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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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Flour Sack Towels for Embroidery: Why & Wherefore!

 

Amazon Books

Embroidered flour sack towels have been a Thing in America since the first half of the 20th century.

Today, we’ll talk a little bit about their history, why they work great for embroidery, and why they’re still a favored item in the home and in the commercial kitchen.

I’ll also share some resources for flour sack towels that I think work well for hand embroidery. I’m always on the look-out for the best flour sack towels, so I’ve run into both the good and the bad over the years.

Flour Sack Towels for Embroidery - Tips & Resources
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Needlework News Snips – July, 2018

 

It’s been a long time since we’ve taken a little browse together through bits of needlework information, inspiration, and instruction populating the online world.

This weekend, there’s quite a line-up of Interesting Stuff for you.

Before we get started, though…

A Website Notice

This coming week, from Sunday, July 8 – through Sunday, July 15, I will not be able to answer emails.

I have a few articles scheduled for you, but I will have comments turned off on those just for the week. I’ll turn them back on when I return. I’ll be completely unplugged while away. I’ll explain more at the end of today’s article, for the curious.

In the meantime, grab your favorite beverage – this summer, ice water sounds pretty good! – and let’s go for a stroll!

Needlework News Snips - July 2018
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Goldwork Embroidery Frame: Linen, Felt Padding, Silk & Gold

 

Friday at Last! Happy weekend!

Today I’m going to show you a little progress on my goldwork frame project that I started a few weeks ago. We’ll talk about what I’m doing, how I’m doing it, and what I’m doing it with, while sharing a few tips along the way.

And, if you’re keen to try goldwork, or you want to read more about it, you’ll find some links at the end of the article for further explorations.

This is the bit that we’ll be talking about and looking at up close:

Goldwork Embroidery - Round Frame with Gold and Silk Threads
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Happy Fourth! & a Little Christmas in July for you!

 

Happy Fourth of July! Even if you’re not in the US, you can celebrate the fourth of July – we all have it on our calendars, after all. Just pick any reason to celebrate, and you’re good to go!

Independence Day here is the quintessential small-town-USA summer holiday, but since most interesting things don’t get underway until closer to evening, I’ll be spending most of the day in front of the computer, taking care of loose ends that have been piling up. No stitching! *Sigh*

But even though I’m not stitching today, that doesn’t mean you can’t! And to help you along, it strikes me as a great day for a Christmas sale.

Even if it is 100 degrees out…

Since Christmas is barely six months away, I thought I’d offer a little Christmas in July sale, just for the fun of it!

12 Trees for Christmas embroidery projects
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Sweet & Simple Embroidery: A Delicate & Easy Monogram

 

Last week, I shared with you this floral corner embroidery project, which is the “big” project for the younger kids’ embroidery classes I’m hosting this month.

Before the younger kids launch into the floral corner design, they’ll work a simpler, smaller project, using fewer stitches, but guaranteed to give a nice, satisfactory result that they will (hopefully) be quite proud of and that will (hopefully!) encourage them to move on with enthusiasm to the next project.

The simple project is a monogram. All age levels are doing a monogram, but the younger children’s is their first project.

It’s very basic, compared to the monogram planned for the older youth, but it is quite sweet and really pretty in its simplicity – from which point, we can draw some very good lessons about embroidery!

Let’s take a look, shall we?

simple floral embroidered monogram
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Goldwork Frame Project: Selecting Goldwork & Silk Threads

 

On Monday, we chatted about setting up this slate frame for a goldwork embroidery project that I’m starting.

The project is quite simple in concept, as you can see below. Once the frame was set up, I gathered supplies so I could jump to the fun part as quickly as possible!

These are the supplies I gathered, although I’m not sure I’ll be using them all. Let’s look at the supplies, chat about them a bit, and then discuss my quandary. I just can’t seem to make a decision on part of the frame!

I’ll also share resources with you, so you can find some of the supplies I’m using in your own country.

Goldwork Embroidery Supplies for an embroidered frame
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Embroidered Floral Corner – The Lite Version

 

As much as I’d like to completely immerse myself in the goldwork embroidery project that I started last week (when I laced up the frame I told you about on Monday), the fact is, there’s still quite a bit to do to prepare for the kids’ embroidery classes coming up in July.

In the back of my mind, this floral corner embroidery design for the flour sack towel project has been nagging me. I wanted to whittle it down a bit, so that it wasn’t quite as busy. While I like the version I showed you in the link above, it is a bit much for younger kids.

There’s just too much going on in the design! And it would take too long for the younger classes to complete it – even though the projects are meant to be taken home and worked on away from class time.

To settle the problem, I quickly worked up a Lite Version of the floral corner design and then hastened to stitch it. You can see both versions in the photo below.

Floral Corner embroidery on flour sack towels
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