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 Embroidery: Colors for the Hummingbirds

 

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The last time we looked at the Secret Garden Embroidery Project (quite a while ago!), we looked at this wee section of the tail of the hummingbird, embroidered with a variety of stitches.

I wasn’t going to publish the list of thread colors for the birds until I had completely finished at least one bird, but here I am, succumbing to persistent requests for the DMC thread color list for the colors used so far on the hummingbirds!

Just keep in mind I haven’t finished the bird yet. These are the colors I’ve selected, though, and I have used most of them so far. There may be one or two that I don’t end up using, and there are a few neutrals not listed here that I’ll play with for the beak and perhaps for some parts of the wing.

So, at this point, I’ll note the colors I have used, the colors I haven’t used yet that I may potentially use, and leave it open for adding a few more neutral colors or “accidental” highlights as the rest of the bird develops.

Secret Garden Embroidery: Hummingbird Colors
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Embroidery Stitch Samples & Sizes & Photos

 

Yesterday, we looked at the Spanish Knotted Feather Stitch worked closed, so that it produces a nice, complicated-looking (but not complicated at all!) braid-like line.

We looked at those stitches very close up, and I received some questions about how I get clear close-ups like that, and some questions about the camera I use.

Since I was working on some stitch samples for another project yesterday, I have a few photos on hand that I can use to explain what I do when I take photos of stitch samples.

You should probably understand right off the bat that I am no professional photographer. If you want professional photographic advice to produce professional, gorgeous photos, you’ll want to ask someone else!

Embroidery Stitch Samples & Sizes
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Stitch Fun! Can You Name this Stitch?

 

I’ve been playing with several embroidery stitches lately, to add some tutorials and stitch ideas to the Stitch Fun series here on Needle ‘n Thread.

This latest stitch I’ve been playing with is, I think, one of those under-appreciated, not-often-used stitches, but it has great potential, especially because it’s easy!

There’s nothing complicated about it at all, and yet it yields results that rival some of the more complex braid stitches.

Stitch Fun: Name This Stitch
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