Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 31, 2008
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 30, 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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Have you ever had a hankering to make your own Bayeux Tapestry? Yes, this is rather a light post - it fits well with the animated Bayeux Tapestry post of last year, although you might have a little more creative fun with this one!

Here's your chance to take your place in needlework history by making your own Bayeux Tapestry!



The Historic Tale Construction Cit is a drag-and-drop, make-your-own virtual tapestry website. It's hilarious, and really clever!



You can choose from a variety of folc, brave (people, horses), beasts, buildings, and miscellaneous items, drop them on your tapestry, re-arrange them, and add text as you go, until you have a whole historical tapestry account of whatever Important Event you want to record!



The characters and images are diverse - from a kid with a sheep, to the fallen and slain, to the cook, the dogs, the donkey, birds, kings, buildings, ships, and trees - and you can add scenes as you go (because of course you've got to use every possible image on your tapestry!)



Your masterpiece can be as clever as you want it to be, or as mindless...

When you're finished with your masterpiece (it won't take nearly as long as the original took, I'm pretty sure!) you can save it to the gallery or e-mail to a friend.



If you're a fan of historic needlework (with a sense of humor), check out the Historic Tale Construction Cit!

And have fun with it!

Thanks, Margaret, for the fun link! (...where I've whiled away how much time now??!)

Labels: embroidery resources, historical needlework, miscellaneous embroidery musings

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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Here's your opportunity to help me with a project! I'm testing new video hosting for my hand embroidery videos. I thought I'd try Blogger's video upload feature for my Knotted Diamond Stitch video that I posted this morning, to see if it works out better than Google video. My embroidery stitch videos are "ok," but I've always been a little disappointed with the compression, so I want to try different ways of posting them. So - if you want to leave me some feedback, I'd love to hear your opinion!

This morning, I posted the Knotted Diamond Stitch video tutorial, going about it the same way I have for all my hand embroidery videos. The reason I use Google is simple: You Tube has little "ads" for more videos at the bottom of each video, and, since I don't think I can control those, I am wary of using them! But I found out (yes, I'm slow) I could post video through blogger, thanks to my brother, who pointed that out to me. Since I haven't used blogger before for this, I want to do a test run, and, if you see a big difference on your side of the screen, I'd love some feedback! So the purpose here is a kind of comparison, between this video below, and the knotted diamond stitch I posted this morning.

You can check out the original post, where you'll find tips and tricks on working this stitch, as well as a photo of what it looks like when completed.




I really value your opinions, so don't be shy! Let me know what you think! If it's clearer, and it looks like blogger might be a better option, I may convert.

Labels: Hand embroidery stitches, video tutorials

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 28, 2008
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Knotted Diamond Stitch is the latest addition to my video library of hand embroidery stitches! It's a decorative band stitch that's easy and quick to work, and looks great!

The knotted diamond stitch makes a decorative band of diamond shapes between two parallel lines. It can be worked horizontally or vertically. It would make a great seam treatment in crazy quilting, it could be used as an edge treatment on a towel, or for lines in band samplers. I was thinking it would make a neat edge border around the outside of a card, for paper embroidery, but I haven't had a chance to try that yet!



You can build on the stitch, too, by adding other elements to it - like French knots or colonial knots in the centers of the diamonds, or daisy stitch petals coming off the points of, or placed in the "V" between, the diamonds.

Some hints which I touch on briefly in the video:

I find the stitch faster to work if you lay your thread on the fabric in the correct arrangement, rather than wrapping the thread around the needle for each knot.

When you work from the right to left (forming two knots, one on each side - you'll see it in the video), lay your thread down in the shape of a "C" (equivalent to wrapping your thread over and around the needle counter-clockwise).

When you work the center knot coming back (from left to right), lay your thread down in the shape of a "G" (again, you'll see this in the video) - this is equivalent to wrapping your thread over the top of the needle, and back around, clockwise.

It also helps at first to mark off even spacing for the "X" that's formed by the stitch, until you can judge it by eye.

I'm using perle cotton #5 in the video (and in the photo above). It's a nice thread for this stitch, although it works well with other threads, too.

Here's the video:



You can find more videos (51 of them!) in my Video Library of Stitches, as well as a link for solving playback issues, if you have trouble viewing the videos on your computer.

Labels: beginner embroidery, Hand embroidery stitches, video tutorials

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 28, 2008
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This is a dumb joke, but here it is, nonetheless: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Earwig." "Earwig, who?" "Earwigo again..." (Sorry.) This is the re-beginning of an embroidery project that I began when I set up my slate frame. I subsequently messed it up, and had to start over - remember the photo from my embroidery mistakes and needlework frustrations? It's underway once more - so, here we go again...

I'm making a linens pouch. This is an ecclesiastical piece of embroidery - the pouch itself will hold small altar linens. I wouldn't normally make a linens pouch out of linen, but that's what was requested, so I wanted to conform the project to the tastes of the receiver of the gift! I posted photos of a similar embroidered pouch for linens before - you can take a look at that to get an idea of what the finished piece will look like, construction-wise.

On this one, I have a cross, swords, and crown design on the front. When I initially drew the design on the initial fabric (set up on the slate frame), I used a pencil and was not pleased with the fact that the thread seemed to picking up some grey from the pencil. Rather than stitch the whole thing and risk the grey not coming out, I started over!

So this is the front so far:



Notice that the design (you can barely see it) is in blue now. I used dressmaker's carbon to transfer it. Here and there, I did have to barely touch up a line with the lightest touch of a pencil. I haven't gotten very far on it, have I?



This is the cross a little closer. Oh, golly. While I would prefer doing this piece in colored silks and real gold threads, I felt obliged, again, to try to match the recipient's tastes. So I'm working in coton a broder. Since the linen is a good, solid medium-weight linen (Alba Maxima by Legacy), I'm using a heavier sized thread. This is #16 coton a broder.

But despite the fact that I'd might like to be working with other materials, I will admit that I do LOVE working with the coton a broder on the Alba Maxima linen. And - I LOVE Palestrina Stitch. This is a great stitch, and I think it looks really pretty in this thread on white. The stitch is fun to work - once you have the steps down, it moves at a nice rhythm. I really do love it. (Did I mention I like Palestrina Stitch?)

I want to fill the middle of the cross, I think. Since it's the central focus of the design, I'd like to have it a little heavier than the rest of the piece. I could achieve focus on it two ways - by making all other elements filled, and leaving this "voided," which would make it stand out. But instead, I'd rather fill the cross, so the "heavier" looking part is also the central focus.

The problem is, I don't know what stitch to fill it with. Normallly, I suppose you'd do the filling first (if it's something beyond seed stitch, anyway), but I wanted to get it outlined to see if I'd like it filled or empty.

Any brilliant ideas for a filling? Of course, satin stitch would be beautiful - it is a gorgeous stitch, when worked right - but the wider parts of the cross are just bordering on "too" wide for the satin stitch. I don't want loose threads. I also don't want to pad it, as I don't want a padded look to the piece.

Nope. Still no clue as to what to fill it with. I keep thinking something brilliant will pop into my mind, but ... nothing yet!



That's a bit closer on the Palestrina stitch there - and you can see where I did some touching up with pencil. Rrgh.



And a little closer on the Palestrina stitch there. Gosh, I love that linen. Gosh, I love that stitch! Yet...

... despite loving the linen and loving the stitch, I will admit that overall, I'm not that pleased with the project itself. I spent 2 hours yesterday stitching on it (beyond what you see here), and almost as long removing all the stitches I had just put in. The piece simply isn't coming together as I want it to.



Here's a little teaching moment for you - this is the back. See the long strings carrying over to the sides? I started with "away waste knots." That is, I started with a knot in the end of my thread, and took my needle and thread down into the fabric far away from where I was going to start stitching. Then, when I had finished the length of the thread, I snipped the knot off, re-threaded the needle, and ran the long tail underneath the stitches to secure the beginning of the thread. This is an easy way to start a line of stitching when there aren't any other stitches close by to secure your thread under.



Oh, yeah. I do love the Palestrina stitch!

Any ideas on filling it?

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 27, 2008
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Rummaging through stash stuff this afternoon, I tried to figure out what would make a good, coherent collection for a little stash-giveaway. For those of you new to the concept, each month, I give away a little package from my collection of needlework goods, in an effort to reduce my stash (ha!) and just ... well, for the fun of it, to give readers the opportunity to play around with new threads, stitches, techniques, fabrics, or whathaveyou. I decided to stick with something simple, but fun.

The contents of the package this month include a white kitchen towel awaiting your embellishment, four colors of perle cotton #5, an English needle (crewel size 1), and a book - the old Anchor freestyle embroidery book.



For advanced embroiderers, this might seem a mundane package, but you know what? I like the simple, fun embroidery that comes with these types of threads, a blank towel, and some new stitches and patterns from a good book. This brings embroidery to the level of ultimate relaxation for me, and the product is always something that is thoughtful, colorful, and fun as a gift.



It's true that the least exciting thing in the package is probably the needle, but by including it, you're saved a trip out, if you want to start a project right away and you don't have the right sized needle on hand!



I stuck with some brightly colored, pretty perle cottons - three are DMC, the purple is Anchor. This will give you the opportunity to feel the difference between the DMC thread and the Anchor - there is one, you know! The Anchor perle feels "dry" to me, compared to the DMC. It seems a little less soft, too. But it stitches really well! They both do.



The towel is a 100% cotton white kitchen towel. It has a tag across one corner for hanging.



The best part is the book, of course. I like this Anchor book better than the new one. This is the "old" version, which has since been republished by Anchor. In the book, you'll find stitch diagrams for a variety of stitches, and next to each new stitch, you'll find a picture of a stitched piece utilizing the stitch featured in the diagram. This is always a great feature - it's nice to see the finished stitch in a real embroidered work. The photos of the pieces featuring the stitch are also echoed in the patterns provided in the back of the book - and there are a lot of nice little, clear patterns that can be traced onto the towel (or anything else you want to embellish!).



The patterns provided are in bold lines, easy for tracing, and they're mostly what I'd call "fun" patterns, that you can mix your stitches on.

And, conveniently, this is a little book - it's not a full-sized book, which means it will fit in my shipping envelopes!

So that's the give-away for July... and this is what YOU have to do!

Leave a comment below, answering the following question:

What's your favorite embroidery stitch and WHY? You can also include any tricks you have for working the stitch, that make it easier or give it a better finish. That way, everyone can learn something from your comments!

On Wednesday, July 30th, the contest ends. I'll draw a name Thursday morning and post the winner, at which time the winner can contact me with a shipping address. Overseas readers are welcome to join - if you win, I'll mail the parcel the least expensive air mail option!

So - answer away!

And even if you're not so keen on perle cotton or kitchen towels or needles or small books - think of it as an opportunity to get a postcard from me! Chuckle, chuckle....

Labels: pictures, stash contest

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 26, 2008
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 26, 2008
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After musing over whether or not I'd apply my Gilt Sylke Strawberry sample piece to the lid of a box, and after reading all the comments and advice on it, I figured what the heck. I took the plunge. Here it is!

One of my concerns about putting this piece on the unprotected cover of a box was the question of "dirt." I was thinking that a piece of good linen and these relatively expensive threads would not fare so well exposed to everyday use. I answered my hesitation on this point with the reality that dirt exists, and things may get dirty, but if you take extra care of your Good Stuff, then it really shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? Besides, at least for me, my hands are never cleaner than when I'm doing needlework. I always wash them well before approaching my needlework supplies. The box itself is kept inside a basket when not in use. How badly could it really get soiled?!

So I positioned the piece of linen on the box lid, put the "window" piece over it, and marked out the outline of the outside of the lid. I cut the fabric away, and pulled off the paper covering the glue strips on the lid. These strips don't really hold the fabric or the "window" piece well enough, so I applied a light coating of glue. I stretched the fabric gently on the glue, and then pressed the window piece over the fabric piece. After wiping off any excess glue, I stuck a stack of heavy books on top of the box and left it to dry.

Here's my new supply box:



I like it, you know, I do!!



Right now, I've got threads in the box. In fact, I think I will use it as a thread box, exclusively, for threads of whatever current project I'm working on.

I've since emptied the box, picked out all the whitework threads I'm using on my current project, bagged up the spare skeins, and filled up the box very tidily. I keep all my good thread rings and keeps in the bottom of the box, too.

The only disadvantage to the box itself (which comes with a Bucilla silk ribbon embroidery kit for the lid) is the magnet. The box is magnetized so it shuts securely (I like that feature), but the magnet is so strong that I find I have to get my fingernails in there to pry the thing open! My scissors come out magnetized, which is great when it comes to picking up needles - but rather annoying when you don't want to pick up needles!

But I'm not complaining, really, because once the thing was assembled, I was Really Happy with it. And I still am! So - I suppose I'll go use it!

Labels: Gilt Sylke Twist, needlework pictures, organization, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 25, 2008
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After writing some time back about floche, a 5-ply non-divisible cotton embroidery thread, I received a lot of inquiries about it: What is it? What's it used for? How's it different from other embroidery thread? and so forth. So, using a few photos, I thought I'd draw some comparisons between some commonly known cotton embroidery threads and floche.

For the sake of comparison, I selected two relatively common cotton embroidery threads - DMC stranded cotton and DMC Perle Cotton #5. The floche in the photos is also DMC (imported, I believe, from France).



First of all, the terminology: a "ply" is part of a "strand" - the plies twist together to make the strand. So when you look at your regular DMC stranded cotton that you buy locally (the green floss above), you will have 6 "strands" that you separate to use. Each one of those strands is relatively small, and it is made up of two "plies" that are twisted together to form the thread that you embroider with. "Non-divisible" means that you normally don't separate the thread into strands to use it, so perle cotton, for example, comes straight off the skien as it is, you cut the length you want, and start stitching with it.



Looking at the familiar DMC stranded cotton first, you'll notice the 6 strands there, and, if you look closely, you can see the distinct twist of the two plies that make up the strand. That's important - the two plies are very visible, and, small as they are when you're looking at one strand of cotton, they make a difference in what your thread looks like on your embroidery projects. There's texture there - more so than in the floche, discussed below. Notice, too, that the twist on the plies is not as tight as it is on the perle cotton in the photo below.
The texture from the plies twisting together make a difference in the way your project looks - not just because of the "texture" (as we think of it - rough or smooth, etc.) but also because of the way the light plays off the thread.



Here's #5 perle cotton. You can distinctly see the two plies twisting tightly together. They look more like a cord than the twisted plies in the stranded cotton above. Like the stranded cotton, there's a texture in the overall thread - the bumps formed by the twist of the plies. You don't normally think of it, but it is one of the features that distinguishes this thread from, for example, floche. The light reflects off those bumps, and you see them pretty clearly.



Here's the floche close up. The plies are a little harder to see, aren't they? The twist is a little looser than the perle cotton, certainly, and the long twist and the number of plies (5) make the thread a lot smoother looking. You don't see as clearly the individual "bumps" from the plies. Now, on a close-up photo like this, it looks like floche is a really fuzzy, hairy kind of thread. It's actually a very smooth thread.

Size-wise, floche is larger than a single strand of DMC, but not nearly as large as the #5 perle cotton - it's somewhere in the middle between the two. Floche is a mercerized cotton (just like the stranded cotton and the perle, which means it's been chemically treated to give it a shine), but it doesn't look as shiny as the perle cotton, and in a finished project, it tends to give a kind of subtle "gleam" - more so than the stranded cotton.

Now, what can you use floche for? Well, what can't you use it for? If you can embroider something with two or three strands of stranded cotton, you can probably embroider it with floche! One strand of floche is equivalent to about 2 strands of DMC stranded cotton. Floche, I think, gives better coverage and a smoother finish. It isn't always desireable to use, though. For example, I wouldn't use it in something like my needlepainted bird or iris - the detail would not be the same at all. But I would use it on monograms, and I'd use it on embroidered baby clothing or for smocking. I would use it in whitework (though I prefer the coton a broder - which is kind of like 4-ply floche - for whitework), and I'd definitely use it in projects that call for satin stitching (floche works up wonderfully in satin stitch) in cotton. And I'd use it for long-and-short stitch work in bolder designs, for the fun of it. I think it would be wonderful in crazy quilting - it works up very nicely in all kinds of stitches. So the possibilities, really, are only limited to your stitching imagination!

Where can you find floche? I order mine through Hedgehog Handworks. You won't find it at your local chain craft store. I like the options on the floche at Hedgehog. A large hank of floche (168 yards) costs $5.25 right now, but you can buy smaller "sample" skeins that are 32 yards total, made up of 21 strands that are 55" each, and these smaller twists are $1.25, which I think is a reasonable cost for trying out the threads. And the colors - oh, the colors are beautiful!

So there's a little bit about floche, compared to some more familiar cotton threads. I hope it helps you know what it is, and maybe encourages you to give a new thread a try, if you haven't used it before!

If you use floche, what do YOU use it for? And where do you buy it? It's always nice to have options on prices and ordering - so if you know of a source, don't hesitate to share it with us!

Labels: embroidery resources, pictures, threads

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 24, 2008
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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Slowly but surely, some completed summer embroidery class projects are still rolling in - this one is the kitchen towel with the flowers along the edge. In preparing a photo or two of the embroidery on the towel, I realized it presented a good opportunity to point out some tips on using the stem stitch.

I want to make it Really Clear that I'm not "picking on" the embroidery on this towel. Who could deny that, whether for a semi-beginner (this is done by one of the girls who has taken embroidery class before) or one who's been stitching a lot longer, this towel is really well done? The stitching is very nice, the color choices are great, and I like the way she alternated the colors on the flowers in pairs.



I should have taken a photo of the back of this towel, because it was really impressive - very neat, no straggling threads, very tight lines that kept the threads from showing from the front.



I think she did a great job on the towel! Still, in looking at it, I found a "teaching point" to demonstrate something about the stem stitch. If you ask the embroiderer what stitch she used to embellish the towel, she would tell you "stem stitch." But between you and me... she didn't! She used a combination of the stem stitch and the outline stitch!

And here's the teaching point: stem stitch and outline stitch are not the same stitch - but they're easy to get confused, especially when you're working around curves, or changing directions on your lines.

Take a look at the embroidery a little closer - I wish I had a better shot, but this'll do to make the point!



The red arrows point to the stem stitched lines in this piece. Notice how they retain the visibility of the separate threads, while creating that rope-like overlap of the stitches? That's the signature of stem stitch. Just about all the other lines and curves you see in the towel in that photo are outline stitch. The individual "S's" are not clear - the line is a bit more "solid" looking as far as the thread goes.

So, how do you achieve the "signature" stem stitch - what is required to produce that look? Here are some tips:

Assuming you're working with S-twisted thread (that's just about any standard cotton floss, and most twisted silks)...

1. If you are moving from left to right along your path, always keep your working thread below your needle.

2. If you are moving from right to left along your path, always keep your working thread above your needle.

3. Turn your hoop as you stitch, to keep the direction consistent, so you don't get confused on the whole left-to-right, right-to-left thing. If you turn your work, you can pretty much always work from left to right (for right-handers) and right to left (for left handers).

4. When you take curves, it doesn't matter so much if the working thread is on the inside of the curve or the outside - what matters is the direction in which you're stitching and where your working thread is, in relation to where your needle comes up. So make sure you're applying the rules above - and, if you're worried about the stitch moving into the curve because you don't have the working thread to hold it back (because you're coming up above your stitch), take smaller stitches, and you'll be able to take the curve fine.

So othere are a few quick pointers on stem stitch. The stitcher who worked the towel above just confused the "above the working thread" or "below the working thread" thing as she changed directions stitching. It's funny how such a small difference in placement can change the finished look of a stitch, isn't it? ... well, that all goes back to thread twists (S-twist vs. Z-twist).... but we'll save that for another day!

To see the stem stitch worked out, check out the Stem Stitch Video Tutorial in my Video Library of Stitches, where you'll now find a whopping 50 stitches to learn!

Labels: embroidery tips and tricks, Hand embroidery stitches, needlework tutorials, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 21, 2008
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I thought I'd share with you some photos of a piece of ecclesiastical embroidery that was given to me because it is in such a poor state of repair that it can no longer be used. Despite its lack of functionality, it serves as an interesting piece for study and for ideas.

This piece is a processional canopy, once used for outdoor processions. A combination of age, use, storage, and probably some kind of weather damage have all made the canopy unusable for liturgical purposes. The embroidery and the designs on it are nice, though, and it's a good source of ideas on design and technique.



To give you an idea of what the canopy looks like overall, it's set up here over a large office table. All four of the side panels are embroidered with a round center medallion, which is surrounded by angels and lilies.



You can see here the overall design of the side panels - the center medallion, an angel kneeling on each side of it, and a branch of lilies entwining itself behind the angels and up towards the center medallion.



The piece is worked on gold colored silk, and the top edge of each panel is red silk, embroidered with wheat ears.



Around each center medallion is a grape motif embroidered in shades of gold. The Agnus Dei in this center piece is rather simple - notice that there's not a whole lot of shading. It's more or less an "outline" piece, filled in with appropriate colors to make the overall picture.



You can see some shading on the hooves and on the bottom of the belly on the lamb, and that's it. The wool is worked in Chinese knots.



This is the green side angel. The colors are very soft.



The wings are the boldest part of the angels.



Here you can see two signs of deterioration: the obvious deterioration of the fabric, and the lack of stitching in the hands, which are fading away somewhat!



The faces of the angels (and the hands) were painted apparently, and then lightly stitched over at the chin line and hair line. The hair is worked in split stitch.



On the left side of this panel, the pink angel (with surrounding fabric) is in much better shape.



The halo (or "nimbus") is worked in very long straight stitches, somewhat far apart. The whole halo is lined with two layers of cording, the inside one in a coral color and the outside one much darker in brown. This contrast on the outside of the piece makes the whole image more visible from a distance.



One of the lilies on the vine - with a good indication of the poor state of the ground fabric.



As far as images worked on the piece, this one is in the worst state. The thread is wasted away, and the whole image looks as if it is washing away. The overall shading of the image is very nice, though, with the lighter inside area, rather than seeing it embroidered solidly in red.



The lettering around the outside is embroidered in satin stitch.



The lilies are not stiff and formal, but rather loosely conceived. They remind me more of the tiger lily than a regular lily, except in their color.



The lilies are outlined in a pinkish-coral color, with a very little bit of soft shading in green, and the rest of the inside is worked in white.



Each panel is topped with an edge of red silk, on which are embroidered single (large) wheat ears.



The wheat is very simply embroidered in satin stitch for the kernels, and long straight stitches for the "hairy" tips. The shaft is couched twisted cord.



Each medallion has a "frame" of grapes embroidered in shades of gold. The stitching is worked in satin stitch and a long and short stitch on the leaves that is reminiscent of crewel work. The thread used on the grapes around the medallions, on the wheat at the tops of the panels, and on the lettering around the medallions is all of a heavier stuff than the threads used on the angels and other images.



In the close-up on the lily, you can see that the embroidery doesn't actually fill the shape. Instead, long lines of long split stitches are worked in twisted silk, with spacing enough between the lines to see the ground fabric. The spacing is not there due to disrepair. It's the way it was embroidered!



The stamens on the lilies are satin stitched at the tips of the couched gold cord (which is the same gold cord used on the wheat shafts).



This is another one of the four images inside the medallions on each side of the canopy. Note the green leaf at the base of the medallion, on the left.



Here's another one of the same green leaves.

At some point in the canopy's history - before it was absolutely not usable - someone obviously tried to cover up the deteriorating fabric by adding these little embroidered leaves to the ground fabric, trying to work them into the design as best as they could. They don't really fit the design, though, as they are too bright. The leaves were probably themselves salvaged from another larger piece of ecclesiastical embroidery!

You can also see, in the lower left of the photo, that a piece of fabric was attached somehow over the original ground silk. I'm familiar with ecclesiastical fabrics available on the market today, and that particular pattern is about the least-expensive, most widely available synthetic church fabric. I don't know what the person was thinking! But I suppose it was just a desperate attempt to try to keep something that was beautiful in use for as long as possible, before it was time to shelf it completely! *Sigh*



And another shot of those leaves....

So, there's the canopy. I'm glad to have it - it's given me some good ideas for embroidery, and being able to examine it very closely has given me a little insight into the needlework and assembly techniques used on these types of pieces.

If you have any questions about anything in the pictures, don't hesitate to ask!

Labels: ecclesiastical embroidery, historical needlework, needlework pictures, pictures, silk

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 20, 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 had my Gilt Sylke Twist Strawberry piece out during embroidery class the other day for a "show and tell" sort of session. I like to drag out different needlework projects or samplers to show the kids, hoping maybe to fuel a real desire to pursue needlework beyond dishtowels. Well, this piece has just been sitting around, waiting for me to do something with it (or not...).

There I sat, after class, prior to clean-up, absorbing the silence for a moment and staring at the scraps of embroidery threads, the snippets of fabric and felt, the thread boxes that had been foraged through by some kid, the stack of ironed towels equally burrowed through.... and getting ready for the inevitable clean-up that comes from two large classes in a row on the same day.

But still, I just sat there.

My eyes rested on my GST strawberry. I really enjoyed doing that project, and I found myself thinking, "It's really a shame I don't do something with that."

Absently, my brain wandered to the next item in sight.

It was a box - one of those boxes just like the quick silk ribbon embroidery box project I did a few weekends ago - except it was gold and cream instead of purple and white, and it was unfinished.

And I picked up my GST Strawberry, and I thought:


Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

And then I opened the purple box, and I thought:


Ahhh..... Toooooools..... I love toooools.

And then I put both boxes together, and this is what I thought:


Uhhh...? Hm. Ugh. Oh, maybe.

And then I put them next to my basket, and this is what I thought:


They fit nicely in there...

And now, I'm sitting here thinking to myself:

Do I, or don't I? Not just tools and accessories, but tools and accessories in a pretty box....

But then there's this other side of me, grumbling that it might be a shoddy way to finish that piece...

But then there's this other side of me, answering the grumbling side, insisting that at least it would be finished....

And then there's this other side of me whining about .... dirt.

What think you?

Labels: finish work, Gilt Sylke Twist, needlework tools, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 18, 2008
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My embroidery classes for children are coming to a close. I have one more class next Monday morning! So the projects are rolling in, although I don't think I'll see all of the completed work by the end of our last class. I thought I'd give a little recap of the different projects worked this summer and share a few photos of some embroidery projects completed this week.

For the 2008 Summer Embroidery Classes for Children, we worked the following projects, divided into groups by age:

Group A: Children 7 - 9 years old (mostly - there were a couple 10-year-old newbies in there, too) worked the following projects:

• Two stitch samplers - a butterfly and a flower, both filled with lines for practicing different line stitches
• An embroidered felt bookmark
• A white towel, embroidered with a butterfly and flower scene (no photos of that one, yet! Hopefully, next Monday we'll see some completed towels!)

Group B: Children 9 - 10 years old (with a 7 year old thrown in for good measure!) worked:

• A stitch sampler - the lined butterflies
• Embroidered felt bookmark
• Embroidered checkered dish towel (pictures below)
• Embroidered greeting card

Group C: Children 11 - 14 years old (with some younger ones thrown in for good measure here, too!) worked:

• Embroidered Flour Sack Towels
• Embroidered Greeting Cards
• Embroidery project of their choice - linen handkerchiefs, bookmarks, or pillow cases

The kids picked out their own threads and colors for the various projects, with the exception of the stitch samplers, the check towels, and the felt bookmarks.

In all the groups, there were several stitchers who finished all their projects by the end of the last class, but most of the students still had a little bit left to do on their final project, so they were able to pick out enough thread to finish up the projects and take them home to finish during the slow summer days.

Here are a few photos of projects that came in this week:



This is one of the blue checkered dish towels. Originally, they were going to work chicken scratch embroidery on the checked towels, but the checks were bigger than I thought they would be. Still, I like this little design. It reminds me a bit of the Pennsylvania Dutch look.



And here's one of the red checked towels. These towels are Really Nice quality towels. I got them from All About Blanks.



Here are three of the kids' flower sack towels that came in. This was another great find in good towels - these particular flour sack towels came from Embroider This. The designs are the Java Break and Wine Country patterns from Aunt Martha, which you can find at Colonial Patterns. Most the stitching was done in simple line stitches: back stitch, whipped back stitch, stem stitch, and some chain stitch.



This is a larger photo of one of the more complex ones! I was so happy to see them finish these, as they were bigger projects than the Java Break designs, but they seemed to like doing them and were proud of the finished results.



This is one of the select-your-own projects from Group C, done by a 12 year old. These handkerchiefs (from All About Blanks) make really pretty monogrammed hankies. And I think she did a great job, using simple stitches and nice colors. Her tiny stitches, actually, are really perfect.



She used French knots and backstitch - I was really impressed with her even backstitches!

I'm still eagerly waiting the butterfly towels done by Group A, some of which should be done when the come to class on Monday! There are also a few of these towels out:



This is one of the class samples I made up, but didn't finish stitching before the classes started.



I think a reader asked previously about this pattern - it's found in the Repeats and Borders book I reviewed earlier. It's a fun pattern to work, and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the kids' results with it.

I was really very happy with this summer's embroidery classes. We had five two-hour sessions for each group, and I think they had fun, I know I had fun, and although it's a lot of work, I really think it's worth it! If you have the opportunity to instruct children in needlework of any kind, grab it! It's a wonderful chance to pass on to the next generation a love of handwork. You also have the opportunity to give children a hobby that will make them happy for years to come, if they keep up with it! And you never, never know what they'll do with it.

If you are interested in teaching children, but you don't know how to go about establishing a venue or getting the word out, I suggest contacting your local library to see if they have any summer programs for youth that they're looking for volunteers for.

If the other projects show up on Monday, I'll share some photos of those, and then that's it for the kids' classes until next summer! Though I was thinking it might be fun to take a day over Christmas vacation and do an ornament class or something... I'll have to muse a bit over that one!

Labels: beginner embroidery, embroider on paper, embroidery for children, embroidery for fun, Embroidery for the Home, Embroidery Projects, iron-on embroidery transfers, needlework pictures, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 17, 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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I think one photo will serve to show you how this past weekend went for me, embroidery-wise...

Remember the embroidery project I set up on my slate frame?



Have you ever had a weekend like that? Ugh!

I've almost lost my determination to overcome this one. Starting over can be really painful!

I'm ripping out (picking out, I should say) my stitching I accomplished this weekend. I just didn't like it At All. There are a number of reasons, I suppose - one of which is that the pencil - for the first time ever, for me - picked up all over the white threads. I tried to tell myself it would wash out in the end, but I couldn't get over the sick feeling of "What if it doesn't?" Rather stop at this point, than finish the whole thing and find out the pencil markings wouldn't quite come out of the coton a broder! And so, I pick away...

My plan is this: I will pick out all the stitching, and set this piece of linen aside. I'll set up a new project on Saturday, and stitch it double-time fast, as I'm already behind on this one. I probably won't use a slate frame. In fact, I may just settle for a hoop. And I will transfer the design using blue dressmaker's carbon. It's always safest to use blue when working with white, anyway, because the white absorbs the blue. I should've known that. I DID know it. But for some reason, I just didn't put enough weight on that thought ahead of time.

Oh, the woes of the imprudent stitcher....

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, whitework

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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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