets published in France. Some of the pamphlets can be found online at La Maison d'Anael, a French website. I'm not certain which one this is, if it's on there, as I don't have the pamphlet cover. If you're interested in the monograms, you might want to scroll through them to find the complete alphabet.

If there's any interest in having the whole alphabet cleaned up for use, I'll post the initials as I clean them up. And if you're looking for a particular initial and you like this pattern, I can jump ahead and clean up one for you!

Here's the "A." You can shrink it or enlarge it as you wish. I think this is a particularly pretty monogram, and it would look great with the letter and the vines outlined in stem stitch, the flowers and dots worked in a padded satin stitch, and the leaves filled with a seed stitch.



Right click on the letter to save it to your computer, and then adjust it to the size you want.

Have fun with it!

Labels: free embroidery patterns, monograms

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, June 28, 2007
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