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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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  • How-To
    Videos

    Over 75 Embroidery Stitch Videos to Help You Learn

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    A Collection of Instructional Articles

 
Hand Embroidery Tutorials

March 17, 2017

Stitch Fail! On Beaded Clumps

 

Amazon Books

How about a variation on a theme? Instead of Stitch Fun!, let’s go with Stitch Fail!

I love the Stitch Fun! series here on Needle ‘n Thread, because I love exploring stitches. But sometimes, what I envision with a stitch or a combination of stitches doesn’t always materialize the way I envision it.

That’s part of the fun of playing with stitches – you can end up with some very exciting results, some happy discoveries, some satisfactory conclusions.

Or you can end up with a Stitch Fail – and, you know, that’s not always a bad thing!

That’s pretty much what today’s tutorial is all about. I’ll tell you about my original intention with this stitch experiment, talk about what actually happened and why, discuss ways you could use the flop anyway, and mull over alternatives to what I was vaguely trying to achieve.

Embroidery Stitch: Beaded Clump!
Continue reading “Stitch Fail! On Beaded Clumps”

Hand Embroidery Patterns

March 15, 2017

Vintage Embroidery Patterns: The Wonder Package

 

I love old hand embroidery patterns! Love ’em, love ’em, love ’em!

Ever since I got ahold of my first old embroidery pattern portfolio some eons ago, I’ve collected them like a fiend.

And apparently Pat, one of our stitching cohorts who follows along here on Needle ‘n Thread, knows this, because she recently sent me a surprise package.

And who doesn’t like surprises?

And who doesn’t like packages?

So, combine surprise, package, and old embroidery patterns, and hey! I’m in heaven!

So here’s the pattern portfolio – it’s quite a doozy and there are some really good ones in here that would be fun to interpret into all kinds of different embroidery techniques. At the end of the article, I’ll share one of the patterns with you as a PDF, so that you can download it and play with it, too!

The Wonder Package Vintage Hand Embroidery Patterns
Continue reading “Vintage Embroidery Patterns: The Wonder Package”

Uncategorized

March 13, 2017

56-Count: The Peacock, Colors, and Craft Foam

 

Let’s start the week off with a little bit of progress from some weekend bouts of stitching!

Besides, it’s Monday, and a big splash of color is good for the soul on a Monday morning!

For those of you just joining in, this projects is a Miniature Tree of Life tapestry designed by Natalia Frank and worked on 56-count silk gauze. You can read all about the project itself here in my kit review, and how I set it up here, if you want additional background information.

Over the weekend, I finished everything but the background on the peacock panel, which I introduced you to here.

Peacock Panel, Miniature Tree of Life tapestry embroidery
Continue reading “56-Count: The Peacock, Colors, and Craft Foam”

Uncategorized

March 11, 2017

Needlework News Snips and The Frame Winner

 

Before we all head out to pour ourselves into weekend projects, how about a chat?

Today, I want to share with you some needlework-related snippets I’ve come across lately online – bits that I’ve found inspiring, instructive, or entertaining. I’ll also announce the winner of the slate frame give-away from last week.

So pour yourself a cup, pull up a chair, and let’s browse together!

Needlework News Snips, March, 2017
Continue reading “Needlework News Snips and The Frame Winner”

Hand Embroidery Books

March 10, 2017

Colour Confident Stitching – A Gem!

 

Why, good morning! And a happy Friday to you!

Oh, golly! It’s That Dreadful Weekend. That One Dreadful Weekend of the Year that rankles me to the core of my being!

You know what weekend it is, don’t you?

Daylight Savings Time goes into effect.

Woe is me! Why do we do it?!

To get you through this abhorrent, nefarious, detestable, and downright dastardly custom of changing to Daylight Savings Time, I want to tell you about a book that makes me happy through and through. I think it might make you happy, too!

The book is called Colour Confident Stitching by Karen Barbé. It’s…. it’s good. In fact, it’s Really Good.

If you have ever struggled with choosing colors for an embroidery project, this book is for you! I’ll tell you about the book and along the way, I’ll make some brief comparisons with Colour Confidence in Embroidery by Trish Burr, which I reviewed here, for those of you who already have that book, or are deciding between the two books.

Colour Confident Stitching - Book Review
Continue reading “Colour Confident Stitching – A Gem!”

Hand Embroidery Tutorials

March 8, 2017

Stitch Fun! Lacy Buttonhole Wheel Eyelet

 

It’s been a while since we’ve worked through a Stitch Fun! tutorial here on Needle ‘n Thread, but I’ve been experimenting and playing with embroidery stitches lately, so I thought I better start sharing some of those results with you!

For those who are relatively new to Needle ‘n Thread, Stitch Fun! is a series of embroidery stitch tutorials that explore unusual or just plain fun embroidery stitches and combinations of stitches. You can find a whole list of Stitch Fun! tutorials right here.

The point of the series is to have a little fun with your stitches. After all, it’s not unusual to get stuck in a rut with embroidery. Not a bad rut, mind you – but sometimes, we gravitate towards our favorite stitches, using them over and over again, and we tend to forget to let loose once in a while and try something different!

Those of you who are following along with a Year of Stitches – the year-long stitch exploration project I mentioned in this article – you’ll find lots of ideas for your embroidery in the Stitch Fun! series.

Stitch Fun! Lacy Buttonhole Wheel Eyelet
Continue reading “Stitch Fun! Lacy Buttonhole Wheel Eyelet”

Uncategorized

March 6, 2017

56 Count: Turning the Corner & Keeping Things Straight

 

Happy Monday, from a windy, springish Kansas!

We’re going to hop back to gridded work today! After finishing Modern Crewel, I took a good chunk of time to set up a couple of my own projects last week and to make a wee bit of headway on them. (I love it when that happens!)

But when it comes to a quick-stitch-fix, a project that I can work on in 15 to 30 minute bursts when I have a little down time, it’s this 56-count silk gauze Tree of Life project that I turn to.

The last time we looked at the project, we chatted about the lower panel and thread re-organization. Today, I’ll show you a turn on the corner, we’ll talk about lining up the whole frame layout and my cheater method of double-checking my counting, and finally discuss working a project like this with the frame turned, to make the stitching area easier to see and reach.

Miniature Tree of Life Tapestry in petit point on 56-count silk gauze
Continue reading “56 Count: Turning the Corner & Keeping Things Straight”