About

Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

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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Color Schemes Galore! Resources for Stitching Color

 

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Making good choices about colors to use in hand embroidery projects can sometimes be a real challenge.

On the one hand, color is a very personal (and subjective) thing.

But on the other hand, it’s also an objective consideration. Colors have to work together to achieve whatever it is the artist or craftsperson is trying to achieve. If they don’t work, it’s obvious, and it can be a real turn off.

This doesn’t mean that color always has to be “pleasing to the eye.” It depends on what you’re trying to do with your embroidery. Maybe you want to use colors that might be considered less than pleasing, to make a point. Maybe you want to create something that is shocking or that grabs the attention in a non-conventional way.

But for the most part, we normally strive to use pleasant color palettes that, objectively, most people will look at and think, “That’s beautiful!” or “That looks good,” or “That works,” even if they don’t personally like the color families. We don’t normally want our color choices to jar the audience or repulse the viewer.

Stitch Palettes website for color and embroidery
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Hexies & Traveling Needlework Projects

 

Traveling and needlework can very easily go hand-in-hand, depending on the type of traveling you’re doing and the type of needlework you’re toting along.

The travel and grab-and-go project that I’m working on this year (and last) is not actually an embroidery project. It’s a hand-pieced quilting project, using 3/4″ hexies. I first mentioned it here (which is where you can find some of the details about supplies and methods and so forth), and then I wrote a follow-up here, when things had moved along a bit.

The only other time I’ve mentioned the project is in this article, where I talked about using pencil and make-up cases and the like for needlework.

I’ve changed a few organizational aspects of the project, and I’ve made some good progress on it.

And since I’m traveling right now as we speak, I thought I’d show you how the quilt is coming along and mention a few organizational approaches I’ve taken with it. You can apply the same principles to embroidery projects as well!

Hexie Quilt Project update and Traveling with Needlework
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Thread Talk: Chameleon Threads

 

Gosh. Aren’t we so incredibly fortunate to live during a time when there’s access to So Very Many embroidery fibers?

It amazes me how many thread suppliers are out in the world! And while I will always gravitate towards my tried-and-true favorite threads, I enjoy playing with new-to-me threads.

Lately, thanks to Lisa at The French Needle, I’ve had the opportunity to try out some silk from Chameleon Threads. These are overdyed threads, meaning they are threads that have been dyed with different colors, with the colors applied over each other, so that the colors blend together in some places and retain their properties in other places.

The silk threads used by Chameleon Threads are from Au Ver a Soie. They dye both Soie d’Alger and Soie d’Paris.

Knowing that I like Soie d’Alger, Lisa sent along a set of greens for me to play with. So today, we’re going to look at overdyed Soie d’Alger from Chameleon Threads, so you can see if it’s something you want to play with, too!

Chameleon Threads: Overdyed silk embroidery thread
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A Needlework Tool Find: Kind of Cute!

 

Sometimes, I find fun needlework tools & accessories at locally owned quilt and fabric shops.

We don’t have as many of them in Kansas as you’d think – or at least, in this part of Kansas – but we do have a few notable shops that I love to go visit, either to browse their fabrics or to gawk at their notions wall.

I often find new-to-me notions in quilting shops – tools that I never knew existed, let alone that I needed.

Sometimes, I don’t need them, but I might pick one or two out just to try, to see if it’s something you need. I always have you on my mind, you see! And I like to look for things that might solve stitching problems for you.

Since needle threading is often a challenge for those of us whose eyes are not as they once were, I’m going to show you a really cute little needle threader that I came across serendipitously a while ago, that solves a couple problems: threading relatively fine needles and cutting threads when you don’t have scissors on hand.

Hummingbird Needle Threader by Dritz
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RSN Embroidered Boxes by Heather Lewis – Book Review

 

If you pre-ordered the new RSN Techniques, Projects & Pure Inspiration book on Embroidered Boxes, then you probably already have it in hand.

Written by Heather Lewis under the auspices of the Royal School of Needlework and published by Search Press, the book came out last week. It is one of 20+ books on hand embroidery that Search Press is publishing in 2020, their 50th year in the publishing business.

I think this point pretty well establishes the fact that hand embroidery is alive and booming! Yay!

My book arrived last week, too. I pre-ordered it, and it arrived on its release date. If you haven’t purchased it – maybe it intrigues you, but you’re waiting for a few more details – then this review is for you.

RSN Embroidered Boxes by Heather Lewis
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Free Hand Embroidery Designs for your Valentines!

 

Today, a couple things for you! I’m going to announce the winner of last week’s Appleton real thread color card at the end of today’s article, so read on for that!

And for the rest of it – well, guess what’s coming up next week?

That’s right! It’s Valentine’s Day! It’s that time of year when things turn rather heartsy.

I like heart designs for embroidery. (I’m working on one right now.)

But are hearts just for sweethearts? Of course not! Hearts are for everyone we love, and hearts are for all year long, too! After all, if you hold someone in your heart on the 14th of February, I imagine that person is tucked away in there on other days of the year, too, correct?

But yes, Valentine’s Day has become rather synonymous with the giving of tokens of affection (and a good excuse for indulging in chocolate – if you need an excuse!). So here’s a collection of free hand embroidery patterns in case you want to give a heart to someone you’re fond of – and not just any heart, mind you! A hand embroidered heart!

Free Hand Embroidery Patterns: Hearts & Valentines
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Silk & Goldwork Kits by Liz Tapper

 

A week doesn’t go by in my life that I don’t receive inquiries about where to find good embroidery kits these days.

There are many, many embroidery kits available today – from large companies producing kits for retail sale in craft stores all the way to designers who manage their own small needlework businesses, producing their own kits for their own designs.

I prefer needlework kits in the latter category, for at least these three reasons:

1. Kits coming directly from a designer usually (practically always) include higher quality materials.

2. The designer knows all the nuances of the piece, so if you run into trouble while stitching the design, you can usually contact the designer you purchased from for help.

3. When you purchase from an individual designer, you are a. supporting needle art at its very roots; b. you are helping an individual make a living; and c. you are contributing to the longevity of that person’s ability to keep designing. Without clientele, individual designers could not keep producing their goods, and the needle arts world (which is enjoying a good boom these days) would suffer indeed.

Embroidery Kits by Liz Tapper - The Art of the Needle
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