February 8, 2014

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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February 7, 2014

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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February 6, 2014

Comparing Cotton Threads, Stitched

It’s all well and fine to compare cotton embroidery threads straight off the skein, but what’s even more important is to see how differently they stitch up, right? After all, it’s all about the stitching!

This week, we’ve compared two less familiar threads – cotton floche and coton a broder. Then, we looked at some familiar threads (perle cotton and floss) up close, comparing them to floche and coton a broder.

Today, we’re going to compare several lines of stitching, using the more familiar threads – perle and floss – and then we’ll compare floche and coton a broder, stitched, to each other and to the familiar perle cotton and floss. Eventually, I’ll tie this all in with the thread choices I’ll make for the Secret Garden Hummingbirds project.

My hope is that, even if you aren’t interested in working the Secret Garden project yourself, you’ll still find the information useful for your own embroidery endeavors!

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February 5, 2014

Thread Talk! Sizing Up Cotton Threads

How often do we actually think about the threads we stitch with? What do we know about them and the way they behave? I like to occasionally explore these questions by looking at threads up close, because it’s helpful to know a bit about embroidery threads when making thread choices for embroidery projects.

So the other day we discussed the differences between coton a broder and floche.

Today, let’s line those two threads up with more familiar cotton embroidery threads: perle cottons and regular 6-stranded floss.

Hand Embroidery Books

February 4, 2014

Stumpwork Flowers – Book Review

It’s a snowy cold day here in Kansas – a perfect day for staying home, stitching, drinking plenty of hot tea, and dreaming of spring and flowers and sunshine and blue skies!

If you’re feeling the winter blues, or if you’re sweltering under a hot summer sun, Stumpwork Flowers by Sachiko Morimoto is the perfect book for evoking all the sweetness and freshness of spring.

It’s a lovely book! It’s simple and elegant. It’s instructive. And it makes stumpwork – that sometimes-complicated-looking, three dimensional embroidery – manageable.

If you’re a beginner who aspires to learning stumpwork, or if you’re an expert who wants a simple, fresh approach, methinks you will love this book!

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February 3, 2014

Cotton Floche vs. Coton a Broder – Up Close

Today, let’s delve into the differences between two somewhat similar embroidery threads. In the States, these two threads are called “coton a broder” and “floche.” Elsewhere, they may be called “broder special” and perhaps “floche a broder” or “coton floche a broder.”

In any case, there is confusion between the types of threads, from country to country, because they’re called different things. So I’m going to refer to the threads as I know them and explain their properties here, so that you can tell the difference between them and perhaps find them in your own country. You can at least know what I’m talking about when I use the names of the threads.

The ultimate point I want to make here is that coton a broder and floche are two distinctly different threads. Let’s look at them.

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January 31, 2014

Cotton Floche on a Petal & More About Threads

Here’s a little glimpse of some cotton floche on a flower petal. It isn’t much – again, like yesterday’s dribblings, it was only a test – but it gives us the opportunity to consider some more points about embroidery threads in general, and the treatment of a design.

Cotton Floche Embroidery on a Flower Petal

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Canevas Folies Mille Fiori Alphabet Kits – Review

Framing Up the First Secret Garden Embroidery Project, with pointers

Comparing Cotton Threads, Stitched

Thread Talk! Sizing Up Cotton Threads

Stumpwork Flowers – Book Review

Cotton Floche vs. Coton a Broder – Up Close

Cotton Floche on a Petal & More About Threads

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos