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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Stitch Fun: Shisha Stitch Variation

 

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Last week, as part of the Stitch Fun series, we looked at the traditional shisha stitch used in mirror embroidery.

Today, I’d like to show you a fun variation of shisha. It produces a completely different look when attaching mirrors (or anything else you might want to use in place of mirrors) to ground fabric.

This various has a kind of “hairy” look to it, but I like it a lot! It’s fun, it’s a little different, it’s easy once you get the hang of it, and as you start working it, it opens up other possibilities for shisha embroidery.

Shisha Embroidery Stitch Variation
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Repairing & Re-creating Hand Embroidered Vestments

 

Recently, I began lending a helping hand on an embroidery project – it’s a project of reconstruction, re-creation, and repair. I’m not doing much of the “real” work – mostly just advising on thread selections, color matching, fabric selections, and so forth. Maybe towards the end of the project, if time allows, I may help with the final goldwork.

But I thought I’d show you the piece, and chat a bit about selecting colors and threads, the types of embroidery on it, and what exactly is going to happen to it.

Repairing Hand Embroidered Vestments
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Thread Talk: Cosmo Sparkling Thread!

 

I must be part crow. I looooove sparklies.

When I see things that sparkle, I go googly-eyed and say things like, Oooooh, a Sparkly!

(In case the reference is lost on you – and you’re interested in visiting a childhood moment of mine – check out this Sparkly scene from Secret of Nimh. The reference is about 28 seconds into the video.)

When it comes to things that sparkle, you can call me Jeremy.

Well, along the lines of sparkly things, Cosmo – the Japanese company that produces this embroidery floss – has introduced a new metallic thread onto the market, and I had the opportunity to play with it a bit last week. Today, I’ll show it to you – in case you’re a fan of Sparklies, too!

Cosmo Sparkling Thread
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Needlework Inspiration from a Pile of Scraps

 

I have a little collection of scraps of silk wrapped purl.

Silk wrapped purl is a unique thread. It is a coiled metal thread wrapped completely with silk. You can read about silk wrapped purl here. And you can see stitched samples involving silk wrapped purl here, in the last two photos.

I’d call it a cool thread – totally unique, versatile, and smacking of possibilities.

Silk Wrapped Purl
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