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
January 14, 2017
Here we are, in the New Year – with January almost half gone! It’s still winter here in Kansas (we’re expecting a little ice this weekend) – perfect for a cup of cocoa, a roaring fire, and a nice visit with good friends.
So pour yourself a steaming cup and pull up a chair! Here’s a small collection of inspiration, instruction, and fun embroidery stuff for weekend exploration.
January 13, 2017
The other day, I introduced you to another project in this year’s embroidery project rotation – this Tree of Life miniature tapestry.
Today, we’ll chat about setting it up and getting the first stitches in.
I’m going to tell you a little bit about silk gauze in general, setting up the embroidery frame, and lighting and magnification, with a few tips that will make stitching on this kind of thing a bit easier!
January 11, 2017
Well, yes. I might be nuts.
And I might be nuts for a lot of reasons.
Having a good ten embroidery projects going at once could be one reason.
But this – this project that I’m working on, that I’m going to show you today, involving 56-count silk gauze – it’s not nuts!
It’s engrossingly satisfying. It’s addicting. It’s strangely compelling. It’s habit forming. It’s instructive. It’s colorful. It’s fun. It’s challenging.
But it’s not nuts.
And if I say it enough times, I will believe it.
January 9, 2017
Have you noticed that there’s an increasing trend in the embroidery world to find different ways to finish needlework, besides framing it?
This is completely understandable, given the fact that any one house only has so much wall space, and anyone’s circle of friends and family’s houses only have so much wall space!
Still, despite our reasonable desire to find multiple ways to display needlework, framing is still the most popular approach to finishing a project for display. Professional framing, though, can be mighty expensive! So, in many cases, I do my own framing.
I’ve written about how to frame up pieces of embroidery before, using a lacing technique for mounting the finished work on board before putting it the frame. You can read about that here.
Today, I’m going to walk you through a recent framing job, this time employing pins.
If you’ve pondered framing your own embroidery but haven’t taken the leap, come along while I frame up a favorite piece of needlework, and you’ll see how easy it is!
January 6, 2017
It seems like ten forevers since I’ve shared an embroidery project progress report with you!
But today’s your lucky day! Not only do you get a project update, but you’ll also get couple tips that will speed up your stitching process and that will save your sore little fingers.
The project here is Modern Crewel, a surface embroidery project worked in a variety of cotton threads with some bead embellishment. You can find my review of the embroidery kit here, if you’d like to know more about it.
January 4, 2017
Last year (or just a few weeks ago), the subject of time management and embroidery came up repeatedly in my inbox. I mentioned it briefly here on the blog and got lots of response, asking for me to cover the subject.
The more I’ve thought about it, though, the more I realized that time management is a really difficult subject to cover in just one article, for several reasons:
1. Time management is a huge topic, and lots of sub-topics fall underneath it.
2. What works for one person when it comes to time management is not necessarily going to work for another person, because everyone’s circumstances are different.
3. I am not the best example to follow when it comes to time management. Yes, I have certain tricks – more like rituals – that I go through, to help me manage my time and make sure I get my work done, but, like anyone, I tend to slip up and fall off the wagon now and then. So I’m plagued with self-doubt when it comes to sharing ideas about a lofty subject like how to manage your time!
4. Time management is not quite the same thing as organization (although organization has a lot to do with time management), and when it comes to embroidery specifically, I think it’s more a question of organization than actual time management.
So today, I thought I’d share with you some ideas on managing embroidery projects, especially if you are the type of personality that needs to have a lot of things on the go at once. This is a much more specific topic than “time management,” and perhaps the ideas we share here (and in the comments below) will be more of a direct help to those of us who stitch and who want to have time to stitch more often.
January 2, 2017
Happy New Year, my friends!
I hope you enjoyed a peaceful, joy-filled holiday season and that you’re already testing the 2017 waters and finding them just fine.
2016 ended on a very quiet on my end of the computer screen – which is a good thing!
I indulged in quite a bit of stitching (not to mention 3.5 audiobooks). I didn’t enter the workroom once with the intention of organizing. (Why is it so easy to put that off until the “new year”?) And I filtered a lot of paperwork while messing with editorial calendars, idea lists, and all kinds of planning and goal setting. It was a semi-productive week!
Spending some time looking back on Needle ‘n Thread in 2016 helped me gauge my ideas and goals for 2017 (and 2018). So here’s a little glance backwards, and a broad glance forward!
