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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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Ready to Stitch! Spring Variety & Floral Corners Towel Sets

 

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With what I hope is good timing for you, I’ve added a new set of ready-to-stitch towels (called Spring Variety) to the shop here on Needle ‘n Thread, to go along with a new supply of Floral Corners towels, too.

Many of us are a little isolated right now, and we might be feeling a bit anxious. I know I am!

In these circumstances, I think stitching – and really, any hobby or craft – is therapeutic. It calms the nerves and provides a creative escape from present worries. It gives us something to concentrate on, so that we can avoid hyper-focusing on things that we have little control over. It helps us maintain an inner peace.

With all of this in mind, I put together this springy, cheerful, ready-to-stitch towel set. It’s ok, after all, to still find joy in the good things that we can do!

Spring Variety Ready-to-Stitch Towel Set for hand embroidery

Spring Variety is a packet of three 27″ x 27″ white cotton flour sack towels with corner hanging loops, each featuring a pre-transferred spring design on it. Each design is completely different from the others. One design is a corner design, and the other two are centered above the lower edge of the towel.

I’ve stitched all these designs and shown them in one way or another here on Needle ‘n Thread. They’re fun to stitch, and they don’t require a certain skill level. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or an expert stitcher, you can embroider the designs as simply or as intricately as you wish.

Embroidering the Three Spring Designs

Below, you’ll find links to various articles where you can find information on how I embroidered the designs.

Spring Variety Ready-to-Stitch Towel Set for hand embroidery

This is the spring corner design included in Spring Variety. It’s situated on the corner opposite the hanging tag on the towel.

For threads, I used DMC stranded cotton, using mostly two strands but sometimes three. I chose whatever colors struck me as particularly spring-like! Since color preferences are such a personal thing, I encourage you to choose whatever colors you think will bring your embroidery to life.

If you want some stitching suggestions and pointers on the stitches I used, check out this article.

The finished towel served as a liner for an Easter basket.

Spring Variety Ready-to-Stitch Towel Set for hand embroidery

This is a variation of a butterfly garden design I worked up last year. In the towel set, the design is situated in the center base of the towel.

When I embroidered this little garden scene, I used colors that I associated with high summer, but you can choose spring, summer, or even autumn colors for your scene. All the stitching is done in two and three strands of DMC floss.

You can read more about the design and the stitches in this article.

Spring Variety Ready-to-Stitch Towel Set for hand embroidery

Finally, there’s this simple flower line design. It’s 9″ wide and situated at the center base of the towel.

I originally embroidered this design on a pillow case, and you can see the completed design and read about the design and stitches in these two articles:

Stylized Flower Line – Tips

Stylized Flower Line – Finished

For the towels, the design is condensed somewhat.

Spring Variety Ready-to-Stitch Towel Set for hand embroidery

The designs on these ready-to-stitch towels are a clean, soft blue-gray, and they feature a slightly finer line compared to my previous transfers. The lines fade significantly after the first laundering and will fade further with subsequent laundering, but you should still strive to cover the lines completely with the embroidery.

You don’t need anything special to stitch the towels! Grab a hoop, a needle (I like a #7 crewel), and some of your favorite colors in your favorite floss and you’re ready to go! I recommend using two or three strands of quality cotton floss (DMC, Anchor, Madeira, Cosmo, for example) for the stitching.

Use your favorite stitches or experiment with new stitches to interpret the designs in any way you wish. You’ll find plenty of stitch instructions here on Needle ‘n Thread, or you can use your own stitch dictionary as a guide.

Towel Sets are in the Shop!

You’ll find the Spring Variety ready-to-stitch towel set available here.

You’ll also find a limited supply of Floral Corners ready-to-stitch towels available, if you’ve been waiting for those. If you’re uncertain of choosing your own stitches and of which stitch should go where – or you’ve never done this type of surface embroidery before, you might also benefit from the e-book instructions and stitch guide for Floral Corners, which you’ll find here.

My apologies to international stitchers: due to exorbitant postage rates with no guarantee of timely (or even certain) arrival, the towel sets are only available for domestic shipping at this time. However, if you are interested in placing a bulk order of four or more towel sets, please contact me and we can talk about it.

 
 

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(6) Comments

  1. Well, I’m sure that I’m already late to the party, towel set-wise, but the bunny is making me feel better about things. Yay, bunnies!

    We used to have a family of bunnies living under the tree in our front yard. They had a nice life there. During warm weather, they’d be laying out all over the front yard, completely unafraid of anything or anyone. Then, the top of the tree died. Anyway, this stupid landscaper decided that the top wasn’t getting enough air. (Um, yeah… I should also mention that there was nothing nearby to block the air of the tall, tall tree… it was injured by lightning, so…) This guy cuts off the bottom branches up to four feet and they did not grow back and I doubt they ever will. And the bunnies were homeless. Sad. But! It was a very tree-friendly neighborhood, so they probably moved somewhere else in order to delight another family. I miss those bunnies. We have deer and a groundhog now. They don’t live here. They just visit.

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  2. Just want you to know how much I enjoy your blog, depend on your videos when struggling with a stitch, follow the links you share for materials, discussions of various types of embroidery, recommendations for books and just relish the eye candy.

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  3. Dear Mary

    Yes we are living in uncertain times and it’s lovely that you have designed these springy ready-to-stitch towels and even if those in Europe can’t buy them we can use the patterns and stitch on our own fabrics. I like the different spring towel sets. Thank you Mary for sharing with us these beautiful designed spring towel sets they are so cheerful. I hope you are coping especially with the economic pressures on businesses. Keep safe and thank you for your cheerful blogs.

    Regards Anita Simmance

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  4. Good Afternoon Mary:

    First *stay safe* as we all must during this horrific time.

    I have a question: I recently purchased the Spring Towels and they are so pretty, the colors sold me even thought I am color blind, hence my question is would you or do you ever sell floss with your towels? I am really new to this yet have done counted cross stitch for decades and now just trying this embroidery out. I have a hard time working with colors yet if I find instructions on what colors to use and where they go, I am okay with it. I wrote down all the colors you showed pictures of for the spring time and am wondering if there are more colors to go with it. If so could you tell me what numbers they are?

    Thank you so much and be safe,
    Sherry

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