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
July 17, 2024
Well, it’s mid-week, and a great time for an inspirational diversion, don’t you think?
I have to admit, this one has me wanting to grab the Dremel drill and hunt down an ostrich egg!
Check this out…
July 15, 2024
Today, we finish our Cornflower Scissor Envelope stitch-along! I’m so excited to cover the final touch on this project (the button and loop closure), so that you can put your pretty little scissor envelope to good use to house your favorite needlework scissors!
If you are just coming along this stitch-along and you like the looks of it and are interested in following along, you will find all the previous installments to this project available here in the Cornflowers Project Index on Needle ‘n Thread.
If you would like to purchase a materials kit for this project, you can find the Cornflowers Materials Kit available here.
If you are a member of the Needle ‘n Thread Community on Patreon, last Friday, I posted the final lesson (covering this portion of the project, too) over on Patreon in a handy-dandy downloadable PDF format for you to print and save.
Preliminaries over, it’s time to move on!
July 12, 2024
Today, we’ll look at the first part of finishing the Cornflowers Scissor Envelope, our current Stitch Snippet stitch-along here on Needle ‘n Thread!
Sadly, I can’t fit the entire finishing of the project in one blog post (it’s around 40 photos), so we’ll do half today and half on Monday.
If you are just joining in on this adventure, you can find all the previous articles for this stitch-along available here in the Cornflowers Project Index.
If you would like are looking for materials for stitching your own Cornflowers scissor case, you can find the Cornflowers Materials Kit available here.
For members on Patreon, the finishing will be covered in one downloadable PDF, which will be posted in the Needle ‘n Thread community on Patreon this weekend. Hopefully, before today is out, that will be available. I’m also working on a little video.
Let’s take a look at the first steps in finishing the Cornflowers project!
July 10, 2024
Recently, I had a discussion with a stitching friend about needles. She saw some of the needles I was using in this tutorial and this tutorial, and she wanted to know what kind they were.
So we got to talking about milliner needles, the sizes they’re available in, what sizes we like to use, and about a needle made and marketed by Tulip as a “Bullion Knot Needle” and described as a “big eye straight needle” in size Long and size Regular.
And that brought us to these questions: What is the difference between a milliner (also sometimes called a “straw” needle) and this “Bullion Knot” needle manufactured by Tulip? Aren’t the “Bullion Knot” needles just milliner needles repackaged under a different name? (No, they aren’t.) And why would we need a “Bullion Knot” needle if we already had milliner needles to make bullions and other wrap stitches?
I figured I’d answer her questions here. So today, we’re going to discuss the Milliner Needle and the Bullion Knot Needle to see what the differences are between the two.
July 8, 2024
Good morning and Happy Monday! I’m so glad to be back from a long holiday weekend, and I hope you are, too!
Summer’s really trucking along! I arrived back home in Kansas early last week after being away for about 9 days. You couldn’t tell I was gone, could you? I planned ahead pretty well this year! Of course, I had my trusty-rusty phone with me to keep up as best as I could while away from home.
When I got home, though, the middle of the week involved playing the inevitable Catch-Up Game, followed by the holiday with some weekend events to navigate – all of which involved falling behind a bit. But now…. now!! We’re back to the Bliss of Routine and Reality! There is much good to be said for Routine!
As the Routine settles back to normal here at the studio, you can expect the following Grand Events this week:
Today, we’re going to look at some figure embroidery up close; Wednesday, we’ll have a little Tool Talk and compare a couple needles that may be of interest, especially for an upcoming tutorial; and Friday, we will finish Cornflowers. Yay!
July 3, 2024
Why, welcome to Wednesday! We’re on the approach to a holiday weekend here in the States. Tomorrow’s Independence Day, and for many, it’s the opportunity to take a long weekend and do summery things.
Perhaps you’ll be indulging in some stitching this weekend, too, and if so, here’s a little Stitch Fun tutorial that you might enjoy trying out.
This is a simple approach to making a very effective and really kind of cute scalloped, beaded edge. It’s fun, easy, and quick!
July 1, 2024
Hello and Welome to July! Golly, this year is going fast.
It is time to move on to the colorful and exciting part of our current stitch-along here on Needle ‘n Thread! Today, we’ll be addressing the cornflowers. This is a photo-heavy article, but please read the instructions as well!
If you are just joining in on this Stitch-Along, you can find all the previous articles for this project listed here, in the Cornflowers Scissor Envelope Project Index.
You can find the materials kit for this project available here, if you would like to have all the materials on hand that I used to create the scissor envelope shown in these lessons.
If you are a member of the Needle ‘n Thread community here on Patreon, you have already received this installment of Cornflowers as a handy PDF for downloading and printing. It was posted this past weekend on Patreon, so if you haven’t picked it up yet, hop on over and pick it up!
