Here beginneth the promised long and short stitch shading lessons. These will appear as regular posts on Needle 'n Thread over the next several weeks. Even if you aren't inclined to learn long and short stitch, I still hope you find these little tutorials interesting, informative, and helpful for whatever hand embroidery technique you prefer. Of course, I'll still be adding regular content to Needle 'n Thread between the lessons. The lessons will be spaced out, with at least one a week, and not more than two. Here we go, then, with Lesson 1.

You already know that, before you launch into most embroidery projects, you have to do some preliminary work. Today's lesson covers the preliminaries.

Lesson 1: Getting Started

Objectives

1. to gather & organize materials
2. to transfer the design
3. to frame (or hoop) up the fabric for stitching.

Materials

1. Fabric: high count cotton (muslin, calico) in solid color (white, natural): 12" x 12" square.

2. Transfer tool (your choice): #2 pencil, water-soluble fabric marker, micron art pen (.005), iron-on pencil, or dressmaker's carbon, whichever method of transfer you prefer. I'm using a #2 mechanical pencil. I use mechanical pencils because they're consistently sharp.

3. Scotch tape

4. Pair of 10" stretcher bars OR a decent embroidery hoop (4" or 6" will work well)

5. Iron and ironing board

6. Pattern (below)

7. #9 or #10 crewel needles (I will use size 10)

8. Small, sharp scissors

9. Embroidery threads: DMC stranded cotton in the following colors, arranged numerically below for easy shopping. You'll find them grouped by design element further along in the lesson.

158, 159, 160, 161, 223, 225, 347, 349, 351, 353, 469, 471, 472, 613, 745, 814, 3011, 3012, 3013, 3052, 3855, Ecru

10. Pencil for marking stitch direction as you progress (if you don't use a regular pencil for transferring your design)

11. Good lighting! If you don't have a light specifically for your needlework or crafts, I suggest a very sunny window or porch, or as bright a light inside as you can manage.

Procedure



1. Print this PDF of the Long and Short Stitch Lessons Pattern. It should print as approximately a 7" square. The pattern is designed so that you can work the whole piece or you can work each individual element separately on scrap fabric. If you are stitching each element individually on scrap fabric, you can skip the next step.

2. Cut a 12" square of fabric and stitch the edges with a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine to keep the edges from fraying. Alternately, you can hand stitch around the edges with a whip stitch. (This is a normal step in setting up a project, but on this project, I admit that I skipped stitching the edges!)

3. Iron your fabric well. You can use starch if you wish. It doesn't make any difference in the stitching (as long as there's no flaking on the fabric), and it will rinse out at the end. You want your fabric smooth and wrinkle-free.

4. Choose your favorite method for transferring a design onto fabric. You will find several methods discussed under Tips and Tricks for Hand Embroidery here on Needle 'n Thread. For this type of embroidery, I'm using a light box and a pencil.



First, tape your pattern to your light box. A sunny window will give you the same results as a light box, if you don't have one.



Center your fabric over the pattern and align the lines (as much as possible) with the grain of the fabric. You don't want to be stitching on the bias! Tape your fabric to the light box, too. I eye-balled the center of the fabric, but if you want to be more precise, you can finger-fold the fabric in half lightly, horizontally and vertically, so you can see where the center of the fabric is.



Using a #2 pencil, trace the design. Use a straight-edge (ruler or what-have-you) for the lines. Don't "stroke" as you trace. Try to trace with one smooth, constant line.



Notice that the lines aren't hairy or sketchy.

5. Now you're ready to frame up your fabric, if you're using stretcher bars. If you're using a hoop, you don't need to hoop the fabric up until you're ready to start stitching.



A 4" hoop will fit individual design elements. You can use anywhere from a 4" - 6" hoop. If you can't find a Really Good Hoop, that's ok. Use a plastic Susan Bates-type hoop - it will work fine for this project. Just be sure to tighten the hoop and your fabric often.



I'll be using stretcher bar frames - specifically, Evertite stretcher bars. If you're using stretcher bars, a 10" square will work. But, if you're not familiar with all these tools and gadgets, just use a simple hoop - you'll be fine!

6. Gather your threads and organize them according to your favorite method. You can separate them for each element, so that you only have to have the necessary threads out at one time.

Element 1 (Boxes) and Element 3 (Circles): 814, 347, 349, 351, 353, 3855, 745, & Ecru

Element 2 (Triangles) and Element 4 (Ribbon Swirly): 158, 159, 160, 161

Leaves: 469, 471, 472, 613, 3011, 3012, 3013, 3052

Little Flower: Ecru, 223, 225



If you want to use thread cards for organization, you can print the threads cards, already numbered. The directions for using the cards have already been discussed here on Needle 'n Thread, and the link is provided below, too.

Long and Short Stitch Thread Cards (PDF)
Directions for Organizing Threads using Thread Cards

7. Take a look at the colored design, below. I colored it with prismacolors. The color isn't 100% accurate - I've made some adjustments while stitching - but at least it gave me a sense of what colors I wanted to use, and the general direction of the shading. To get a sense of shading, try coloring your pattern yourself, if you have colored pencils on hand. You don't have to do this, of course, but it will help familiarize you with the direction we're going in. I think it's always a good idea to at least try to color a shaded design yourself, if possible, to get the feel for the shading.



Order of Stitching the Project

The elements of the project will be stitched in a specific sequence, as indicated in the picture below.



Summary of Print Materials

Here's a summary of all the printed material for Lesson One. They're all PDF documents. The lesson itself is available as well. There are no pictures included in it - just straight text - but if you want to print it and read through it at your convenience, you may.

L&S Project Pattern
L&S Colored Pattern
Thread Cards
L&S Lesson One: Getting Started (including materials list) (a luxury - this may not always happen, but I'll definitely try!)

Conclusion

I'm not covering any stitching in Lesson One, in order to give those of you following these tutorials the weekend to gather supplies and set up your project.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment below. Any questions directly related to the lessons can be left in the comment section on Needle 'n Thread, below this article, so that others will learn from any ensuing discussion or clarifications, too.

If you're on board for these lessons and want to make sure you don't miss any, feel free to sign up for my daily newsletter. You'll find the sign-up box near the top of the page, in the right-hand column. You'll receive each day's post in your inbox, on the day that it's posted. Also, it'll give you a more printer-friendly version, if you intend to print out the tutorials.

Don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, difficulties, etc.!

Move On To Lesson Two: Basic Long and Short Stitch with Video Tutorials

Labels: embroidery lessons, embroidery tips and tricks, long and short stitch, needlepainting, pictures, stitchalong lessons

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 31, 2009
PermaLink  |  29 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Following up on yesterday's post about selecting a good hand embroidery hoop, here's a little tutorial on how to bind the inside ring of your hoop in order to maintain better tension for a longer period of time.

Binding a hoop isn't absolutely essential in embroidery, but it does have its advantages. When you bind at least one ring (I bind the inside ring), you supply a little extra friction to keep your fabric tighter, longer. Also, the binding adds a bit of protective "padding" that will make the hoop a bit easier on your fabric. And though binding seems as if it would be a time-waster or a pain in the neck, really, it's very simple, and once it's done, you don't normally have to do it again. I have four hoops with the inner ring bound that I've been using for three or four years, and the binding job is just as good now as it was when I first did it. They work great! I'm glad I took the time to bind them.

That being said, not all my hoops are bound; I often work with hoops that aren't. If you want to bind the inside ring of one of your hoops, here's a little tutorial to show you how. Keep in mind that the tutorial focuses on the inside ring of the hoop. If you decide to bind the outside ring of the hoop, you'll need to begin and end your twill tape on the outside of the outside ring. Binding doesn't really work well on the plastic Susan Bates-style hoops that have a lip.



First, gather your supplies. I'm using the same Hardwicke Manor Hoop I spoke about yesterday (7" round x 5/8" deep). (By the way, it's HardwickE Manor Hoop, with an "E" - seems I spelled it wrong ...)

I'm using 1" twill tape, the kind you buy in the notions section at a sewing store. It's polyester. For better friction, I'd suggest cotton twill tape, but I didn't have any on hand. Cotton twill tape is easier to bind the hoop with, too, as it's not as slippery as polyester and it has a little more body to it. You can also use narrower twill tape, but the 1" works well on the 5/8" hoops. On smaller hoops - the 5/16" ones - I use narrower twill tape.

Twill tape vs bias tape: I like twill tape better. You can use bias tape, but the folded bias tape has a noticeable edge where the fold ends, so you don't get smooth coverage. Any overlapping or any spots of bulging thickness reduce the effectiveness of binding the hoop.

You'll definitely want some clothespins to help you out, unless you have four hands. I've always wanted four hands, but since I haven't managed growing extras, I just use clothespins.

You'll also need scissor, sewing thread, and a sewing needle.



Begin by laying your twill tape at an angle across the inside of your inside embroidery ring. You want the beginning and the end of the length of twill tape to meet on the inside of the ring, because that's where you'll stitch them together, avoiding a bulge from your stitching on the outside of the ring, where it meets the inside of the outer ring of the hoop. (Wow.... confusing...!)



Wrap the twill tape around the hoop once to establish the angle needed for the tape to lay perfectly parallel to the wrap before, and then use a clothespin to hold the edge.



Continue to wrap the twill tape around the hoop, lining up the edges of the tape so that they are parallel and not overlapping. Pull the tape tight, and work with it to reduce any bulging or buckling. You want it to hug the hoop.



When you get to about the halfway point, if everything is looking good, go ahead and clamp another clothespin on to secure the tape at that point. This way, if you mess up a bit on the second half, you don't have to re-wrap the whole ring.



When you arrive back at the beginning of your twill tape, fix the end with another clothespin. You may have more space than you want between the wraps, or you may need to adjust to fit the last wrap in just right. Clamp the end with another clothespin, then work the twill tape around with your hands, running the hoop through your hands and shifting the tape around as you need to. You might have to tug a bit here and there, or twist the hoop in your hands a bit, adjusting until you line up the edges of the wraps as close as possible to each other and until wraps of the twill tape are hugging the hoop all around.



Undo the clothespin on the beginning of the wrap, and cut the extra off, so that the twill ends at the farther edge of the ring.



Then, take the end of the twill tape (it'll be the end with the long tail) and finish wrapping it so that it overlaps the beginning of the tape. Don't trim it just yet. Stick a clothespin on to hold both ends in the right place.

Then, take your needle and thread (with a knot in the end of the thread), and begin stitching over the overlap. I just use a whip stitch, and I stitch down the edge of the inside of the ring, through both pieces of twill, and then back again over the same path.



I also stitch down one side of the twill wraps, stitching two edges of the wrap together. Then, clip off the extra twill tape...



... and the inner ring of your hoop is now bound!

Try binding one hoop - I think you'll like it!

Tomorrow, stay tuned for the first "action" installment of the Long and Short Stitch lessons. I'll discuss materials, talk about transferring the pattern, give you the design to transfer, and show you my transfer and set-up process.

Incidentally, I've had a jolly awful time editing the first video, soooo... I gave up and will try again this weekend. I bit the bullet and invested in a new camcorder today, so you should be getting a better quality video, at any rate. But yikes! After hours in front of the computer yesterday, and practically all day today, I was ready to pull out my hair.

Instead, I shopped! My Mom always says, "Get your hair done and go shopping - you'll feel better." Her solution to every gal's problems! And... she's right! It worked! I can't wait to get back to the whole video process!!

See you tomorrow!

Labels: embroidery tips and tricks, needlework tools, needlework tutorials, pictures

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 30, 2009
PermaLink  |  11 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

What makes an embroidery hoop good? Below are my criteria for a good hoop, and later on, I'll show you how to make a good hoop even better.

The purpose of an embroidery hoop is to hold taut the fabric that's in it. For most embroidery (though not all - depends on the type of stitch), I like my fabric to be drum tight - that is, if I flick it with my fingers, it sounds a bit like a drum. There are different ways to achieve drum-tight fabric for stitching: a slate frame, stretcher bar frames, or a hoop. Now, for a hoop to achieve drum-tightness and maintain it for a reasonable amount of time, a good hoop is essential.

So... my question: what makes a hoop good? This (below) is a good hoop:



This is a 7" round hoop that's 5/8" deep. It has all-brass hardware, and the outer ring fits the inner ring very well, without any warping.



The hoop is made from birch wood and is strong and solid - unless you're super-duper ridiculously strong (like Captain Caveman strong), I don't think you could bend it out of shape with your hands! It's got a natural finish and is smoothly polished, so there are no splintery bits that can snag your threads or your hands.



When the rings are together and the outer ring is tightened, there are no gaps between the outer ring and the inner. They're a perfect match. (Awwwww...)



The hardware, again, is all brass. The brass brackets are not flimsy - they're strong and durable, and they don't bend, no matter how much you tighten the screw. The screw has outer ridges that serve as grips for tightening, and it also has a slash in it for a screwdriver, so that you can Really tighten the thing up.

This is a good hoop. The 5/8" depth is perfect for medium weight fabrics, though I also use it on some finer weight fabrics as well. Muslin, shadow weight linen, dower quality linen - this hoop works with all of them. For heavier weight fabric, like linen twill, I'm more inclined to use a 7/8" deep hoop, but this hoop actually works fine with twill, too. It's a good all-purpose hoop in an all-purpose size. The 7" diameter ring is an easy fit for my hands. Anything larger, actually, becomes cumbersome when it comes to working on the fabric in the middle. I generally like 6" and 7" hoops best.

When you buy a hoop, you want to look for one that fits well in your hands. You should be able to hold the edge of your hoop in your palm, secured by your thumb, and stretch your fingers easily to the center of the hoop. Larger hoops (10" and larger, especially) are generally best managed with some kind of stand to support them (or at least the lip of a table), so that, when necessary, you have both hands free to reach the center of the fabric in the hoop.

The hoop featured above is a Hardwick Manor hoop, made in Germany and imported into the States by Access Commodities. You can find these hoops through many fine online needlework shops. I usually get mine through Needle in a Haystack.

A hoop pointer: Always take your fabric out of your hoop when you finish a stitching session. Doing so reduces the chance of permanent hoop marks or dirt rings. Plastic hoops with a lip are more prone to dirt rings than good wooden hoops are, though, because the lip tends to catch dust and dirt.

Coming up later: I'll show you how to bind a hoop easily, to achieve better long-lasting tension and to eliminate stress on your fabric. I don't bind all my hoops, but I do bind some, and I like them bound. I'll show you how!

Labels: embroidery tips and tricks, needlework tools

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 29, 2009
PermaLink  |  13 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 28, 2009
PermaLink  |  0 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

The folks behind the Plimoth Plantation 17th century jacket project have been busy! They've brought another new metal thread onto the market, one which was used in 17th century raised embroidery, but eventually fell out of use and disappeared from the market. We've heard the story before - remember that these are the same folks behind the Gilt Sylke Twist now once again available to the embroiderer after a couple centuries of absense! Silk Purl is the new thread, and here's a look at it...

Silk Purl is made up of a fine copper wire wrapped with filament silk, then turned into a tight coil. If you're familiar with goldwork embroidery threads (real metal threads for embroidery), you can compare Silk Purl with regular purls used in goldwork. (You can see some gold purls being worked in my beetle wing goldwork project from a while ago, if you want!) The difference between regular gold or gilt purls and Silk Purl is that Silk Purl is covered in silk, which means it's colored and shiny like silk and the coil is a little fatter than the coil you'd see on a regular gold or gilt purl.



Silk Purl is a really incredible thread! I realize that trends and tastes change as the years pass, but it's so hard to imagine that a thread this interesting could just fade from existence and not be resurrected again for some centuries!

I love the look and the feel of the Silk Purl. It feels hard (due to the wire) but smooth (thanks to the silk!), a little boingy, and bumpy.



Just like with regular purls used in goldwork, if you stretch the Silk Purl, you'll get an elongated spring-looking length of wire that will not close back on itself.



If you unwrap the spring, you can see the colored wire that forms the core of the metal thread, and the silk, of course, which becomes very limp and silk-like. It's nice silk and it feels great to the touch!



Silk Purl is hollow in the center, so small pieces cut from the length of the Silk Purl can be sewn on just like bugle beads. According to Tricia Wilson Nguyen, the lady behind the research that resurrected these historic threads, Silk Purl was sewn on in a number of ways: couched in long wavy lines (sometimes with the Silk Purl slightly stretched - think human of animal hair in 17th century embroidery); sewn on in loops; or sewn on in a kind of chipwork method to fill an area, as is done with check purl. Tricia included some great photos of historical examples of Silk Purl in use in her last newsletter from Thistle Threads. If you haven't signed up for her newsletter, you should. Though they don't come out often, when they do, they're full of interesting tidbits on historical embroidery.



To give you an idea of the size of Silk Purl, I lined a piece up with a regular piece of 6-stranded DMC cotton, which is what you see here in the foreground of the photo.



Although in size, Silk Purl is more solidly round and stands up off the fabric, you can see that it isn't too far in size from a regular piece of DMC (with all 6 strands still in tact).



Silk Purl comes in colors to that match Gilt Sylke Twist, with about 8 colors available right now. It is uncertain whether the thread will continue to be manufactured, and the colors presently being manufactured are short in quantity, so if you see a color you like over at Thistle Threads, don't delay in ordering it - you never know when it may be gone again for good.

I ordered a sample pack of the colors, to see what Silk Purl was all about. I think it's a really neat thread, and that those interested in stumpwork or any dimensional embroidery techniques, or goldwork, would find the thread inspiring. I've been mulling over all kinds of possible uses ever since the package arrived in the mail, and I've added it to my list of things to play with in the near future! I'm looking forward to it!

Labels: embroidery resources, goldwork, historical needlework, pictures, silk, threads

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 28, 2009
PermaLink  |  3 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

If you want to join me in working through a small long and short stitch shading sampler, here's a little bit about the project and the list of supplies that I'm using....

The long and short stitch shading lessons series that I'll be posting here on Needle 'n Thread over the next several weeks will consist of a small sampler of eight elements, each focusing on a different shape.



The whole piece is a total of 7" square, which keeps the individual elements rather small. The colors above are only approximate - I doodled them in while considering color schemes and shading.

The middle section is left empty. If you decide to do the whole piece in a square as the pattern is drawn (like above), then you can use the middle to stitch your own little something, shaded. Or you can add some personal information, to document when you stitched it, etc.

You can skip the whole "square" layout, and just do each element separately, on a bit of scrap fabric. It's all up to you.

I'm working the square, as designed above.

When I'm ready to publish the lessons, you'll receive a downloadable pattern in a plain line drawing, plus a downloadable color guide like the one above, just to give you the idea of the shading, and also a downloadable stitch-direction guide.



Here's the supply list:

1. Fabric - a 12" square of cotton - high thread count muslin (calico) is suitable - in white or natural. I used a piece of good cotton from a new pillow case that I was going to stitch, but that I messed up on when transferring the design onto it. So you can use a "scrap" if you want to conserve a bit on fabric or expense.

2. Hoop or frame - you'll want a hoop (either a 4" or 6" hoop will work). Alternately, you can use stretcher bar frames - 10" work fine, if you're working on a 12" square.

3. Needles - #10 crewel

4. Sharp Scissors

5. Pencil - I use a mechanical pencil

6. Thread: I'm using DMC stranded cotton in the following colors. You are welcome to use the same colors or change them to suit you. I've arranged the DMC color numbers in numerical order for shopping convenience, if you're going to buy threads. If you have suitable threads in your stash, though, feel free just to use those!

DMC Colors:
158, 159, 160, 161, 223, 225, 347, 349, 351, 353, 469, 471, 472, 613, 745, 814, 3011, 3012, 3013, 3052, 3855 and ECRU

I'll be presenting the lessons in a sequential order, progressing from least difficult to more difficult. The first lesson will cover setting up the project. After that, each lesson will deal with an individual element (the group within a square).

There will be at least two videos accompanying the series of lessons. Unfortunately, my software did something weird when I tried to complete the first video, so I'll be looking into that. The first video was 57 minutes long originally, edited down to 27, for the basic long and short stitch. I'll try to edit it further! Aaack!

So that's the plan! If you're interested, you can join me in the venture! If you just want to watch from the sidelines, that's fine, too! And if you aren't interested, never fear - I'll still keep up with some other content for those of you not inclined to shade!

I'm looking forward to this series - I hope you find it fun, too.

Labels: embroidery lessons, embroidery tips and tricks, long and short stitch, needlepainting, pictures, stitchalong lessons

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 27, 2009
PermaLink  |  39 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

For a very long time, Alison Cole's goldwork books have been on my wish list. Her goldwork projects and kits are enchanting, to say the least. They incorporate such beautiful colors and design elements, and sometimes in very unusual ways. I love looking at her work!

Finally, while enjoying that incredibly long road trip earlier this summer, my wishes were fulfilled, and both of Alison's books were added to my library. In fact, I got a deal on one of them...

The two books in question here are All that Glitters and The Midas Touch. You can read about Alison's publishing adventures with these two books here on Needle 'n Thread, where she was featured in a "Designer Spotlight" article last summer. It's a fascinating story, especially if you are interested in the craft book publishing industry!



Alison self-publishes her books. They are not available through discount book warehouses, such as Amazon, but they are available at many fine needlework shops around the world. The books, as the covers attest, are full of goldwork projects and stumpwork projects that incorporate goldwork.



The majority of the content of both books concentrates on projects, but both books have extensive stitching technique sections as well.



For each project, the reader is given the patterns in line drawings, detailed materials lists and instructions on completing the project, and photos of the finished project.



All the necessary techniques for goldwork are covered at the beginning of the work, using clear photos and directions.



For different techniques - such as detached petals in stumpwork - there are colored photos of samples of the technique. The works in the photos are really something! Inspirational, to say the least. At the same time, having clear photos of the finished elements help the reader "get it."



The general instructions in the books apply to any type of goldwork and stumpwork. They aren't relegated just to the designs in Alison's books. If you're learning goldwork, for example, chances are you will learn to couch passing thread around corners, a technique clearly illustrated in the "stitches and techniques" section.



Some of the projects in the books are really just unbelievably gorgeous! Could you imagine finishing such a piece as the fuschia in the photo above, and having it hanging on your wall? Talk about a beautiful accent - and what a conversation piece!



I've been a fan of goldwork and stumpwork for a long time - but I've mostly thought of them as separate techniques. Yes, you might see, occasionally, some stumpwork highlighted with a bit of goldwork, or some goldwork that employs a bit of dimensional work, but in Alison's books, she really combines the two techniques in amazing ways!

I was really happy with the purchase of these two books! I found them at Nordic Needle, and, to tell you the truth, they were the only definite things on my list to buy there. I've seen them there for a while, but was never ready to pay the price and the shipping for both. I felt justified in buying both of them by saving on shipping! (We won't discuss how much the road trip cost in the first place, ok?) Funny how we tend to justify things like that...

But, to make the picture even brighter, I visited Nordic Needle on a Monday, which was perfect! They have, on Mondays, a "Monday Madness" special, where you can draw a card that has a discount amount on it, from 10% up to 50% off an item in your order. Guess what? I got 50% off one of the books. In addition to that, because I had travelled a certain number of miles, I got another percentage off the whole order (a little special they run for out-of-town visitors, based on the number of miles they travel). So it worked out, and my patience in waiting for these two books paid off.

If you're looking for a challenging goldwork project, or if you just want to dream a bit about working one in the future, I'd suggest investing in one or both of Alison's books, especially if you're a fan of dimensional embroidery. While the books aren't heavy on step-by-step beginner information, they do contain enough instruction in them for the adventurous beginner in goldwork and for the novice who has dabbled a bit in goldwork. If you're absolutely brand new to embroidery, though, you might want to get some simpler techniques down first.

My favorite of the two books is the second one, The Midas Touch, but the first one, All That Glitters, is excellent, too.

In the States, both books are available through Nordic Needle.

Labels: book review, embroidery designers, goldwork

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 25, 2009
PermaLink  |  5 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

How do you organize your embroidery threads for your needlework projects? If you're like me, you're always looking for a way to organize your embroidery threads better. Here, I'll show you a method I like to use when I'm working on a project that requires many colors of thread. It isn't anything new - you see versions of this all over the place - but here's my "home made" version, and I'm even letting you have a printable copy of my template, so you can make your own thread organizers, too!

Here on Needle 'n Thread, I've mentioned different ways to go about organizing your threads, from using key tabs to braiding your skeins of coton a broder. Way back, in the deep, dark beginning of the website, I wrote an article on thread organization & storage, exploring some of the more popular forms including bags and rings and such, and then followed it up with another article that included the file-a-floss system and EZ Bobs. So this isn't really a new topic here, but it is another angle...

Thread keeps, thread rings, thread cards - they all have the same thing in common: holes that you put your embroidery threads into, looping them so that it is easy to remove one strand of floss at a time.



Thread keeps can be nice little accessories. They come in all kinds of shapes and materials, from simple wood strips, to bright pink plastic horse-heads (via DMC), to beautiful wood palettes, to mother-of-pearl acorns and hearts. This particular one above is from Kelmscott Designs. It costs around $9.00, and holds six colors of thread.



Thread rings are simply rings that you loop your thread onto. The rings can be attached to needlebooks, as I did when I finished this felt needlebook project. You can buy mother-of-pearl rings (also made by Kelmscott Designs), or you can even buy plastic rings made for curtain tie-backs for cheap, and get the same (thought not as attractive!) results.

Thread cards are a little less permanent than the above options. They are generally made out of heavy cardstock with punch-out-able holes and a place to record color numbers. You'll find them in the needlework section of many craft and sewing stores.

I like thread cards for projects that require using a lot of colors. While I have some thread rings and a few thread keeps and thread winders of different types, none of them are quite sufficient when working on a project involving a lot of thread.

So, I made up a version of a thread card to use with my upcoming Long and Short Stitch Shading Lessons, and then I turned it into a generic pattern for thread cards that can be used with any project. Here's how they work:



These are the cards for the Long and Short stitch lessons. I printed them on my computer on card stock.



I printed and cut two of each sized strip, stacking them on top of each other while cutting. Then I glued (using strip adhesive) the strips together, to reinforce them. If you can find slightly heavier cardstock that will go through your printer, you can skip this step! I only had light card stock on hand.



You can see that I already had the color numbers printed on my sheet before I printed them out. I also happened to have a 1/2" circle punch, so I used that to punch the holes. You can use a regular hole-punch and just not make the holes as big.



Cut your threads into working lengths (I always work with 18" - 20" lengths of threads) and fold the bundle in half.



Feed the fold of the thread through the front of the hole in the card, and make a loop behind the tails that remain on the front of the card, then pull the tails through the loop....



... and tighten it by pulling on the tails.



Repeat the process with all the threads for your project, writing the color number of the threads above each hole.

Now, your threads are ready to use! You can pull one strand at a time from the front of the little loop, without having to separate each bunch. Just slip the eye of your needle under one strand at the front of that little loop, and pull the strand out. Very easy!

If you want to print and use generic thread cards, here's a PDF that you can print out:

Thread Cards for Organization (PDF)

The thread cards include a place to write the project name and a space above each hole for writing the color number of the thread. There are three cards per sheet, with seven holes in each card.

How do you organize your threads for a project? Do you use thread cards or keeps, or some other system? Do tell!

Labels: embroidery tips and tricks, organization, pictures, threads

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 24, 2009
PermaLink  |  11 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 24, 2009
PermaLink  |  8 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Continuing on my exploration of "trip loot" from my recent vacation, during which I stopped at four popular needlework shops, I thought I'd show you a couple kits I picked up at Nordic Needle. They're kits for Huck embroidery, also called Swedish Weaving or Huck Darning. I thought they were appropriate to buy at Nordic Needle (considering the "Nordic" angle), and surely, thought I, they would make Really Good Projects to work in the car!

Six thousand miles and almost three weeks later, I'll admit I never did open up these embroidery kits while I was in the car. In fact, I don't think I ever looked at them again until I unpacked everything (and that was just briefly)... but while reorganizing this morning and putting things in a "definite" place (you know how it is - from The Stack to the Definite Place?), I came across them again, and thought I'd show them to you.



The kits are for two towels, which is a typical (but not the only) application for Huck work.

Strangely enough, though the kits caught my attention at the time, now as I look at them, I find myself chuckling. Neither are in "my" colors! They aren't really typical of me at all.

Yet, still, I like the idea of them.



Huck embroidery is worked on a specific type of fabric, normally (at least for beginners, anyway!) by following a pattern like the one in the photo above. The lines of the design represent the floss, while the little vertical dashes speckling the pattern represent the fabric weave.



You can use specific fabric for Huck work called Huck fabric, or you can use Huck toweling (or huckaback). You can also get away with using aida cloth or monk's cloth for Huck embroidery, too. For the actually "weaving" of the design (running the needle under loops of the fabric, according to a pattern, to create stitches that look like darning stitching - hence, "Swedish Weaving" and "Huck Darning") you use a blunt tapestry needle. And almost any kind of regular cotton embroidery thread or floss can be used, including pearl cotton and stranded cotton.

Those are the tidbits of information I picked up about Huck embroidery in reading the backs of the kits at Nordic Needle. Other than that, I don't really know much about the technique, as I've never tried it!

I've relegated these kits to the Someday Pile - I'm interested in trying them, but not right now, as there's just too much on the plate at the moment!

Still, I thought they were interesting enough to show you the kits, and ask if anyone out there is a great fan of Huck work, and if so, can you tell us any other information about it? Are there links and resources available for this craft? How 'bout some photo pages and so forth?

Labels: pictures, regional embroidery techniques

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 23, 2009
PermaLink  |  6 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Coming up on Needle 'n Thread: a series of lessons on long and short stitch shading! May I tell you a bit about it?

Long and short stitch shading goes by many names in the embroidery arena, and the long and short stitch is a vital part of many embroidery techniques. Needle painting, thread painting, shading, silk shading.... crewel work, art silk embroidery... and on and on...



Despite what it's called, long and short stitch shading is a beautiful embroidery technique and it's worth learning. There's no better way in embroidery to fill a realistic-looking shape. And even if you're working a stylized design and you want to fill an area with shades of color, long and short stitch is the stitch to use for a smooth, gradual shaded fill.



It seems lots of stitchers are intimidated by long and short stitch. In a sense, there's good reason for that - it's usually considered a more "advanced" form of embroidery, and it's often seen in combination with "advanced" forms of embroidery (like goldwork).

Like any new skill, long and short stitch takes practice to get it, but once you start working with the technique, you'll find out a very important thing about it: it's a "forgiving" stitch, more so than many other embroidery stitches! It allows you to make corrections as you go.

The concept behind these lessons is to take you through the basics of long and short stitch. While the lessons are in stitch-a-long form, they are not focused on one finished design. (We'll save that for another time!)



Instead, I will be working through a series of 8 design elements, each fitting within a space of about 2" (and the elements themselves are smaller than that!). Each element will be stitched in sequence, from basic long and short stitch filling in a box, to angled long and short stitch shading, to filling in a circle, then filling in a ribbon, then working on natural elements - from the stylized leaf, to the more realistic, to the small flower shape, to a "real" leaf, with a folded edge.

By stitching these eight elements, you will learn the anatomy of the stitching technique and its applications in basic forms. The lessons will help you get the hang of shading and will prepare you for further adventures with long and short stitch.



The lessons include materials list, design, picture tutorials, a couple videos, and, of course, text instructions (because you know I couldn't do this without incessant babbling!) The finished product, should you stitch the whole thing as I drew it, will be a small sampler of 8 elements, with a space to personalize it, leaving you with a good reference point for later work.

I've been working like a fiend on the lessons, and I'm planning to launch them soon. Look for them!

Labels: embroidery lessons, long and short stitch, needlepainting

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 23, 2009
PermaLink  |  21 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Going back to my pile of needlework loot I picked up on my recent road trip, here's a beautiful book by Gay Eaton called Wessex Stitchery. Now, if you're a counted thread embroidery fan, you're gonna love this book! And even if you're not, you're still gonna love it, because of the variety of stitches and applications in the book. (Well, ok... I think you'll like it, anyway!)

Wessex Stitchery is a book devoted to the study of the motifs and arrangements of stitches (on even-weave fabric) that reflect a style of embroidery made popular, apparently, during the Victorian age by a British lady - a fact I found sort of disappointing, as I thought it was a more "historical" approach to embroidery, with roots stretching way back to Medieval England or beyond. I quickly overcame my disappointment (or surprise, rather) when I realized that just about any embroidery technique has more "historical" roots than we give credit for, because, after all, that's pretty much what we do - we generally build on what came before.

The book illustrates the anatomy of groups of stitches that make up beautiful patterns (especially filling patterns).



The variety of combinations and the use of many colors make Wessex stitchery a really fascinating technique, one definitely suitable for on-going development and discovery.



The book includes explanations, patterns, instruction, and diagrams all clearly focused on teaching this style of embroidery to beginners and beyond.



The filling patterns are not relegated to counted embroidery on even-weave fabric, of course. If you like canvas work (needlepoint), I suspect you'll find plenty of inspiration here!



Wessex stitchery, methinks, would be particularly suited to make band samplers. You certainly wouldn't get bored with working the same types of stitches over and over again with this kind of embroidery!



I like the idea of using this type of stitchery for background. Who says it has to be in colored threads, for example? What about a background on a goldwork pattern, worked in gold threads? If you're not working on even-weave, I suspect you could tack on some waste canvas or netting and work up a beautiful background fill pattern.



Besides covering a wide variety of stitch combinations and motifs, the book also contains projects, including needle keeps, pin cushions, and the like, along with ideas for samplers.

This is worthwhile book for any stitching enthusiast to have on the shelf. It's especially worthwhile for counted thread enthusiasts who want to expand their repertoire of counted thread stitches or who want to add some variety and texture to their work. Surface embroiderers will find the book fascinating for the variety of filling ideas and the combinations of stitches. In short, I think anyone interested in working with needle & thread will like this book!

Strangely enough, the book is becoming a wee bit difficult to come by, though you can still find it through Lacis and some used book sources online. I bought mine at Lacis, where it was available for $25. It's still listed on their website, so just search their catalog with the term "Wessex Stitchery" and it should pop right up.

I don't advise acquiring it through Amazon in the US right now. One copy is available, used, for a mere $387.90 (a couple weeks ago, it was on there for $175). Sheeeeesh!

Still, I believe the book is out of print, so if you want it, now's the time to get it, while Lacis is still carrying it....

PS (added a bit later!) You can also buy it for $25 through Hedgehog Handworks.

Enjoy!

Labels: book review, embroidery resources, pictures

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 22, 2009
PermaLink  |  6 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

My favorite needlework stand for holding my hoops or frames is the Needlework System 4 stand, with the frame clamp. I love this piece of equipment! I've written already an in-depth review of the Needlework System 4 stand, including a short video that demonstrates how it turns easily, but today I'm going to show you a new piece I bought for it...

This piece is an extension that fits on the Needlework System 4 stand, between the top of the stand and the clamp (or other devises - like scroll frame connector, etc.). It's an arched piece of metal, with the same end fittings as the other pieces, so that they all fit together.



At first, I wondered about the purpose of the extension when I heard that there was one available. I usually use my stand from the front position of wherever I'm sitting, so that the frame clamp is at the top of my work directly in front of me, and I hadn't seen the need for an extension.

However, one day I was working on a larger frame, and I was thinking it would be nice if I could put the floor stand easily to the side, over the arm of the couch, so that I didn't have the stand sitting way out in the middle of the floor, since the frame it was holding was over 20" deep....

... and that's when I realized that the extension would be pretty nice to have.



The arch of the extension allows you to put the frame easily to the side, over the arm of a chair or couch. You can adjust the extension bar to point up or down, or leave it "horizontal" (insofar as an arch can be horizontal!), and then you can further adjust the frame clamp into whatever position you want.

Besides being handy for the side-position arrangement of the stand, the extension also makes it easier to get your work right where you want it, if the stand is directly in front of you. The extension gives the stand one more option for adjustment. Also, basically, it just gets your work closer (by about 10") and from any direction.

The extension is made out of metal, and matches the rest of the stand in quality construction. It's made to last!

I really do love the Needlework System 4! It's by far the best embroidery stand I've ever used (and I think I've used pretty much every stand out there). I've only had one minor problem with the frame clamp. After using it a ton - as in, every day, day in day out, for a year, and turning it too many times to count while using it - the turning mechanism loosened up quite a bit. When I contact the Needlework System 4 company, they wrote back and told me to ship it in, and they'd fix it or replace it (no charge!) There's a lifetime warranty on the stand, but I doubt it would be much needed. And, actually, I found a better fix for the turning mechanism on the frame clamp (I didn't want to be without it for too long!). I used a wrench to tighten things up - and... voila! Back to normal.

If you're looking for a good embroidery stand, you won't be disappointed with this one. If you don't use stretcher bar frames, they have several other options for the stand: scroll bars and a Q-snap holder (though I admit, I use my frame clamp to hold Q-snaps, and it works "ok"). If you're solely a hoop person, the frame clamp holds hoops pretty well, too.

I'm totally unaffiliated with the company or any of its distributors, so there's no "sell job" going on here. Just a hearty recommendation for a really good embroidery stand!

If you've already got the Needlework System 4, consider adding the extension. It's nice. I'm glad I bought it!

So far, the best place I've found to purchase the stand is through Threadneedle Street in Issaquah, WA, which I just recently visited. They have the best prices that I've seen on the stand, plus they stock it and the accessories in the store, so you don't normally have to wait as long for delivery. The only difficulty is that their web page is kind of a pain to shop through, but it still works. You can also call them and place an order over the phone, if you don't like their online order form.

I haven't tried the scroll frame or Q-snap holder for the Needlework System 4. Each element of the system is indeed rather pricey, so I've stuck so far with just the frame clamp. But I'm considering the future purchase of the standard scroll frame attachment and the regular Q-snap attachment. I'm just not quite sure yet if I want to take the plunge. If you've got either of those - the scroll frame or the Q-snap holder - I'd love to hear what you think of them!

Labels: embroidery resources, needlework tools, pictures

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 21, 2009
PermaLink  |  6 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Last week, I told you about the iron-on transfers from Mani di Fata, which I purchased at Lacis while on vacation. Here's a little towel I worked up, using one of the corner designs in that package. I'm also going to show you (gasp! shock! horror!) the back of the embroidery.

As I mentioned earlier, my favorite way of transferring an embroidery pattern - even if it's an iron-on - is actually by tracing. That's what I did with this particular towel. I taped the iron-on to my little light box and traced the design on using a regular mechanical pencil with #2 lead. There are other ways of transferring designs, of course! I've got a bunch of them explained in the articles under Tips and Tricks for Hand Embroidery, if you're looking for some other way to get your embroidery design onto your fabric. For me, though, for this type of embroidery, I prefer just to trace with a pencil. It's easy, it doesn't require special equipment (you can use a sunny window instead of a light box), and it's really fast.

After transferring the pattern, I picked out colors. Generally, on towels, I stick with no more than four colors, and often only three. In this towel, I used four: green, red, a lighter orangy-red, and yellow.



The design is pretty simple, but bold.



The entire thing is stitched in stem stitch, with the exception of the satin stitched dots around the outside of the flower and the satin stitched center of the flower.



Stem stitch is an absolutely delightful stitch. It's my favorite for line patterns, because it's easy, quick to work, and its rope-like appearance is pretty. Despite arguments contrary to the fact, there is a difference between stem stitch and outline stitch, by the way! If you choose to use outline stitch for lines, you won't get that rope-like appearance.



The Back of Embroidery is generally a subject that comes up either in hushed tones or apologetic tones... I received a funny e-mail from a reader, asking Very Apologetically if I would mind showing the back of my embroidery some time. She was worried because, especially on the towels she was making, the back is not covered up. "Slugs" where the end of the thread is anchored were a concern.

You can see the "slugs" where I wrap the ends of my threads around the backs of the stitches to anchor them. I either wrap (whipping around the backs of the stitches), or just pull the threads through the stitches, taking one extra backstitch around the back of the threads to anchor the thread. You can read about this under Ending Embroidery Threads, if you want. In any case, this is generally how I end stitches in a line on the back of towels.

In certain types of embroidery (needlepainting, goldwork, etc.), if I'm filling an area and I haven't filled it all the way yet, and I need to end a thread, I'll end my thread by taking it into an area that will be filled with other stitches and working several tiny backstitches that will hold the thread. It's the same concept as beginning with anchor stitches, only, in a filled area, you can work the little anchor stitches perpendicular to (and into) each other (without building up a lump!). I've shown this technique on the video tutorial on bullion rose buds, if you want to take a look.



But, on line stitches on the back of a towel like this, where I don't have anywhere to hide little anchoring stitches, I wrap the end of the thread through the stitches on the back. Yes, it makes a bit of a slug. But it's the back! So I think it's ok! Just trim your little fuzzies, and clean it up as best as you can, and I think it'll look fine for the back of the work!



Decorated flour sack towels are useful for a number of purposes besides just drying dishes, hanging on the fridge, wiping the countertop, or sopping up messes. They make terrific basket liners, for one thing. We use them to line bread baskets for serving bread in at the dinner table. You can fold the corners up over the bread to keep it warm, and if you put your embroidered corner on the top, it's very pretty!

Additionally, you can line gift baskets with them. This is great for wedding showers! Instead of wrapping the gift, put it in a basket lined with a towel, and fold the towel over the gift, with the embroidered corner on the top. A nice personal touch!

I like embroidering flour sack towels when I'm in the mood for relaxing, easy needlework that doesn't require any kind of thinking or planning. I usually keep a couple towels "kitted up" in my work basket, ready for moments when I need something to do with my hands, but can't afford deep concentration on needlework.

PS... Great source for flour sack towels: American Chair Store. I use their Deluxe Flour Sack Towel. They're nicer than any I've found anywhere else, and, so far, they've been consistently nice, which is good. They're cheaper by the dozen, so if you plan to decorate many towels with hand embroidery, consider getting them by the dozen...

Labels: beginner embroidery, Embroidery for the Home, embroidery tips and tricks, needlework pictures, pictures

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 20, 2009
PermaLink  |  9 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 20, 2009
PermaLink  |  13 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 19, 2009
PermaLink  |  15 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Ok, that's a dumb and punny title. Still, I was on the ball - I actually completely something! One of the best parts of creating anything is actually completing it and enjoying that sense of accomplishment. I don't always complete everything I begin, needlework-wise. (Have you noticed that? Think: whitework sampler, silk shading sampler, Long Dog sampler... the list could go on!) My excuse list, by the way, is just as long! However, Temari balls are small enough to finish in just a couple sittings, and this makes embroidering these spheres extra fun.

The beginning of my first attempt at Temari went pretty quickly. After selecting the right threads and a pattern, all told, I think I worked for a bit less than an hour.

The next chance I got, I went back out to the studio to finish up the Temari ball, and this took about two hours, with a few interruptions in there.



I worked the other side of the ball exactly like the first, although I tried to loosen up my tension a bit and not crowd the tips so much. That's going to take a little more practice, methinks. I wanted both sides to come out even, as far as the spacing from the tips of the "star" to the middle band, or obi. I added to both sides one more row of light blue and one more row of dark blue, to try to bring out the pattern a bit more.



The obi, or band across the middle, is worked in the same threads. I had plenty more yellow and pink, but I don't like the yellow, so it ended up being mostly blue with a little bit of pink and only one row of yellow in the center I think double herringbone stitch would normally be worked over the top of the obi, but I only had two strands of dark blue left.



The pattern called for gold braid for the herringbone, but since I didn't use gold anywhere else (except the original marking threads on the ball, which I tried to cover up as much as possible), I figured the blue would be fine. I've got the impression that, pretty much, you can do whatever you want to with colors.



The final test of whether or not I got the process right was passing the ball off to Adele, who inspected it for me. I figure if Temari were originally presented as baby gifts, I might as well see how a baby liked this one. She approved, though I had the impression she would have liked it better if it had a bell or something inside. Next time, I may just have to make my own core and add a bell!

So that was my first experience with Temari, and I found that I did like making it (a lot), and will probably delve into the craft again. Hm... they'd make good Christmas gifts, baby gifts, housewarming gifts, and even just regular decoration. I like the idea of a decorative bowl filled with different sizes - a good conversation piece, if nothing else.

For books, I like Barb Suess's Japanese Temari: A Colorful Spin on an Ancient Craft best for beginners. The instructions were really clear.

If you take a look at any Temari book and feel intimidated by the angles and markings on the ball, start with Barb's book, and once you get through the first ball, your intimidation will vanish, even if you're working with the pre-made and pre-marked cores. Actually working with the marked ball helps dissolve that befuddlement of looking at all those angle diagrams in the books - you'll suddenly "get it" without too much effort!

If you're looking for pre-made and pre-marked cores, you can find them available in three colors (red, white, and black) at Nordic Needle, for $10.99 each. (Lacis charges $14.95 for the same thing, and theirs only come in black or white.)

Working on a pre-made and pre-marked core has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages. For example, the pre-marked balls are divided into a simple 6 division, which limits your pattern choices to 6 or 12 division patterns. Most of the patterns that catch my eye are 8 or 16 division patterns. So there's a bit of a limitation there. BUT - on the other hand - if you want to try Temari, and you are intimidated by the idea of making your own core, or you simply don't want to put the time, effort, and expense into making the core until you know if you like the craft, then starting with a pre-marked 6-division ball is a good idea.

I'd love to hear your Temari adventures. If you want to link to your photo page, blog, etc., that features your Temari, leave a comment with a link below. If you know of good resources to share, feel free!

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, temari

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 18, 2009
PermaLink  |  5 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

If you've gotten to know me a bit through Needle 'n Thread, you've probably figured out that I like books - and I love needlework books. Occasionally, I read a needlework book from cover to cover, but it's rather a rare thing for me to do, especially if it is a book on a specific needlework technique. In such cases, I "scan" - I look for the information I need. For the first time in a long time, I read a needlework book from cover to cover yesterday. It wasn't hard to do, as the book is filled with pictures, and the text is made up of clear, succinct instruction.

Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework by Luzine Happel is a self-published book that I think will become the definitive guide to learning Schwalm embroidery. The English version, recently edited by Joey Colbert (who formerly owned a great little embroidery shop called Twining Thread) and with an introduction by her, is one of the best instructional books that I've seen focusing on teaching a specific needlework technique.



Do not be put off by the fact that this is a self-printed book bound with a plastic comb. I say that because I've purchased many such printed books, and some of them have been complete fizzers, even though written and sold by rather well-known names in the needlework world. This book is not a fizzer.

The book is printed in color on nice paper, bound with a plastic comb, and has a clear plastic cover. The binding, actually, is an advantage - the book lays flat on the table, which is a boon for stitchers who are following the instructions within.

The book is written around one (beautiful!) Schwalm whitework project which incorporates all the major aspects of Schwalm embroidery, including many filling techniques, from simple to intricate. The premise is that, if you work through the project - a small decorative square linen with a Schwalm design around the four sides - you will become familiar with, and practice, all the techniques involved in Schwalm whitework, including excellent finishing techniques. The author takes you through every step of the way and leaves no question unanswered.



After beginning with a discussion of materials (fabrics, threads, tools), Luzine shows you, through pictures and text, how to set up your fabric and transfer your project so that you begin on the right foot.

This section alone would be of interest to any stitcher, regardless of technique preferences, because the principles in the set-up of this project apply to setting up practically any embroidery project. The proper marking of the fabric so that the design is centered and lined up perfectly, the transfer of the pattern, including transferring an extra corner piece - all this information is useful to the hand embroiderer.



You can see here a glimpse of the design. On the right page, in the left corner of the design, you can see how the extra motif for the corner is being aligned with the rest of the design.



Luzine addresses the question of how to treat your threads - how to arrange them for easy access and in a way that keeps them neat and organized as you work through the project.



The stitches are explained with step-by-step photos, but more interestingly, the whole progress of the projects is explained with step-by-step photos, too. Each time you get through a stage of the project, a complete picture of the area is given, so you can see what it's supposed to look like at the end of that stage.

Little red arrows in the photos point to the areas that require special attention - a little instructional hint on how to come to a perfect point, for example, or how to end a thread, or where to come up next, etc. (Like I said, no question is left unanswered!)



Progressing to the next stage, you're taken step-by-step through it, and then given a clear picture of what your work should look like at the end of the stage.



Since different results are often desired from the same stitch (for example, depending on the shape of the leaf, satin stitches will be worked differently), Luzine includes photos of all the results you will want to achieve, discussing them and explaining how to achieve them.



One of the most beautiful aspects of Schwalm whitework is the variety of fillings used inside the various motifs. There are three basic approaches to fillings in Schwalm, and the author explains all three, then takes you through different stitches within the three categories. The project incorporates all different types of fillings, working you from the basic to the more intricate.



Close-up photos and detailed explanation take you through what could be tricky ground. This is the aspect of Luzine's book that I prefer vastly over Christine Bishop's book, Schwalm Embroidery Techniques and Designs, which I've already reviewed. While I like Christine's book and find it informative and inspiring, when it comes to actual stitch explanations (especially in the filling techniques) and their sketched diagrams, the book leaves the novice stitcher with questions that require troubleshooting. Luzine's explanations of the filling techniques used in Schwalm are clear, precise, and well illustrated.



And, again, as you go, you get the photos of the work as you complete a stage.



Now, in many technique books, the finish work is either neglected completely, or, if finishing is discussed, it is in the most generic of terms. Not so in this book. The author takes you through every step of finishing the project.



The finishing section alone is worth the book, for anyone interested in any kind of drawn thread or whitework embroidery that requires hemming with a decorative edge. Once you understand the principles, you can apply them to a variety of decorative treatments.



Finally, in the back of the book, you'll find two semi-transparent pages with clear line drawings of the motifs used in the project. These are marked with dashed lines on the center points, so that you can line up the design precisely on your fabric.

Now, the book is available, but it has to be ordered from Germany either directly from Luzine or from the Museum der Schwalm website in Germany, which is rather difficult to order from. This is the direct link to Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework by Luzine Happel at Museum der Schwalm. Better yet, you can contact Luzine directly for the book and she can send you a Paypal invoice (which is much easier!). Her e-mail is leuchtbergverlag [at] aol [dot] com.

The price is a bit daunting, I know, at 29.9 EURO (about $42US). And you might think that, because it isn't a professionally published book, it couldn't be worth that. I think it is worth that. If you want to learn Schwalm, or you want to explore it further and learn some of the tips and tricks, I think this is the best book for doing so. There's just no comparison between it and the other two popular Schwalm books on the market (Christine Bishop's and Renate Fernau's). While both of those feature beautiful embroidery - and the sampler in Christine's book is really nice! - the actual instruction in both books fall short when compared to this book, in my opinion.

So, if you're interested in Schwalm or whitework in general, I think this is a book to add to your library!

Since reading it, I've decided (ut oh!) that, with the exception of the current long and short stitch stuff I'm preparing for the website, my next "complete" project - as in "real" and "serious" project, is going to be this piece. It's beautiful. And I want to learn from Luzine!! Don't be surprised, then, to see me setting up this project in the next few weeks!

[The Fine Print: No affiliation here - just a Really Good Book that I think you'll like if you're interested in whitework!]

Labels: book review, embroidery resources, pictures, Schwalm, whitework

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 17, 2009
PermaLink  |  18 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

It's true. Temari is addicting. I haven't discovered yet if it is addicting as a craft - I don't know, for example, whether or not I'll be desperate to start another one once I finish my first attempt, because I haven't finished my first attempt yet - but I do know that, in the process of creating one ball, it is addicting. I didn't want to stop. And my First Attempt Temari is ugly. And I still didn't want to stop!

Yesterday, the itch to try to make a Temari ball finally overcame me, and in the later afternoon when I should have been doing a dozen other things, I slunk out to the studio, furtively planning to to give in.

The first thing I had to do was gather threads.

Oh.

Darn.

Threads.

Never start a project until you have at least a goodly bit of the supplies actually in your possession. I know this rule, but I really had to make a Temari ball yesterday afternoon!

I had some partial skeins of DMC perle cotton #5 leftover from the kids' embroidery classes I taught last summer. Let's see... a pink, a light blue, a very little bit of dark blue, and a rather vibrant yellow. There was also a skein of bright orange, but that didn't seem to fit the bill, quite.

Sticking with an overall baby-colored scheme, then (with the exception of the yellow, which was too bright to be baby), I launched into embroidering the outside of one of my thread-wrapped balls from Lacis.

The ball was already divided into a simple 6 division, so I found, in Barb Suess's book Japanese Temari, A Colorful Spin on an Ancient Craft, a pattern for a six division ball and launched in.

I wasn't sure of the needle to use, so at first, I started out with a regular crewel needle (#3), but quickly switched to the only large darning needle that I had in my needle box. I have no idea what size it is, but it was the longest needle I had, so I stuck with that.



It isn't exactly my favorite design that I've seen on Temari balls. So many of these embroidered spheres have caught my eye lately, but this particular design didn't, exactly. Still, it was a six-division pattern and looked fairly simple (which it was).



Because the ball I had was so huge, I had to add extra rows of thread, so I expanded the original pattern a little bit.



My spacing and tension were not exactly what they should have been. I found I crammed the stitches into the end-points, instead of keeping them a bit farther apart and well-spaced. This caused some of the threads to bunch up against each other, and, in some cases, to overlap, covering up other threads.



Some of the little arms of the "star" came out better than others, but there's still a tension and spacing problem going on here.



As I altered the pattern a bit, I jotted down the alterations in the book. Yes, I write in my books. Not in all my books, but in many of them!

Barb Suess's book is really excellent for beginners. I recommend it highly! The other book I ordered was Temari: How to Make Japanese Thread Balls, by Diana Vandervoort. Once I got the hang of what I was doing, I liked the second book, too. It's not as nice a book, though, as Barb Suess's, if you're one who judges content by appearance. The pages are that rough news-printy type paper, and, except for a couple pages right in front, there is no color throughout the book. All the diagrams look hand-sketched. But the information is really good, and there are some neat designs in there, though you don't get to see them displayed in color.

As far as the pre-wrapped ball from Lacis goes, by the way, I find them rather large. I don't know if this is the standard size, but it "just" fits in my hand - it's like a softball. It feels large. I can see why making your own thread-wrapped core would be more enticing, since you can then determine the size of the finished product.

I'm eager to finish this ball. Once I see it completed, I'll know better if I want to invest in some specific threads for the black core.

Anyway, that's it - my First Attempt Temari.

Labels: needlework pictures, pictures, regional embroidery techniques, temari

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 16, 2009
PermaLink  |  14 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Patterns for hand embroidery are extremely versatile - they are useful for a variety of arts and crafts. So even if you don't always go in for surface embroidery, you might find the plethora of embroidery designs available online and in books capable of producing Muse-juice for all other kinds of crafts. Here's an example to illustrate what I'm talking about...

Gitte doesn't hand embroider, but she does indulge in paper crafts. Taking one of my scrolly medallion embroidery designs, she used it to make a beautiful card out of vellum and cardstock.

First, she embossed the design from the back, then, using special scissors, she cut each individual tiny scallop around the embossed lines, creating a gorgeous lacy effect. WOW! The card is beautiful - a real work of art.

The picture below is clickable, and if you click on it, you'll be taken to a larger version.



Beautiful, isn't it?!

If you're one of those Have-to-Craft people who move from craft to craft, making things, I'm sure you've already discovered that you can cross from one craft to another, taking designs and ideas with you. This card is a perfect example of doing that. There are really only two categories of crafts I get into - textiles (from needlework to Kumihimo, felting, and so forth) and paper crafts. I love how this card uses something I intended for needlework in a whole different application in paper craft. It maketh the Muse-juice flow, and all kinds of ideas are popping up in my head now!

Labels: embroider on paper, free embroidery patterns, pictures, readers embroidery

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 15, 2009
PermaLink  |  11 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to take a couple of my nieces out to the studio and set up some embroidery projects with them. They wanted to stitch some "quick" designs onto flour sack towels to use as bread basket liners (and hopefully sell). So, out we went...

... to the studio that was clean and neat, and there we sifted through designs and ideas. Luckily, the towels were already prepared. I had two dozen deluxe flour sack towels from American Chair Store in the cabinet, awaiting designs and embroidery. These are consistently the best flour sack towels I've come across, by the way, and they are worth the cost of $1.60 each if you buy them in packs of 10. (Like everything else, the price, by the way, has gone up... I bought them by the dozen for about $15 not too long ago...)

Contemplating designs, we very quickly settled on the brilliant idea of making use of the iron-on transfers I told you about yesterday. After all, we could kill two birds with one stone: I could see how well the transfers work, and they could have their towels ready for stitching in no time flat.

Anna selected a few different designs: the three cups, cut out and arranged askew on the corner of one towel, the "B-I-S-C-O-T-T-I" design for across the edge of another towel, and a swirly floral corner thing for another towel.

Emma selected one design - a small bunch of plums that she insisted were peaches and are embroidering them as such, so they are coming out looking like apricots.... which is fine. Emma's eight years old, so I've adopted a new policy with her concerning embroidery: Keep It Simple (despite her inclination to want to do what everyone else is doing) and One Thing at a Time. If she finishes the plums-gone-peaches-gone-apricots, she can set up another towel.

So, we got to try the transfers, and this, of course, takes me back to my reasons for preferring to trace rather than use a transfer.



The transfers took pretty well for iron-on transfers. For the most part, the designs came off very clear, and in little corners here and there where they didn't, the fault belongs to the person behind the iron. These particular transfers are definitely made to give a good, bold first transfer.

We tried a couple of the designs twice, making up, for example, two Biscotti towels. The second impression of the design was actually better than the first.



One thing I remembered I don't like about iron-ons is the thick line they can leave if you are trying for a bold impression. If I'm stitching up a towel for a gift, I generally use 2 strands of floss, which keeps the design bold enough, but not chunky looking. I'm not sure if these transfer lines will wash out, so the best bet is to cover them well when embroidering. This'll require at least 3 strands of floss.

Anyway, as far as the transfer itself goes, these work well. Whil I may still prefer tracing my designs, I have to admit that ironing them on is really quick - we were able to set up about 8 projects yesterday in less than an hour.

After setting up the individual towels, we selected floss for each, then bagged up the floss and the folded towel to make up a "kit." Now the gals will have something to keep them busy! They like to stitch and listen to audio books, which is a good passtime for summer, when they're not in the pool or frolicking about doing other things.

That's done, then.

What else am I up to? Well, I've cleaned up the studio (once again) and sifted through a few things to tie up some loose ends. Sometimes, it's just easier not to go on vacation! Playing catch-up doesn't always seem worth it! I've got a heap of mail ready to go out (the birthday give-aways from June! Finally!). I've gone through all my photos and organized them (about 10 times now), looking desperately for photos of the finished pall I embroidered recently. I never found any, which leads me to think I never took pictures of the finished piece! And now it's delivered! I could kick myself for that one - so, for those of you who have asked about the finish, sorry about that.

I'm still trying to catch up on e-mail, but I fear some may have fallen through the cracks, and, just this morning, for the first time, I've finally caught my feedreader up.

The laundry room here at home has a new coat of paint on it (thanks to my niece, Bridget), but the dining room is stacked with all the shelf clutter from the laundry room. I need to tear down my bedroom this week and get it ready for new paint, which will be followed by new furniture and new linens, curtains, etc., in the next couple months. I'm going with periwinkle walls and white trim, all white linens, all white furniture - and the palest of greens and yellows for highlights. I'm excited about that, and am looking forward, especially, to carrying out my Curtain Idea. I'm going to make (or buy) some airy white sheers for both windows and stitch some very simple, loose scroll designs on them in colors to coordinate with the new paint job. It'll be a while before this is realized, though, as the kitchen, dining room, living room and entryway all have priority.

And, in the midst of all that, I'm working on school work for next year, planning classes and so forth. As the summer passes all-too-quickly away, I must schedule several hours a day just to focus on school preparation. Anyone who thinks teachers have it made, with summers completely off, is rather incorrect in that assumption!

That's what's going on in Real Life right now. In Website Life, I'm still working on projects for Needle 'n Thread, including the long-promised long and short stitch tutorials, as well as a slew of new videos. I haven't had any prime video days yet, though - the days are too broken up with other work and visitors and all the hubbub of the summer.

I hope your summer is going well, and that you have time to relax and enjoy working with your needle 'n thread!

Labels: beginner embroidery, Embroidery for the Home, embroidery resources, iron-on embroidery transfers

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 14, 2009
PermaLink  |  4 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

If you like to use iron-on transfers for your hand embroidery projects, you might be interested a really nice line of transfers produced by Mani di Fata of Italy, and available through Lacis. I purchased a couple different types of iron-on sets, including regular surface embroidery designs and cutwork designs. Here's the set for surface embroidery...

I've only occasionally used iron-on transfers for my embroidery projects. Truth is, I find it easier and more reliable to trace patterns, even those intended to be ironed on. With this set of transfers from Mani di Fata, I'm definitely tracing. Though the transfers would last through several applications, I'm pretty sure they'll last even longer if I stick with tracing them rather than ironing them.



These transfers came in a very large envelope. There are three sheets of transfers, each sheet folding out to... oh, some huge tabletop proportion! (I didn't measure them...)



Each sheet contains many motifs for embroidery. You simply cut out the pieces you want to iron-on, making note of the markings for repeat patterns if your design has a repeat. Then you set up your fabric and iron on your pattern.



The package contains motifs suitable for the bedroom, the living room, the dining room, the kitchen... you get the idea...



... and they're all more or less mixed up on each of the three sheets in the package.



There's one nice alphabet in the set - it features letters marked out with lilies of the valley. It's a very pretty, medium-sized alphabet.



Some of the highlights that sold me on this particular set were these cute cups...



... this line of cacti - though I've never embroidered potted cacti and have no idea if I actually ever will...



... and the many nice corner-type designs in the set. There are at least six or more designs specifically suitable to corners, some very simple and some more complex.

Now, I haven't tried the actual iron-on-ness of these yet, though I will, so I can let you know how well they work. But given the quality of the paper and the sharpness of the designs, I'm assuming they iron on well. I'll play with that this week and let you know.

You can find these iron-on sets through Lacis, by searching "mani di fata" in their online catalog. You'll also find that they have several cutwork iron-on sets, books, and so forth by the same company. You can also look up the Mani di Fata website, which is written in Italian, but you can switch to English or Spanish translation on the site. I found it difficult to find exactly the same set of transfers on their website, but they have all kinds of other delectable things to look at, too, including kits - cutwork tablecloth kits, for example, with the design already printed on, and all kinds of other neat stuff.

Back to the transfers - these sets really have the nicest designs I've seen in these types of transfers. I'm glad I found them while rummaging through Lacis, and now I wish I had bought more of 'em!

Labels: embroidery resources, iron-on embroidery transfers, pictures, supplies

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 13, 2009
PermaLink  |  5 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 12, 2009
PermaLink  |  7 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

While visiting San Carlos Borromeo Mission in Carmel, California, last week, I enjoyed looking at their display case of old embroidered vestments. One in particular caught my eye, because it was very similar to another vestment I had seen several years ago on display in Clyde, Missiouri. I thought I'd put the two similar elements up together here so that you can see the similarities, too.

Both vestments were certainly hand embroidered. I know for a fact that the vestments in Clyde, Missouri, are hand embroidered, and, looking at the ones at San Carlos up close, it is obvious that they, too, were worked by hand.

Both vestments are "Roman" in style - that is, they are oblong rectangles - and in the middle of the back of the vestment (the part that, in the traditional ceremonies of the Church, face the congregation most of the time), there is a round medallion featuring the face of Christ, with a small bit of text surrounding the face. The medallions are centered in an elaborately embroidered cross. The surrounding embroidered cross is not really the focal point here, because, except in size, they aren't similar at all.

The following medallion is on a vestment at the Benedictine convent in Clyde, Missouri:



The colors are a little surprising. The photo was taken inside, in regular lighting, and the piece was behind glass. Still, these were the colors, more or less - predominantly blues and pinks.



The vestment at San Carlos in Carmel featured much warmer colors - golds, reds, deep bluish-greens.

The overall look of the two vestments reflect completely different "eras" of art. The top piece, for example, has a somewhat art-nouveau look to it (this style of art being popular from the late 1800's through the early 1900's, with the peak of popularity being between about 1890-1905/10 - about a 15 to 20 year spread of time). The second piece, from San Carlos, is more conservative in style and color selection. But the similarities between the faces is what is intriguing.

The points of similarity that strike me especially are:

1. The arrangement - the circle, the text, the face.
2. The nose and eyebrows
3. The cheekbones
4. The eyes
5. The lips - though dissimilar in color, the are similar in structure, including the space just below the lips.

The hair and beard on the two pieces are different, too - the stitching on the beard on the second piece is much "lighter" and fuzzier looking. The top medallion features very dark lines under the edge of the moustache, which draws the mouth down. Yet, essentially, the two moustaches are the same shape, even to the point of the left side looking less angled than the right.

It is pretty clear that the two pieces were worked from the same image as a pattern, but the interpretations are slightly different. My guess? That a line of patterns with this image of the face was available from the late 1800's through the early 1900's, but that, though the face was the same, the embroiderer could select from a series of patterns that featured different styles of text, wording, etc., and that the individual embellishment of the cross and halo and the surrounding edge were left to the embroiderer's imagination and skill. Probably, a catalog of embroidery patterns was available at the time, and convents, houses of embroidery, or individuals selected their patterns from the catalog.

That's just a guess. I have a couple other images from different vestments in different parts of the country that support the notion that common patterns were used (probably ordered from catalogs) in ecclesiastical embroidery found on old vestments. One image in particular comes to mind, so when I find those photos, I'll put them up for you to see.

I thought it was kind of neat to find two such similar images in hand embroidery, some thousands of miles apart, but both in museums that reflect the religious heritage of the area in which they are located. I also like the fact that the choice of colors and the arrangement of design on the back of the chasuble (the embroidered cross) reflect both the individual embroiderers' tastes and the location / use of the vestment. The second medallion above, for example, is perfect for San Carlos, as far as colors are concerned. The vestment belonging to the first medallion would look entirely out of place in the sanctuary at the mission in California, but it probably worked great in the chapel in Clyde, Missouri.

Any input or observations?

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

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 11, 2009
PermaLink  |  9 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Embroidery on a sphere sounds pretty intriguing, I think, and the Japanese have this down to an art in the form of temari, which are wrapped, "embroidered" balls that are both decorative and meaningful. I've been captivated by temari for a while and itching to try it myself some day. That day has (almost) come; I'm a step closer to learning the craft, anyway...

While at Lacis in Berkeley, I didn't buy a whole lot of embroidery-related supplies, but I did buy books, and one of them is The Temari Book.



The book includes instructions and patterns for making thread-wrapped balls. Temari are given as gifts by the Japanese for a variety of purposes - to mark the birth of a child, for example.

The art of making these beautiful little globes of perfectly arranged and colorful thread has grown in popularity lately here in the States, and apparently around the world. The most recent issue of Inspirations Magazine (Issue #62) attests to this. In this issue, you'll find a thorough article and instructions for making your own temari, including making the thread-wrapped core. You'll also find a temari challenge (with prizes) in the issue!

If you are new to temari (as I am!) and want to try your hand at it, you might want to invest in a book. However, this book.... well... I like it in some ways, but in other ways, I don't. Normally, I don't have trouble picking up a book and "getting it" pretty quickly, but I found I had to re-read and think through the steps in this book a few times before really getting what the author was instructing, on some points. On other points, I didn't have a problem. Since I'm not too familiar with the craft, I don't know, really, if the difficulty is me, or if it's this book.

One thing I do like about the book is the inclusion of non-traditional forms, such as the egg shape. In fact, this is probably what sold me on the book. I like the idea of making temari for gifts - Christmas gifts, housewarming gifts, etc. Being able to make an egg-shaped "temari" would broaden the gift-giving perspective, I thought.

I started squizzing around the internet a bit, looking up Temari, and found a few very good websites that look helpful for the beginner.

Temari.com has a nice section on tips for beginners. The website is Diana Vandervoort's, who is an author of several books on temari and also has produced a how-to video that goes along with her book, Temari: How to Make Japanese Thread Balls.

Another great site is JapaneseTemari.com. Here, you'll find a history of the art, some interesting and fun ideas for temari, and, best of all, a good selection of free temari patterns.

Edit: (added at 10:00 am...) I forgot to add the website temarikai.com, which is actually the first website I ever read in depth on the subject of making temari. Don't be put off by the first page of the site, which is predominantly text. The how-to section is really thorough, with tons of excellent instructional information!

I'm thinking about investing in one of Diana Vandervoort's books and keeping The Temari Book (above) as a resource for ideas.

In the meantime, I have to admit that I did buy two thread-wrapped cores while at Lacis, too.



I know it seems a bit like cheating! And, trust me - they were kind of an extravagance, at $14.95 each! But I justified the purchase two ways (I'm always having to do this to myself!): 1. Time is money. It will take time to get a perfect core ready for decorating; 2. Since time is money, if I save time by cutting to the "fun" part of decorating, then I'll know that much sooner whether or not I want to spend the time learning the craft, right? If I find it to be as fun as I think it will be, then I'm pretty sure, in the future, I won't mind making my own thread-wrapped core.

Ok, do I really have to justify the purchase?!

So, what about you? Has this form of "embroidery-on-a-sphere" ever interested you? Have you made temari? Do you have any specific books to recommend, or resources for the beginner? Feel free to leave a comment below and let us know!

For now, I'm off to set up some flat-surface embroidery!

Labels: book review, regional embroidery techniques, temari

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 10, 2009
PermaLink  |  19 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

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

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 09, 2009
PermaLink  |  13 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 08, 2009
PermaLink  |  15 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Located in Berkeley, California, Lacis (pronounced "Lah-cease") is, like I said yesterday, a weirdly wonderful needlework (and more) shop. It's somewhat difficult to explain this place. I would have liked to have spent much more time there, but alas, by the time we stopped, we were behind schedule already. I ended up missing some of the "definites" that I wanted to see (and buy!), and I took lousy photos in general. 3,000 miles or so later, I'm kicking myself for that!

But, still, I'll tell you what I can about this needlework-lace-museum-gift-book-and-antique-shop sort of shop. It's a strange mix, but it works!



Located on a very busy street in Berkely (is there a street in Berkeley that isn't very busy?), the shop has two parts to it: the shop, and the "lace museum." From what I could tell - and I didn't go through the whole thing - the lace museum is an ecclectic mix of collected laces, in a very casual venue. Unlike museums where pieces are kept behind glass, in climate and light-controlled settings, this museum is somewhat hodge-podge-ish, with the various displayed laces pinned to wall displays and draped hither and thither. Perhaps, behind the outside front, there are display cases and so forth, but I never quite made it to the museum proper.



In the shop part of the establishment, vintage clothing hangs from the ceiling, along with hats and bric-a-brac and all kinds of other stuff, taking up just about every display spot in the store.

Below, needlework goods fill the shelves and racks throughout the place.



In addition to needlework supplies, lace-making supplies, millinery supplies, costume-making supplies, and vintage books and patterns, you'll find, mixed in, racks of nostalgic greeting cards and prints and so forth.



Everywhere you turn, you'll find strange little gift and specialty items, like this wooden fish puzzle.



There are an abundance of threads. These are Edmar threads, used often in Brazilian embroidery. Besides the threads visible on display racks, there are drawers and drawers of different types of threads. One thing on my list for my visit to Lacis was to check out the whole range of floche that they have available on their website. I completely forgot! C'est la vie.



Threads for crochet, specialty yarns and lace-making threads - all kinds of threads take up the shelves and racks in the middle of the shop, as do spools of lace and ribbon and so forth.



Once you walk in, your attention may be first arrested by the clothes hanging above you and draped over everything, but it doesn't take long to forget about the stuff above while perusing the stuff below! I thought the vintage apron on this dress was quite sweet.



You can buy vintage lace and vintage handkerchiefs there, as well, although I have to admit, I saw one "wedding hankie" - very fine needlework, indeed! - for $125, and was a little surprised at the price, especially considering that there were about six or so of the exact same handkerchief there (which leads one to think they may have been mass produced?). I bought one similar, in pristine condition, on eBay last year for a mere $18. So with a little shopping around, if you're in the market for antique lace or vintage handkerchiefs or the like, I think you could probably find them at a more reasonable price elsewhere. However, as far as selection goes, Lacis seems to have a pretty vast selection of vintage goods to choose from!



Upon leaving the shop, I felt a bit flurried. It's definitely one of those places that, if you go, allot a good amount of time for serious, concentrated browsing - thought concentration is somewhat difficult, as the shop was crowded with all kinds of shoppers, the staff was all very busy either helping customers or seeing to a variety of different tasks (like ironing fabric, separating buttons, answering phones, and fluttering about), and in general, the place has an overwhelming feeling of "clutter." Weeding through the clutter, though, is fun.

One of my favorite aspects of the store was the back corner, which is filled with all kinds of needlework books on every kind of technique, many of which books are out of print or hard to find, and some of which are foreign. I liked the selection of vintage iron-on transfers for cutwork, as well as some interesting old magazines that I came across.

If you like a clean, tidy, and organized needlework shopping experience, Lacis may not be the place for you. Still, if you're looking for anything related to needlework - even obscure tools - chances are, you'll find it here. If you want a bit of adventure and you like exploring, then definitely put Lacis on your list of places to visit!

I'm still regretting the floche. But I know why it slipped my mind - there was just so much to see!

I didn't purchase much at Lacis - a few books and cutwork patterns and a couple greeting cards, and I think that was about it. I don't think I bought any thread at all. I know they have fabric there, too, but I don't even recall looking at any! It was, to say the least, a whirlwind stop at a whirlwind store! On the bright side, anything I missed, I know I can find on the Lacis website, if I really need it. This, by the way, is the place that I buy my cutwork threads. I didn't bother looking at cutwork threads, as I'm pretty fully stocked with them right now.

After leaving San Francisco, we headed south to Santa Clara, and then to Monterey and Carmel. Though we didn't find our old house in Monterey (there are new homes along the street there), we did see some beautiful places.



One of my favorite aspects of Monterey, and really the whole central coastal area of California, is the sunny-foggy days. The day begins with a heavy fog covering the coastal area, but this tends to burn off by mid-morning, and the sun shines until late afternoon, when the fog starts to creep back in. Here, the fog is moving back over Monterey Bay and wharf.



I'm kind of a sucker for seascapes, marine life, and birds. In Monterey, you can find all three in abundance.



The seagulls are huge and humorous.



Upon leaving the Monterey and Carmel area, we took the coastal road towards San Diego.



We stopped for a humorous interlude with some sea lions that were lounging on a beach. No, they aren't dead. They're just... lounging. I think it's what they do best.



We visited several of the old missions along the coastal route. San Juan Capistrano, famous for its yearly influx of swallows, is certainly a beautiful setting, but it was probably my least-favorite mission stop, as it is so commercialized. The mission itself seems to be overshadowed by the swallows!

We took the coastal road all the way to San Diego, to Coronado, where my folks also lived (before I was born), and where my older sisters went to school for a bit. We found the old school and the old house. The house is about five houses from the beach, on Pine Street. Prime property today, but back in the day, my parents thought $30K was too much for it!

After a quick stop in Coronado, we headed east again - finally - to the rural parts of the country. I longed for open road and reduced traffic! And boy, did we ever get both! Through the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, there isn't much going on.



We went to the Grand Canyon - the southern and eastern rims - in Arizona. Hm. I'm not sure what to say about it. It's majestic - beautiful - awesome - but the height made me rather woozy. Still - it's something!



Finally, we went to Sante Fe, where we visited the Loretto Chapel to see the St. Joseph stairs, a very beautiful spot, with a very interesting story.

That was our last "tourist" stop on the trip - the rest was just returning to Kansas. To make the occasion of returning home memorable, we ended up in a massive thunderstorm that spawned at least one tornado within a mile of where we sat on the side of the highway, waiting for the storm to pass. Yes, Toto, we're back in Kansas!



The trip began and ended more or less where the red dot is there in Kansas. Not bad, for 14 nights, three of which were spent in Minnesota before really "striking out." It was a heap of fun! Still ... there's no place like home!

Now, that's the nitty gritty of the recent travels, but wait! There's more! Though I won't bore you with anymore road tripping details, I do want to show you some of the needlework loot I picked up along the way, especially the books and a few handy items and accessories for stitchers that I thought looked ... uh ... necessary.

I'll be sharing that with you over the next few days, while I'm trying to get together some upcoming tutorials and videos, and while I'm sorting through some projects and getting to work again. So, keep an eye out!

Labels: embroidery resources, needlework and travel, personal, pictures, supplies

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 08, 2009
PermaLink  |  8 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

The next needlework shop I visited is located in Alameda, California - Needle in a Haystack. Of the four shops I visited, Haystack was probably the best "fit" for me. I'll tell you why...

Located on a busy street in Alameda, a town teeming with activity, shops, cafés, bakeries, farmer's markets, and so forth, Needle in a Haystack is a large, open, airy shop filled with all kinds of delightful things for the needleworker.



I'd say that, out of the four shops I visited, the Haystack has the largest space devoted solely to needlework supplies. It's probably comparable in size to Nordic Needle, but the floor area is not as broken up as Nordic Needle's is.



With lots of floor space and a very open layout, it is a very pleasant place to shop. In the front of the store, tables and chairs invite the stitcher to sit a bit to match threads or to flip through books and so forth. The area is used for classes and stitching groups.



Much of the wall space of the store is covered with threads - lots of threads!



Additionally, they've got drawer cases for Anchor, DMC, and other threads, as well as spinning racks hung with ... threads. Lots and lots of threads! (DId I mention they have a lot of thread?)



In addition to threads, you'll find shelves tastefully arranged with displays of accessories, books, and needlework-related items.



Above the threads along the walls, you'll find heaps of hand painted canvases for needlepoint, including some very enticing historical adaptations of tapestries and slips and whatnot.

What I really liked about Haystack was the variety of embroidery techniques represented by their merchandise. I found some beautiful crewel and needlepainting kits, many books / magazines on cutwork and whitework, fabric for surface embroidery of all types, as well as a vast selection of counted thread charts, historical samplers, blackwork, and needlepoint / canvas work supplies. There was more variety here, as far as specific stitching techniques are concerned, than in any other store I visited.

My overall impressions of the place:

Merchandise: a variety of merchandise is offered for stitchers interested in different techniques. They pretty much have everything, and if, by chance, there's something you want that they don't have, they'll order it. They have the full range of Au Ver a Soie products, by the way, if you're looking for silk, among other types of silks and blends.

Layout of the Shop: Most pleasant - open, airy, easy to find things and relaxing for casual browsing, even when the shop is busy with customers.

Prices: Well. I have to admit, their prices for things that can be bought elsewhere are slightly higher than many online or brick-and-mortar shops. However, it's always worthwhile to keep an eye out for their specials, by subscribing to their newsletter and frequenting their blog.

Service: Very good - the people working are friendly, knowledgeable, and talkative and can help you find anything or make decisions on thread choices, etc. They're also very helpful when it comes to local information, goings-on, and so forth.

So ... in a nutshell... yes, I loved Needle in a Haystack. They have a great online store, too, so if you can't make it to their shop, check them out online! As far as online shops go, they're layout is really nice, too. I like ordering from them, simply for the ease of ordering.

We did non-needlework-related stuff in the San Francisco Bay area, too, by the way. In fact, my family used to live in every place we visited on the West Coast! So, while we were up in the Seattle area, we found the house my folks lived in on Whidby Island. In Alameda, we used to live on Burbank Street, which is still lined with very tall palm trees. Also in the area, we lived in a "modern" Eichler home up on Phaeton Drive in Oakland (and the house still looks great!), and we also lived in Walnut Creek for a while, so we looked for that house, too, and the school we attended as children. We didn't always have luck finding our former homes - in Monterey, for example, the house is no longer there.



Driving into the city of San Francisco, we saw a blimp hovering overhead. I had to take a picture - as a kid, we always looked for the blimp! And it's still there!



Of course, at Fisherman's Wharf, we had to eat sourdough bread...



...and ice cream at Ghiradelli Square. Boudin's Sourdough Bread and Ghiradelli Ice Cream are San Francisco icons...

Before we left the San Francisco area, I did manage to make it to Lacis, which was my last needlework shop on the trip. It's a weirdly wonderful place, so I'll tell you about that one next!

Labels: embroidery resources, needlework and travel, personal, pictures, supplies

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 07, 2009
PermaLink  |  5 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Lately, I've gotten quite a few e-mails asking questions about coton a broder, so I figured I'd address them all in one post, and hopefully those who e-mailed and asked are regular readers and will find the answer here! (Two e-mails bounced back and wouldn't deliver!) So... here are some questions about this embroidery thread, and, to the best of my knowledge, the answers to those questions.

#1: Does coton a broder come in colors?

Yes, it does. Technically, though, I've only seen #25 coton a broder available in a very limited range of colors.

However, if it is #16 and listed as coton a broder, chances are, it is "floche" that you want, if you want it in a range of colors. Floche, by both DMC and Anchor, comes in a wide range of beautiful colors, and can be used for the same applications as coton a broder. The only real difference between the two types of thread is that the thread that DMC calls "coton a broder" here in America is a 4-ply softly twisted thread, while floche is a 5-ply softly twisted thread. But they are completely compatible, more or less the same thing, so if you're looking for a #16 in various colors, what you need to look for is floche rather than what we call "coton a broder," which is more of a whitework and cutwork thread.

This is floche:



#2: What's the difference between Danish Flower Thread and coton a broder?

In America, coton a broder is actually a mercerized thread, which means it has a sheen to it. Danish Flower Thread is non-mercerized, or matte, and has no sheen. However, it seems that, in other countries (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand), coton a broder is actually a matte thread, the term used interchangeably with flower thread. However (again!), in America, what we buy as flower thread is definitely more tightly twisted than coton a broder or floche. You can see the individual twists in flower thread more distinctly than you can in floche or coton a broder. Look:



The top thread is mercerized (it has a sheen) and has a looser twist. It is floche. The bottom thread is not mercerized (it is matte) and the twist is a little tighter. It is flower thread.

#3: Where can I find coton a broder, for cutwork or for colored embroidery?

If you're looking for cutwork thread, coton a broder in white, you can find various sizes available through Lacis. Look under "materials," then "Needlework, DMC, etc." in their online catalog. They have sizes 16, 20, 25, 30, and 40.

You can also find floche in colors on the same page of the Lacis online catalog. However, I like to order my floche from Hedgehog Handworks, where you can order it in large hanks or smaller skeins, and where you can also order Danish Flower Thread, if you're looking for matte thread.

If you're looking for Danish Flower Thread (matte coton a broder, more or less), you can order that through Hedgehog, on the same page as the link in the above paragraph, or you can order it from Nordic Needle. Right now, it looks as if they don't have many colors listed on their website, but I saw a whole rack of the entire range of flower thread, so I'm sure you can probably call them with the colors you want.

For further information on these threads - floche, coton a broder, and flower thread - check out these articles:

Comparison between floche and other common DMC threads

Comparison between floche and Danish Flower Thread

I hope this helps answer some questions about these threads. I'm sorry I couldn't get through to a couple of those who e-mailed with the questions, but since it's useful information for needleworkers in general, I thought it worth a little write-up!

Labels: danish flower thread, embroidery tips and tricks, floche, pictures, supplies, threads, whitework

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 06, 2009
PermaLink  |  4 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

After stopping in North Dakota at Nordic Needle for some needlework shopping - yes, I admit it, I bought embroidery supplies at each of these shops! - we struck out west towards the Seattle area of Washington, via Glacier National Park and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. On the way in to Seattle, very conveniently located off Interstate-90 in the town of Issaquah, is Threadneedle Street, a small needlework shop specializing predominantly in needlepoint and counted thread work.

On the way in to Washington, the scenery changes somewhat drastically after the mountains of Idaho and western Montana. The eastern part of Washington is rather desert-like and scrubby.



The Columbia River is an impressive site. There are a couple dams along the river in the middle part of the state, and one is in the vicinity of the highway, making for a nice scenic stopping point. So we stopped. And it was scenic.

Then we headed into the Seattle area, stopping at Issaquah. Really, when I say it's an easy stop, I mean it. If you're on I-90, you simply take the exit, drive into the town on the main street, and pull over to park. It's about that easy.



Of the four shops I visited, Threadneedle Street is certainly the smallest. In fact, if you weren't looking for it specifically, you might miss it altogether!



In case you're looking for the shop some day, though, the pink pig might help you find it. This gal sits at the end of the sidewalk on the same side of the street the shop is on... I didn't inspect her closely, so I'm not sure what she's all about. I suspect she's a grill...



Inside the shop, you'll find very closely arranged (as in, tight quarters!) merchandise - all kinds of threads, tools, accessories, beads, etc. - that are used in embroidery.



You'll find shelves of pre-cut fabric and racks of beads, buttons, and little items.



You'll find racks and baskets full of kits and charts and so forth. And tucked here and there, lines of neat books for sale. (I bought a terrific book here that I'm looking forward to showing you!)



You'll also find some walls devoted to painted canvases, from elaborate Christmas stockings to geometric designs, etc. They're very pretty and colorful!



But to me, the greatest appeal of Threadneedle Street is this. It's the Needlework System 4 stand and all its accessories and parts - and she stocks the pieces in the shop, instead of special ordering each time a customer wants the stand. This means that chances are, if you stop in, you'll be able to pick up a part right then and there. Every other needlework shop I've dealt with regarding this stand keeps a demo model, and then has to special order the pieces you want (and you end up with a 10 - 14 day wait). But here, you can buy the pieces you want, in stock. AND - she has the best prices in the country! If you buy the stand and frame clamp from Threadneedle Street, you're spending almost $50 less here than anywhere else. And you're not having to wait. What a deal!

I bought the extension piece, by the way, for my Needlework System 4 stand. This allows the stand to easily work from the side, over the arm of a couch. (Feel free to read my review of the Needlework System 4 stand, if you aren't sure what I'm talking about!)

So, my review of Threadneedle Street in a nutshell:

Merchandise: There's a vast quantity of merchandise in this little store! She carries all the popular threads for cross stitch and needlepoint, including wools and blends and so forth, as well as a few different hand-dyed threads that I had not seen before. Lots of little accessories are available, as well. There's a good collection of interesting needlework-related books that you won't find on the shelf of a typical bookstore, and a few that I had not seen before, one of which I bought. Seeing some Access Commodities merchandise there, I figure that the folks at Threadneedle Street can pretty much order anything that you want, if they don't have it in stock.

Shop Layout: As needlework shops go, I'd call this one "average" in size. Most needlework shops I've been to are relatively small in general. Threadneedle Street is no exception - the shop is small and seems somewhat crowded, but when you start to look around and see what's in there, you realize there's a pretty clever use of space going on. No space is wasted.

Prices: They actually seem a little bit less, overall, than in most places, though I can't be sure of that with everything there. Certainly, it's the case with the Needlework System 4 stand, but I also thought the threads were just slightly less expensive than in other shops. In any case, there wasn't anything that struck me as outlandish, price-wise, at all.

Service: This is the one shop I can say without reserve that I met with great service - that perfect balance between warm and friendly and open, capped with professional knowledge, and not overwhelming. Just a nice, friendly, open personality, ready to help and having no hang-ups about answering questions. It was, in short, very refreshing to go to a needlework shop and receive really genuine, sincere, niceness for a change. You just don't see that often in needlework shops, thought it's unfortunate to have to say so. Now, their online service may be a bit different - the website notes that they are often busy with customers in the store and therefore may have to call you back if you call to place an order. I have the impression the shop is worked by very few people (I only saw one!), so if you do call them to place an order, expect to be either put on hold or called back.

I liked Threadneedle Street. If I lived in the vicinity, I think it would be the kind of shop that I'd establish a good working relationship with. There's a real niceness and enthusiasm about needlework there that I haven't met at too many needlework shops.

I'd love to see the Threadneedle Street website updated into a regular shopping-cart type website. I think this would ease the ordering situation for out-of-town customers and it would probably make the job on the selling end easier, too.

After leaving Issaquah, we headed to the Seattle area. My folks used to live on Whidby Island, so we went there to see the old haunts and so forth.



Deception Pass is gorgeous! Well, ok - it's water! You'll find that I get overly enthusiastic about anything that looks like abundant water! We drove through Whidby Island, took a ferry to Seattle, stayed overnight, did some looking around the next day, and then headed to Oregon...



...where we saw Crater Lake...



...which is blue beyond belief, and still, and quiet, and cold. Snow still lined the roads up at the top of the mountain, with four-foot cuts of the white stuff in some places along the road. The mosquitoes up there, by the way, were huge and Really Hungry.



From Oregon, we headed into California, where we drove through the Napa Valley, stopping at a few wineries along the way. The contrast between green and lush and dry and sandy in the area is quite intriguing and really beautiful. I love the grape vines! They are something else - I'd love to see them when they are fully laden with grapes.



My favorite stop was at Peju Winery, which is a little boutique winery in the Napa Valley. I prefer boutique wineries to the Big-Wigs (like Berringer, etc.). They're more fun, more intimate, more interesting, and they do fun stuff with their wine. I bought, untasted, a bottle of zinfandel port (port-style wine, anyway) as a gift. They only make this every so many years, and they were down to six bottles left. It was a risk to pay the price without knowing for sure if it was good, but we weren't disappointed! Good Stuff Indeed!

This leg of the trip took us into the Bay Area, where I visited two extraordinary needlework shops... coming up!

Labels: embroidery resources, needlework and travel, needlework websites, personal, pictures

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, July 06, 2009
PermaLink  |  9 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

The first needlework shop stop on my 6,200-mile-road trip was in Fargo, North Dakota, at Nordic Needle. Now, this is a shop I have always and forever wanted to go to! And since I was heading to Minnesota for a three days, I figured this would be a prime opportunity to visit Nordic Needle. This was the beginning of the Great Road Trip Plan that took me in a huge loop to the West Coast and back to Kansas. Really - I was just planning to add a couple hundred miles to the trip and jump up to Fargo! But Mom and Dad suddenly got the "bug" to travel, too, and so the three of us concocted this ever-changing journey that took us to some very interesting spots and some old haunts where my folks lived and raised their kids. So, without further ado, here's Nordic Needle and some other stuff...

We left Kansas on Thursday, June 18th and drove to Minnesota, where we stayed until Sunday morning, June 21st.



Minnesota is beautiful. The lakes that dot the state are especially enticing if you happen to be coming from the Kansas prairies, where water is not always abundant. One morning, we picnicked on the shore of a lake, in the company of a pair of ducks.

On Sunday, we headed north to Fargo, arriving in time to have dinner with some friends and put up for the evening. The next morning would be devoted to Nordic Needle. I didn't plan to spend a lot of time there - I didn't think it would be quite the thing to do to the Agéd P's - but a good hour, I thought, was reasonable.

Of course, it ended up being two hours.



The outside of the shop is rather mundane, but hey - it serves its purpose!



Inside Nordic Needle, you will find practically everything a stitcher's heart can desire, to some degree or another. This is a wall of beads and accessories and little things...



One section of the store is devoted to these rotating book stands that are filled with everything from charts for counted work, to a delightful variety of books (including many books self-published by different designers, that can't be had through Amazon, etc.), to kits of all sorts, including several of Tanja Berlin's embroidery kits (among others).



Being "Nordic" Needle, there is a goodly amount of stock devoted to Nordic embroidery techniques, including Hardanger, huck embroidery and so forth.



And then, there are threads. Oh, are there ever threads! All kinds of threads! This particular section in the photo above is their Brazilian embroidery section of threads, but behind it, on the wall, is the whole line of Treenway Silks pearl and ribbon -- among other threads.

You can imagine that in the midst of all these glorious goods, I was a bit unfocused at first. I just saw, but didn't really "attack" with any clear focus. My eyes went from one selection of goods to the next, without really honing in on my own particular interests.



I have seen huckwork in magazines and books, but have never tried it. Engrossed by the samples hanging on the walls, I took a look at some of their huckwork kits and decided they would be perfect for on-the-road needlework! So I bought a couple. I never touched them. I did not lift a needle (except when purchasing needles) once during the whole trip. *Sigh*



It's difficult to explain the quantity and variety of needlework goods available at Nordic Needle. The main floor of the shop is packed with aisles and shelves and displays filled with threads and tools and kits and designs, as well as display boxes, accessories, and anything you really could want, needlework-wise.



The threads are, of course, the most colorful things in the shop! Racks of them - everywhere! I would suppose that just about any type of thread you would want, you could get through Nordic Needle. Even if they don't regularly carry it, they can probably special order anything. While I saw a whole rack of Danish Flower Thread, for example, I didn't see any floche. But I bet, if you want floche, you could special order it from them. Of course, this doesn't mean they don't have floche - I may have just missed it.



They have a nice corner - much bigger than seen here - full of fabrics on bolts, and also cut fabrics. You can find linens, evenweaves of different types, and just about anything for regular embroidery in their fabric area. Anything they don't have, again, I am pretty sure they could special order!

Nordic Needle has a neat incentive for travelers, by the way. If you travel a distance to visit them, they take a certain percentage off your purchase. If you click the "How Far Will You Go" box on their home page, you can read about the incentive. The shop is less than 1,000 miles from me, so I received 10% off my purchase. BUT - I happened to be there on a Monday, and they have this "Monday Madness" thing they do, where you can draw for a discount on one item (or many - depending on what you draw). I lucked out - I was there on a Monday! - and got 50% off my most expensive item, which was one of Alison Cole's goldwork books.

All in all, by the time I left, I was a pretty happy camper!

Here's my review of the shop, in a nutshell:

Merchandise: Wow! They have a lot of great needlework merchandise. I would have loved to have seen more merchandise devoted to other surface embroidery techniques such as needle painting, crewel work, etc., or even cutwork and other forms of whitework (in addition to Hardanger). They had Trish Burr's books in stock, and some kits of Tanja Berlin's (though not her needlepainting kits - blackwork and shadow-work, basically). They also had a bunch of nice Brazilian supplies. And I'm sure that they could order just about any kind of needlework-anything you might want, so I'm not too taken a-back by the lack of other surface techniques. They have as well a terrific selection of accessories - the best I've seen anywhere - for the needleworker, from all the convenient tools and accessories a sticher needs, to many unique and beautiful stitching-related items, tools, notions, and so forth.

Shop Layout: As needlework shops go, I'd call Nordic Needle "really big." It's crowded and a bit confusing. When it comes to finding something specific, such as a design or a kit, if you aren't used to the layout, you'll probably need help. Still, good use is made of the space they have, and once you get the general feel of the shop, it's easy enough to find your way around or just to enjoy browsing. Never-ending browsing!

Prices: They seemed fair and equivalent to other shops I've been to, or to merchandise I've found online. Nothing seemed outlandish, as far as prices are concerned. Prices were pretty much what I expected them to be. I picked up a couple little bargain bits in their "discount" room, too, which was nice...

Service: Well, this is difficult. It depends on what you want in service. The people were polite enough, though not overly friendly, and they kept their distance. If I needed something, though, I had but to ask, and they directed me politely to it. There was no real "warmth" in any communications, but they weren't rude, either. It was just business. In a sense, this is a good thing. It allows the customer to browse a shop without being hassled or conversed with the whole time so that it's hard to concentrate. I would imagine that, in a shop this size, that's probably what most shoppers would desire. And when it came to my needing anything, I had prompt attention. So in that sense, the service was good - not warm and over-friendly, but there was no curtness or rudeness (which I have, believe it or not, experienced in other needlework shops, and it's one of my pet peeves!)

Nordic Needle is definitely an A+ shop, obviously built through the hard work of the owners into a thorough supply warehouse for needleworkers all over the world. If you get the opportunity to visit the shop, you won't be disappointed, I don't think! If you don't have the opportunity to visit in person, you can always visit their website.

I finished up at the shop before 11:00 am (so, actually less than two hours!) and we struck out west from there, across North Dakota, heading towards Glacier National Park in Montana.



There are some parts of North Dakota that are really beautiful! We stopped for coffee at a friend's house in Mandan, which is located on the Missouri River. Their back deck offered us this incredible view - and it was a perfectly beautiful day to enjoy it!



The majority of North Dakota looked pretty much like this, until we got to the very western edge of the state. The "Badlands" of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota are surprising, to say the least! At one moment, you're driving along through the rolling green hills typical of the photo above, and then you round a curve in the highway, and there you are in the midst of rocky canyons and scrubby landscapes.

We made it through North Dakota and on into Montana, where we turned north to take the "scenic" route to Glacier.



It was .... sort of scenic, I suppose. We spent Monday night in a small town along the way - Glasgow, Montana - and then Tuesday, we headed to Glacier National Park.



Glacier is incredibly beautiful! It is majestic and awesome - and difficult to describe! Unfortunately, we only got to see "part way in," as the road through the pass was still considered too precarious for car travel (avalanche warnings, and so forth). No, we didn't get out to hike it! Instead, we had lunch in beautiful surroundings, saw as much as the park as we could from the eastern and southern parts of it, via road, and then headed to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where we spent the rest of the afternoon and night before heading to Seattle, where I stopped in at Threadneedle Street.

But we'll save that for the next installment!

Labels: embroidery resources, needlework and travel, needlework websites, personal, supplies

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, July 05, 2009
PermaLink  |  13 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, July 04, 2009
PermaLink  |  6 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, July 03, 2009
PermaLink  |  6 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Ashley's linen napkins embroidered with silk ribbon are gorgeous! Hemstitched linen napkins served as the ground fabric for her first forray into embroidery. This sumptuous spray of flowers is so beautifully executed that it's hard to believe the project comes from a beginner in silk ribbon, let alone a beginner in embroidery in general!

I'll let Ashley tell you all about her first experience with silk ribbon embroidery...



I have never embroidered before and picked up Country Bumpkin's A-Z of Ribbon Embroidery while in a needlepoint store and found it simply irresistible! Knowing nothing about embroidery and especially ribbon embroidery, I typed the supply list into a search engine, ordered the products, and waited on bated breath to begin my new project!

The design is called "Desprez a Fleur" by Lynda Maker. The roses are a gathered ribbon rose with two ribbons (a 7mm yellow ribbon and a 4mm pale yellow) stitched together to give it some depth. In the center of the roses are little French knots out of gold Madeira silk floss. The rosebuds were made by covering a pearl bead with ribbon stitches. The design called from glass beads; however, I decided that was a bit impractical for a napkin, but then so is silk ribbon embroidery! These are definitely going to be "looky lu" napkins only!



Of course, after purchasing all of the supplies, I went on to read about the horrors of silk ribbon embroidery...the fraying, tearing, etc. I was beginning to think I was getting in over my head. Luckily, I didn't have any problems and it all went very smoothly and quickly. After doing needlepoint for the last 6 years, I love the
freedom, creative expression, and delicate femininity involved in embroidery. Needlepoint canvas can be rather limiting, even with all of the stitches that are available today. As my Mom says, needlepoint is earthenware, while embroidery is delicate fine china.

I think my next undertaking will be goldwork on a Bible cover. I have been needlepointing a Bible cover and I am just about finished, so I thought maybe I would try an embroidered cover after seeing one of your posts on them. I begin an internship as a hospital chaplain in the fall, so I figure there's no such thing as too many Bible covers!

I know I am probably being a little over ambitious to move straight to goldwork! But I have a touch of youthful hubris-- if others can do it, why can't I too?!

Thanks, Ashley! Um... I think if you launched this easily into silk ribbon embroidery, you should have no problems at all trying your hand at goldwork! Best of luck!

Labels: readers embroidery, ribbon embroidery

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, July 02, 2009
PermaLink  |  4 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this

 

Do you remember a while back, when Jayashree shared with us her hand embroidered sari? Well, today she's sharing with us her tutorial on the embroidery technique called Kasuthi.

Jayashree's embroidered sari is worked in this technique, which is characterized by a geometric look:



Instead of re-typing Jayashree's tutorial here, I've saved it as a PDF file. Feel free to download it and give it a good read-through. It's got some great tips for embroidering over net (or scrim), and she even tells you where you can find the right fabric here in the States!

Kasuthi Embroidery Tutorial (PDF)

Thanks, Jayashree, for sending this along!

Labels: needlework tutorials, regional embroidery techniques

Click here to read the whole post & comments.

Posted By: Mary Corbet on Wednesday, July 01, 2009
PermaLink  |  2 comments  | Click to Comment

Share this