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: Working out the Vines

 

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After selecting colors and threads to get started with, I was super eager to get into stitching on the Secret Garden project.

You might think that I’d start with the hummingbirds, since they’re in the middle of the project, and they’re the focus of the project. After all, a jeweler starts with the stone before creating the setting, right?

Well, call it backwards, but I’m starting with the setting, and specifically with the vines, because they are the continuous force in the design. They go everywhere. They hold it all together.

Besides, I’m still ruminating on those hummingbirds. I haven’t conquered them yet in my mind, and working on the rest of the project will give them time to work themselves out in my head.

Secret Garden Embroidery Project
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Stumpwork Butterflies & Moths by Jane Nicholas – a Book Review

 

Last week, I reviewed a beautiful and instructive little book on stumpwork embroidery, called Stumpwork Flowers.

This week, continuing with stumpwork books, I want to show you Jane Nicholas’s latest book, called Stumpwork Butterflies & Moths. It’s just out, and, if you love stumpwork, butterflies, insects in general – well, it’s a corker!

Stumpwork Butterflies & Moths by Jane Nicholas
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Embroidery Thread Comparisons: Lining Up All the Cottons

 

Today, we’re going to finalize our examination of cotton embroidery threads, insofar as they relate to the Secret Garden embroidery project. I’m sure there are many, many angles from which we could examine many, many more types of cotton embroidery threads, but for now, we’ll finish with the choices for this particular project.

Previously, we examined both floche and coton a broder side-by-side and looked at their size and construction. We then lined them up, unstitched, against the more familiar perle cotton in various sizes and regular 6-stranded cotton embroidery floss. Then we looked at perle cotton and stranded floss, stitched. And now it’s time for floche and coton a broder, side-by-side, stitched.

Comparing Cotton Embroidery Threads
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Canevas Folies Mille Fiori Alphabet Kits – Review

 

Have you noticed that there aren’t a whole lot of surface embroidery kits for general embroidery available on the market?

Individual designers produce their own kits in specific techniques, but when it comes to general surface embroidery (as opposed to goldwork kits, whitework kits, stumpwork kits, etc.), you have to do some real looking to find any available on the market.

The French Needle carries a variety of surface embroidery kits imported from Switzerland. Among them, I particular like the Canevas Folies embroidery semi-kits. I like their little floral kits best, because they incorporate a large variety of stitches into a relatively small, pretty surface embroidery project.

Canevas Folies has recently produced a line of decorative floral initials in semi-kit form, and I think they’re really pretty!

Mille Fiori Alphabet Kits by Canevas Folies
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Framing Up the First Secret Garden Embroidery Project, with pointers

 

You know when we start discussing frames and hoops for an embroidery project, the actual stitching part is getting pretty close!

I thought I’d take a short break from the thread discussions we’ve been having to tell you about my framing choices for the Secret Garden project and to make some suggestions for frames or hoops.

Please, please, please keep in mind that I’m just discussing what I’m doing, or what I would do, if I weren’t doing what I’m doing (?!).

If you already have a favorite frame or hoop method for your embroidery projects, feel free to ignore me completely.

Secret Garden Embroidery Project - Framing Up
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