February 13, 2017

Would You Bee Mine? Playing with Monograms!

Oooooooh! I’ve been playing with monograms again!

You know what I love about embroidered monograms? I love the fact that they are self-contained projects that don’t take very long to work up into their finished glory. They can be stitched on practically anything textile-related, and voilá – you have a Finished Thing!

Fairly simple monograms – like the ones I’ll show you today – can be whipped up in no time. A weekend of intermittent stitching will easily get you to the finish line!

With Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I thought I’d share a glimpse of the two latest letter styles I’ve been playing with. Admittedly, there’s a bit of sugar shock going on here, but…now and then…we all need a little something sweet in our lives, don’t we?

Heart Monogram B - Hand Embroidery on Needle 'n Thread

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February 10, 2017

Finding the Illustrator Behind the Loreto Embroideries

Today, I want to take you on a little exploratory excursion into the art and illustration behind a famous collection of embroidered panels. Being rather the curious sort, I tend to fall into little rabbit holes when I start exploring, and sometimes, the results can be rather serendipitous!

In 2015 and 2016, the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) made their collection of ecclesiastical embroideries available to public view through the exhibit For Worship and Glory.

If you were fortunate enough to see the exhibit in person, lucky you! For those of us who weren’t, the catalog of the exhibit is still available here through the Royal School of Needlework.

It’s a beautiful catalog, and worth adding to your collection if you are keen on ecclesiastical or historical embroidery. It covers many items in the exhibit, besides the Loreto embroideries.

For Worship & Glory - RSN ecclesiastical needlework exhibit catalog

Hand Embroidery Books

February 8, 2017

Whitework with Colour – Book Review!

Seems like a bit of an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Whitework with color?

Whitework with Colour is Trish Burr’s latest embroidery book – and it’s a doozy! It’s a hard-cover, large project and instructional book that incorporates techniques that normally would be seen in whitework (as in, white-on-white embroidery), but that, in her book, are worked in a combination of whitework threads and colored threads, employing many surface embroidery techniques that are often seen in whitework.

So, while technically, Whitework with Colour does not concentrate on whitework per se, the techniques, materials, and approaches to the actually stitching are reminiscent of whitework. Trish’s ingenious incorporation of color brings to life the varied and vivid embroidery projects in the book.

Let’s take a look at the book in detail, shall we?

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February 6, 2017

Colorful Threads, Spring Inspiration

Monday.

It’s a word that strikes dismay in many people’s hearts.

If you’re languishing with the winter blues, or just disappointed it’s Monday, this should cheer you up!

This is a group of embroidery threads that I plan to incorporate in a spring-ish design that I’ve been fiddling with for years and have never gotten around to stitching. And by years, I can tell you exactly when I first doodled the first drawing – it was March 23, 2013. That was almost four years ago!

Finally, I’m going to stitch it. And these are some of the bright and springy colors I’ll be using…just to whet your appetite, you know!

Overdyed Embroidery Floss, Spring Colors

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February 3, 2017

56 Count: Stumbling through Some Strategies for Stitching

Happy Friday, friends! Today it’s all about stitching progress and a few discoveries along the way.

Earlier in January, we looked a stitching project that’s in my project rotation for 2017. It’s this miniature Tree of Life tapestry kit designed by Natalia Frank.

The piece is worked on 56 count silk gauze, using silk threads – some 89 glorious colors of silk!

I showed you how I set the project up here, and today, I’ll show you progress on it and chat about getting my “stitching legs” on this one. I think it took me a lot longer than it takes most people to get their sea legs!

As I started the piece, cheerfully making mistakes along the way, I slowly mapped out a sensible strategy for stitching it that would reduce the chance of my making future similar mistakes. I also decided to take a different approach with thread organization. And I applied some of the typical stitching strategies that I use, no matter what project I’m working on.

Let’s take a look, shall we?

Miniature Tree of Life - Progress & Tips

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February 1, 2017

Keeping it Simple: On Hand Embroidery Needles

I’ve written a lot about hand embroidery needles here on Needle ‘n Thread. After all, when it comes to embroidery, the needle plays a fairly prominent roll in the art. Without a needle, where would we be?

In past articles on the subject, I’ve covered lots of ground about all different types of needles. For those who want to know more about embroidery needles, you’ll find a nice list for further reading at the end of this article.

You’ll also find a link to a PDF you can download onto your computer for future reference on needles in general, thanks to the John James needle company.

But today’s article is all about simplicity. I get a lot of inquiries about what needles (type and size) to use for standard surface embroidery. For the sake of newbies and experienced embroiderers alike, I’m going to give a fairly simple answer to this question.

Think of this as a starting point (no pun intended…) or even an ending point.

I’ll explain…

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January 30, 2017

Modern Crewel: Pomegranate, Stems & Leaves

Good morning, and a Happy Monday all around!

This morning, just a quick update on Modern Crewel – I want to show you a few things and discuss mistakes and their corrections, or non-corrections – and talk a bit about padding again with this particular kit.

While this weekend was meant for catching up on stitching on this (I wanted to have all the leaves finished and the little bloom on the right), in fact, I spent the whole weekend nursing a toothache that struck with raging sincerity on Friday night. (Murphy’s Law: toothaches rage on weekends, when a dentist can’t be had for love nor money). I already had an appointment set for tomorrow, but I’m hoping against hope they’ll take me in today. Otherwise, I may have to resort to an ice skate. (Movie reference: Castaway!)

All that just to say, if today’s article sounds a bit weird or wonky, blame it on the tooth!

Embroidered Pomegranate - Modern Crewel - Progress Report

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

Would You Bee Mine? Playing with Monograms!

Finding the Illustrator Behind the Loreto Embroideries

Whitework with Colour – Book Review!

Colorful Threads, Spring Inspiration

56 Count: Stumbling through Some Strategies for Stitching

Keeping it Simple: On Hand Embroidery Needles

Modern Crewel: Pomegranate, Stems & Leaves

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos