July 4, 2018

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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July 2, 2018

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?

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June 29, 2018

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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June 27, 2018

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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June 25, 2018

Slate Frame Adventures – Setting Up for Goldwork

I had a terrific time tackling my Needlework To-Do List this weekend!

Let’s see… there were twelve things on it. I managed two.

On the bright side, one of the Managed Things was the set-up for a project that’s been simmering on the back burner for a while – namely, the frame for this salvaged piece of figure embroidery.

I’ll be working this salvage job in two major steps. The first step will be the goldwork frame. And to get to the point of actually doing the goldwork, I had to set up a slate frame with a piece of fine linen as the ground fabric.

I went about setting up the ground fabric and frame a little differently, but that’s the nice thing about embroidery. There’s no set rule that says you must do This or That (in this case, setting up the slate frame) one way or another. As long as the system works, then you’re good!

Hand Embroidery Books

June 22, 2018

RSN Book of Embroidery: Huge, in More Ways than One

There’s nothing quite as convenient as an all-inclusive reference book for embroidery, that you can pull out when you need inspiration, instruction, answers to questions, or solutions to stitching problems.

Beyond a simple stitch dictionary, a technique book can walk you through the basics (and beyond) of a particular embroidery technique. Individual technique books for different types of hand embroidery are fairly common, but imagine having a technique book that covers many of the major genres of hand embroidery all in one spot!

Well, Search Press (in collaboration with the Royal School of Needlework) has recently released just such a book.

It’s called The RSN Book of Embroidery: A Guide to Essential Stitches, Techniques, and Projects, and it covers eight major categories of needlework.

Today, I’ll tell you what this tome is all about, and share inside details, pros and cons, and where you can find it!

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June 20, 2018

Don’t Underestimate the Fishbone Stitch!

It’s hard to pin down a favorite embroidery stitch, isn’t it?

But I’m pretty sure most of us must have favorites – those stitches we return to, time and time again, and that always perform well for us. The stitches that are comfortable and easy to be with, like good friends.

While I like many embroidery stitches, there are really only a handful that I’d call “Absolute Favorite Stitches,” and the fishbone stitch is right up around the top of that list.

Perhaps I like it so much because I stitch a lot of petals and leaves and similar shapes, and it just works so darned well in those circumstances! In fact, I’m willing to stick my neck out and say that, when it comes to petal and leaf shapes, the fishbone stitch is The Best. It’s where it’s at, if you want a nice looking leaf!

But there are other reasons I like it, too.

If you haven’t familiarized yourself with the fishbone stitch, here’s a little encouragement for you to try it and use it.

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Embroidery Tips & Techniques

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Happy Fourth! & a Little Christmas in July for you!

Sweet & Simple Embroidery: A Delicate & Easy Monogram

Goldwork Frame Project: Selecting Goldwork & Silk Threads

Embroidered Floral Corner – The Lite Version

Slate Frame Adventures – Setting Up for Goldwork

RSN Book of Embroidery: Huge, in More Ways than One

Don’t Underestimate the Fishbone Stitch!

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos