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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Secret Garden: The Wing is Finished (ish)!

 

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Just a wee update on the Secret Garden embroidery project, for those who are following along.

And for those who are just joining up here on Needle ‘n Thread (a big welcome to new subscribers!), a little background information. This particular embroidery project came about when I discovered Johanna Basford’s book, Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt & Coloring Book, which I reviewed last year as a source for embroidery inspiration.

I contacted the author and squared away permission to stitch the project and show the development of it here on my website – the only caveat is that I can’t share the design with you. If you want it, you’ll find it in Johanna’s book, along with other delightful drawings that could translate well into embroidery.

For those who aren’t that keen on the project itself (you might be thinking, I would never embroider that!), I try to incorporate little tips, ideas, all the mistakes and their fixes, into the articles as the project develops, so that everyone can learn at least something from the project, whether you’re ever going to embroider it or not.

I love to get reader feedback through suggestions, comments, and questions, which can be found at the end of any article on Needle ‘n Thread. The collective needlework community here on Needle ‘n Thread is a great resource for inspiration, ideas, guidance. Since embroidery is never a matter of “only one way” to do things, it’s great to have so much input from such a knowledgeable, enthusiastic community.

All the articles relating to the project are listed in chronological order in the Secret Garden Hummingbirds Project Index, which is found under Tips & Techniques in the main menu on Needle ‘n Thread, where you can find many other hand embroidery lessons & step by step projects.

And now, I’ll quit my burbling here and get on with the update!

Secret Garden Embroidery: Hummingbird Wing
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Monograms for Hand Embroidery: M, N – Daisy & Rings

 

If you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m a sucker for monograms.

I assert, here and now, for the world to know, that I love monograms!

But the other day, I had an interesting conversation about them with a pal. The conversation made me re-evaluate my relationship with monograms – it hasn’t decreased my love of them, mind you, but it set me thinking…

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: M
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Secret Garden: Embroidering Feathers!

 

Do you ever get really stuck into your embroidery, completely engrossed in it, with the absolute certitude that you will not only reach your daily goal but surpass it, everything just ticking along exactly as you wanted it….when suddenly….

suddenly

…out of nowhere… the phone rings, the unexpected happens, some sort of interruption comes? They’re not necessarily bad interruptions – but they are interruptions.

This happens to me a lot. And it’s always when I’m the most settled, the most determined, the most engrossed, and the most certain that I’m actually getting somewhere.

In particular, it happened the other day when I was working on the hummingbird feathers on the Secret Garden project. And I was so sad to leave them! I was having such fun!

Secret Garden Hummingbirds: Embroidered Feathers
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Inspirations

 

Saturday morning! The birds are frolicking, the air is cool (mid-50’s! Yes! Autumn is coming!), the windows are open, my tea is hot – in short, it is a perfect morning to sit and chat with you!

Now and then, I come across newsy needlework bits, important information, interesting blog posts, splashes of inspiration, or just some neat little embroidery-related thing that makes me think of you. “Ah, I’ll share that with my friends…” So I keep a list. And eventually, they morph into a weekend chat.

Today, though, I’m just going to concentrate on one bit of news, because I think it’s important. We’ll have a chat about the other bits, later on.

Inspirations Magazine
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Simply Samplers – Winner Announced!

 

Besides being the last day of the first week of September (already? where does the time go?!), today’s the day we find out who wins a brand-spanking-new copy of Cheryl Fall’s Simply Samplers, which I reviewed a couple weeks ago.

A short recap of the book: Simply Samplers is a nice beginner’s embroidery book for both cross stitch and surface embroidery. It covers all the basics and makes a great starting point for folks, young or old or anywhere in between, interested in getting into stitchery for the first time.

Simply Samplers by Cheryl Fall
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