Today, I want to touch on a subject that may change your approach to hand embroidery forever!

This just might be the secret you’ve been looking for, to vastly improve the finished results of your embroidery projects.

The topic is lining your embroidery ground fabric with another fabric – why to do it, when to do it, what to do it with, and how to do it.

For many of you, I’m sure this tip is Old Hat. But newbies to the embroidery scene might not even know they have the option of using a lining behind their ground fabric, and that doing so can make a huge difference in the outcome of an embroidery project.

I’ve fallen victim to a new stitching addiction, and it’s making it very hard to tear myself away from embroidery these days, even to concentrate on other website-related and workroom-related activities.

There’s a new version of Needle ‘n Thread coming out, for example. Yesssss! The All-New Needle ‘n Thread is almost ready to launch!

But have I been paying attention to that lately?

Noooooo. I’ve been stitching!

And my workroom! Remember that book mess? Have I figured out how to conquer it yet?

Noooooo. Because I’ve been stitching.

I can’t seem to stop stitching.

It’s Wednesday – and a good day to make your embroidery dreams come true!

Have you been hankering to stitch something really special?

Well, here’s your chance to have a gorgeous embroidery kit mailed directly to your door, courtesy of the folks at Inspirations Magazine!

This is a fantastic give-away for three winners – and the best part about it? The winners get to select their own prizes!

Couldn’t get any better than that, could it?

Read on for the details!

You might have noticed I’ve been reviewing quite a few hand embroidery kits lately.

Back in April, we discussed designer’s embroidery kits – that is, embroidery kits directly from the designer, as opposed to embroidery kits that you might find at a big box craft store or similar.

Since then, I’ve been reviewing some kits that I plan to work so that you can get a close-up look at them and maybe make a decision on whether you want to work any of them, too.

You see, I love kits. I might design my own stuff, but that doesn’t keep me from loving other people’s designs and the kits that come from them. I consider stitching someone else’s kit almost like eating dessert. Dinner may be really good and it certainly sustains you, but dessert – ahhhh. Dessert! It’s a source of decadent pleasure!

I always feel a bit luxurious when I work a kit. I suppose it’s because all the really hard work is already done – I just have to sit back and enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor while I indulge in the pure pleasure of stitching.

Today, I want to show you a kit involving silk embroidery with some tiny gold accents. The finished products are gorgeous and useful embroidery accessories.

For all you monogram lovers out there, I’m really excited to share today’s article with you!

Ever since I first started posting monogram alphabets on Needle ‘n Thread, I’ve had requests to make the whole alphabets available in one PDF, so that they were easy to download and organize, to pull up whenever you need a pretty letter to stitch.

Finally, I finished doing that – and not only with the monogram alphabets you’ll already find on Needle ‘n Thread, but with a heap of other alphabets, too!

So, today, I’m happy to present…