March 27, 2017

Bye-Bye, Hedgehog! Where to Find Fine Embroidery Supplies

A quick note before today’s article: Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 28, Needle ‘n Thread will be undergoing some scheduled server maintenance. For about an hour in the afternoon (central time), the site will be offline. So if you visit and I’m not here, never fear – I’ll be back!

My friends, my friends. By now, many of you have probably heard that Hedgehog Handworks is going out of business.

While I’m selfishly sad for myself, I’m very happy for Joady, the owner of “The ‘Hog,” who has, for decades, supplied us with fine hand embroidery goods, from fabric, to thread, to books, to tools… oh my. She is retiring to enjoy life a bit, after years of dedication to the embroidery industry. And I think that’s wonderful news for her!

Uncategorized

March 25, 2017

Put some Spring in your Stitch!

Spring is upon us in Kansas! Yay!

Warm breezes, birds singing, flowers blooming, blue skies, green grass – what a lovely time of year!

To celebrate and to give you something bright, fun, and fast to stitch, I’m having a Spring Sale on ebooks in my shop!

Uncategorized

March 24, 2017

Silk Hand Embroidery Thread 101: Twisted Filament Silk

The other day, in an attempt to make you more comfortable with the idea of using silk thread for embroidery, we chatted about hand embroidery thread made from spun silk.

When it comes to the stitching experience, spun silk is very similar in many ways to stranded cotton embroidery floss, so it makes a great thread for beginners to start using silk.

But there’s another type of silk fiber that’s made into embroidery thread, called filament silk. Today, we’re going to talk about twisted filament silk, and then, down the road, we’ll chat about flat filament silk.

When compared to spun silk, filament silk provides a slightly different stitching experience. But the experience is not the only thing that’s different about filament silk – so let’s take some time to explore the stuff!

Silk Hand Embroidery Thread: Filament Silk

Uncategorized

March 22, 2017

Making Time for Embroidery

We’ve chatted a bit, off and on, about the organization of embroidery projects, embroidery supplies, embroidery books…

And while these aspects of embroidery are important, the most precious commodity relating to your needlework – or to any hobby at all – is your time.

We often talk about “making time” for embroidery. But making time is a funny phrase, isn’t it?

As we all know, time can’t be made. So, in our busy 21st century lives, how can we make time for embroidery or any hobby?

Many readers have asked me (repeatedly) to tackle the subject of making time to embroider. They want to stitch, but it just seems like there’s never time to really get into stitching enough to enjoy it, to develop a rhythm, to see good progress, to hone skills, or to explore techniques.

So today, let’s chat about time tips. I’ll share some practices that I employ to save or make time. And then I’ll ask you to chime in with what works for you when it comes to time management and stitching. Hopefully, with a group effort, we can help those who are struggling to find time stitch.

Uncategorized

March 20, 2017

Silk Hand Embroidery Thread 101: Getting Started with Silk

Lately, I’ve felt a deep, urgent need to talk to you about silk embroidery thread!

One reason for this is because I’m working on a couple projects that involve silk, so silk is on my mind.

And the other reason is because I’ve received some questions lately about silk embroidery thread, particularly from beginners who want to try it but are afraid of it.

I’m here to tell you, to assure you, to promise you – there’s nothing to be afraid of! The key is knowing what you’re working with and how to work with it.

So today, we’ll start simple, with an introduction to silk hand embroidery threads, focusing on the easiest silk thread to use, to transition into this luxurious fiber that outshines all other fibers!

Silk Hand Embroidery Thread - the Basics

Hand Embroidery Tutorials

March 17, 2017

Stitch Fail! On Beaded Clumps

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.

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

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

Bye-Bye, Hedgehog! Where to Find Fine Embroidery Supplies

Put some Spring in your Stitch!

Silk Hand Embroidery Thread 101: Twisted Filament Silk

Making Time for Embroidery

Silk Hand Embroidery Thread 101: Getting Started with Silk

Stitch Fail! On Beaded Clumps

Vintage Embroidery Patterns: The Wonder Package

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos