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
Contact Mary
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
Contact Mary
April 5, 2019
I almost feel like I’ve been suckered into embroidering these motifs from Elisabetta’s wheat field alphabet. They’re just too addictive to put down.
My Project Wall is feeling rather neglected (I’ll tell you about my Project Wall some day…) and my eggs are stagnating. I’m embroidering some eggs of a sort – I’ll share them with you soon!
The poppies are The Most Fun Ever. They make me laugh.
April 3, 2019
You know that booklet I reviewed on Monday, by Elisabetta Sforza? In a Wheat Field?
Well, it’s become rather diverting. I think you need to get it, if you haven’t already gotten it. We could have fun together!
I wasn’t really going to let myself be diverted by it.
But then I did.
You see, I got it into my head that I would at least scuffle through my DMC thread colors to see what I had on hand for the projects in the book. And then, while I was chillin’ a bit in the evening, I figured I’d go ahead and trace some of the designs onto vellum – you know, just for the fun of it.
Then I got it into my head that I’d like to play with the designs on a linen glass towel. And one thing led to another, and here I am. And I’m Perfectly Happy to be here!
As I began to delve into the projects, considering colors and stitches and what-have-you, I admit that I changed things up a little bit.
April 1, 2019
If you say “embroidered monogram” to me, my mind will immediately answer with “Elisabetta Sforza.”
Elisabetta is an Italian embroiderer who is truly a master of hand embroidered monograms in both traditional and innovative styles. She wrote this book, featuring a glorious floral alphabet, that I reviewed a while ago. And she has recently published another alphabet that has captivated my monogram-and-flowers-and-other-beautiful-embroidery-loving heart.
Her new booklet, which I recently received from Elisabetta via the folks at Needle in a Haystack when their shipment of the books arrived, is called In a Wheat Field. The alphabet and decorative accents within it feature wheat, wildflowers, and poppies. The designs, the embroidery, the colors, the stitches – they’re all stunningly beautiful!
March 29, 2019
Some people say you can embroider on anything.
And I agree, to an extent.
But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay pretty close attention to the ground fabric you select for your embroidery projects. The ground fabric (the fabric you are stitching on, that the embroidery is embellishing) has to work with the type of embroidery you’re doing, or there’s no sense in using it.
I’ll give you one small example of a selection I made for a ground fabric that I thought about using, but changed my mind. And I’ll show you why I changed my mind. And hopefully, the conclusion we can draw is that you have to consider what you’re stitching and what techniques you’re using when you select fabric, so that the fabric you select will work for you.
March 27, 2019
How about a little Tool Talk?
Accessorizing is a fun part of many arts & crafts. Sure, you can accomplish your needlework with the very basics. You want to hand embroider? All you really need is a needle, some thread, something to embroider on (usually fabric), and a way to cut your threads. You don’t need anything else.
But there are tools that make our needlework easier. There are tools that improve the outcome of our needlework. And there are tools that make our needlework more fun. So we accessorize! And that’s all part of the enjoyment of embroidery.
When I was cleaning up a mess of threads the other day – yes, I have thread messes! – I came across some thread keeps that I bought a while ago but hadn’t used yet for a number of reasons. And that led me to making my own set of thread keeps. And that led me to thinking I should share them with you. And that led me to this article! So here we are!
March 25, 2019
I didn’t get much stitching done this weekend.
I take that back. I got a lot of stitching done this weekend, but I got even more unstitching done. It was one of those this-is-going-nowhere sorts of weekends, as far as stitching goes.
I’ll tell you about it, share some of the reasons why things went amuck, and talk about some ideas and resources on this Jacobean whitework-on-blue project that I’m working on right now (and that I introduced to you here).
March 22, 2019
Happy Friday!! It’s time to celebrate!!
At long last, and just in time for spring & summer stitching, here’s the instructional guide for Floral Corners, three floral projects that I used for local hand embroidery classes for youth last summer.
This e-book is a little different. It’s more about giving options when interpreting a design into hand embroidery stitches. There’s a lot of freedom of choice in the projects, but plenty of guidance, too.
I’ve also put together a limited number of flour sack towel sets with the designs transferred on them for those who don’t want to bother with the design transfer process. You’ll find information on those at the end of this article.
Here’s a little overview of what you can expect from the e-book…
