About

Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

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

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Sardinian Knot Stitch – Book Review

 

Amazon Books

This past summer, you might remember that I reviewed Yvette Stanton’s new book, Sardinian Knotted Embroidery.

About the same time that Yvette’s book came out, another book on the same embroidery technique also appeared, called Sardinian Knot Stitch, interpreted by Gioja Ralui.

I love the story of how this book came about! It’s so human, and a lovely tale.

It’s the story of five friends with a passion for Italian needlework who met through an online embroidery group, exchanging tips and ideas. They eventually met up in Italy, and the bonds of true friendship were solidly confirmed.

Sardinian Knot Stitch is a fantastic little book written collaboratively by these five embroiderers – “Gioja Ralui” is a pseudonym constructed from their names. They don’t claim to be professional embroiderers, just friends who love Italian needlework. They collaborated on the book and the projects in it over four years, finally bringing the fruits of their labor to print this past summer.

Sardinian Knot Stitch
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12 Tips for a Better Stem Stitch!

 

How to do the stem stitch is not really the question we’re going to address here today – although it’s part of the question.

Beyond the “how-to” of the stem stitch, let’s explore a question that comes up often here on Needle ‘n Thread and that seems to be trending right now:

How can I make my stem stitch look better?

Since the stem stitch is so universally used in hand embroidery, and since it’s a beautiful, easy, versatile stitch worth learning well, let’s chat it up a bit with this list of 12 articles that will help you stitch a better stem stitch.

How to Make a Better Stem Stitch
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Hand Embroidered & Monogrammed Photo Album Cover

 

Since it’s Wednesday and you’ve successfully made it almost halfway through the week, I’m going to reward you with something really pretty!

This is a photo album cover hand embroidered by Jan Conners with a gorgeous monogram, front and center, and a lovely floral vine down the spine.

Let’s take a look at it! We’ll chat about the embroidery and supplies used, and about the construction of the cover.

You may click on any of the images below for a larger version.

Hand Embroidered Monogram on Photo Album Cover
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Hand Embroidery Monograms: U, V – Daisy & Rings

 

We’re getting close to the end of this monogram alphabet!

Are you as glad about that as I am? I love finishing up a set of patterns. It makes me feel so… accomplished!

Now, if I could embroider all of them, that would really be an accomplishment. But to accomplish that, I’d have to grow about 12 more arms.

Pretty sure that’s out of the question.

I hope that, if you like monograms, you’ve found some use for these. If you’ve used them in your embroidery (or any other arts and crafts), I’d love to see photos!

Here’s the U and the V of the Daisy & Rings alphabet. At the end of the article, you’ll find the handy PDF printables for both letters.

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: U
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5 Reasons to Make & Keep a Doodle Cloth

 

Do you keep a doodle cloth?

In hand embroidery, a doodle cloth is usually an extra piece of fabric that you keep on hand, to practice embroidery stitches on before you apply those stitches to an embroidery project.

If you embroider, and especially if you’re a beginner (but even the experts do it!), a doodle cloth is a good idea!

Let’s look at five reasons you should use and keep a doodle cloth with your embroidery projects.

Doodle Cloth in Hand Embroidery
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