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Mary Corbet

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I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

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Needlework Website Hopping

 

Amazon Books

Not quite the same as needlework shop hopping, but sometimes just as fun, I’ve been needlework website hopping. Now, if you’ve time to hop along with me, I’ll show you where I’ve been lately, and I’ll highlight some resources and other things that have captured my interest…

First off, on my May Give-Away, I included one of those vinyl mesh zipper bags that are great for toting needlework projects around in. Since posting the give-away, my most frequently asked e-mail question this week has been where to find those bags.

What you’d be looking for are vinyl mesh zipper pouches sold for organization of art supplies and so forth. You can sometimes find them at local needlework shops. I’ve seen them, too, I think at some craft stores in the needlework section, but mostly, I’ve seen them at smaller needlework shops. I bought mine at The Sunflower Seed in Topeka, KS. They don’t have a regular “retail” area of the website, so you might have to contact them to find out if they sell their accessories retail online.

You can find them online at other places, too. For example, they have them at Silver Needle, if you scroll down that page. Speaking of Silver Needle, it looks like a pretty neat needlework / cross-stitch shop. It’s located in Tulsa, OK – only 4.5 hours away from me. Worth a day trip? Mmmm…. maybe a weekend trip! I’m not quite sure if Tulsa is the weekend get-away spot I’ve been dreaming about… but…?

Ok, off to other spots… I think everyone should take a look at this photo of the Plimoth Plantation Jacket! You’ll get a wonderful sense of the color, the gold, the sparklies, and so forth on the project. If you haven’t visited the Embroiderers’ Story blog on Thistle Threads lately, OH DO!

On a blog called Tenar’s Cave, you’ll find a nice photo tutorial on casalguidi stitch. This is a dimensional embroidery technique that involves stem stitching over a thick cord or bunch of cords. It’s pretty neat; the resulting embroidery looks rather wormish-ropish-snakish.

If you’re an A-Z Book fan (Country Bumpking Publications), and if you’re interested in learning to sew or brushing up your sewing skills, you’ll be happy to know that the A-Z of Sewing is now available at Wooly Thread, as announced on their blog. I’m (admittedly) no great seamstress, though I can sew straight lines pretty well. There are a couple basic sewing things I want to learn how to do better, and I think this book – if it is anything like the other A-Z books – will be a gem for teaching me. So I’ve got it on my wish list!

Speaking of wish lists, there’s a new book by Jane Nicholas coming out in August here in the States, called Stumpwork Medieval Flora, and it’s definitely on my list! Check out the grasshopper on the middle stem!

Stumpwork Medieval Flora by Jane Nicholas

It is undoubtedly another beautiful and instructive book by Jane Nicholas, and I’m looking forward to it!

On the blog Meggiecat, meggiecat has posted some neat vintage embroidery patterns for the back of hoodies. I think they look kind of fun, don’t you? They remind me of camping.

Over on Pintangle, Sharon has a nice photo tutorial on working the woven picot. This is a great little stitch for dimensional embroidery. It’s perfect for leaves, for grass, for seaweed, for anything long and flat or short and flat that you might want to embroider, that can stand up from the fabric (or not – you can anchor it). It’s a nice looking stitch! So check out her photo tutorial. If you like videos for stitches, I have a woven picot video tutorial, with pictures of it so you can see what it looks like. You’ll also find a photo tutorial on how to stitch free-style woven bars over on Pintangle, so you might want to check that one out, too, while you’re there!

Are you familiar with Kelly Fletcher’s blog, Materialistic? On it, you’ll find a nice selection of Jacobean leaves that she’s developing. She’s got five out of eight featured on her website so far. Check them out! They’re a great introduction to Jacobean motifs.

Another blog featuring some intriguing needlework is Karen’s blog, Contemporary Embroidery. She does some really pretty things with large eyelet-type motifs, touched with color. It’s hard to explain – you really have to look at her blog to see what I’m talking about! While you’re there, check out her post on embroidering trims! I love the colors and the little appliqued squares. Really neat stuff!

Allison Aller is always at it, with beautiful examples of crazy quilting popping up on her blog all the time. Check out her spring CQ post – it’s really Springy! I love the colors, the flowers, the birds….

Megan of Emsley Rose sent me a link via e-mail of a magnificent example of Or Nué. This is something worth seeing! It’s a coronet, embroidered entirely in gold Or Nué, and you can see it develop step-by-step. Amazing job by the stitcher!

It was really fun squizzing around visiting different needlework websites online – I haven’t done that in a while. Work is keeping me pretty busy as the school year comes to a close! Summer is almost officially here! I’ve got heaps of plans for the summer – keep your fingers crossed for me that I can see at least some of them realized!

Have a terrific day!

 
 

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(14) Comments

  1. The Silver Needle in Tulsa is an absolutely fabulous x-stitch store.

    They have a large section of those bags and purses and things in pretty colors from the woman whose name I can’t remember now.

    They had a very few painted canvases (I think it was the canvases from these x-stitch companies who are beginning to offer their line in painted canvas) and threads to die for.

    They even had some of their samples for sale in the bathroom. I scooped up a couple of pieces for teacher gifts because the price was right.

    It is certainly worth a whole Saturday.

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  2. Medieval Stumpwork by Jane Nichols? Must Have! Absolute

    Jacobean leaves – cool!

    And it’s timely you mention all the learning resources for picots because that’s what I have to learn next! For my Dusty Pink Rose!

    I’ve smoked my last cigarette, and am getting Patterns of Fashion 4 in a few weeks as a ‘giving up smoking’ present to myself. Apparently PoF1-3 are all costume construction, but 4 has a fair few embroidery images 🙂

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  3. Thankyou – just had a lovely browse through your ‘magazine’ that you’ve constructed from blogs.

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  4. The Silver Needle in Tulsa is ABSOLUTELY worth it! I used to live in Tahlequah, an hour away, and would go at least monthly to get all kinds of great goodies. And this was before they moved and doubled their shop space. The ladies there are wonderful, too…

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  5. Hello Mary,
    This is the first time i leave a comment.i hope i’m doing this right.Well here goes.I love to cross stitch. i love looking at my threads and metallic ones-love it. My problem is where i live i don’t have a lot of choices. I really want to try silk and so i decided to go on the internet and do a search and i found your site.I saw some of the threads that you have, beautiful.I was wondering if you have a email newsletter i can sign up for? I would like to try canvas work. Is it difficult? I will enjoy looking through your site.I wish i new somebody where i lived that loved to cross-stitch!!
    Well thank you for your site. I know i will get alot of good information.

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