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
Contact Mary
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
Contact Mary
September 7, 2013
This is a Must Share! I’m so excited about it!
This past summer, Alrene Ritz from Indiana submitted a piece of hand embroidery at her county fair. And it came home a winner!
Do you recognize it?
September 6, 2013
This is the final of three hand embroidery patterns that have been occupying my imagination lately.
The first of the three was this Exuberant Flower design, and then this Openwork Flower Design, and then there’s today’s, which for some reason, I call Sprouting Floral.
The name lacks something. Or maybe it says too much? In any case, it’s not a very attractive name.
Dubbing things with a name is not my forté – if you want to make suggestions, feel free!
September 5, 2013
After posting this exuberant flower embroidery pattern a couple weeks ago, and this openwork flower embroidery pattern last week, I received some questions from readers about old needlework catalogs and gleaning patterns from them.
So I pulled out my copy of the old Herrschner’s catalog from the first decade of the 1900’s to illustrate some points on developing line drawings that are suitable for hand embroidery patterns.
September 4, 2013
Are you a thread parker? I am!
Parking your embroidery threads is a great way to save time and thread. If you’re not sure what “parking” means, I’ll show you!
Thread parking varies from project to project. On some projects, you might not need to park your threads. On other projects – especially projects that involve a lot of color packed into a small space (think needlepainting projects, very complex cross stitch projects, and the like) – you might have anywhere from two to a dozen or more threads parked at a time.
September 3, 2013
Treasures of Ancient Yaroslavl is a book that features gorgeous embroideries from the Yaroslavl region of Russia.
The city of Yaroslavl, founded at the end of the first millennium, is located some 150 miles north of Moscow on the Volga River. It has a strong tradition of textile arts, including those relating to icon embroidery and pearl embroidery.
If you’ve been reading Needle ‘n Thread for a while, you may remember these examples of pearl and goldwork embroidery by Russian embroiderer Larissa Borodich. Perusing the fantastic photos in Treasures of Ancient Yaroslavl, you’ll discover that this combination of pearl and goldwork to embellish religious art is an ancient tradition in Russia, and Yaroslavl is home to many exquisite examples of this work.
September 2, 2013
Labor Day weekend always marks the official end of summer in my mind.
Given the fact that the summer temperatures still soar here in Kansas until well into September, I’m not really sure why that is. I suspect that it has to do with the fact that, when I was growing up, the new school year started after Labor Day. And then there was the “white shoe rule,” that unwritten rule (or maybe it was written?) that said you shouldn’t wear white shoes after Labor Day, since it wasn’t summer anymore. Remember that?
Both of those points are pretty much defunct now. Schools start well before Labor Day and white shoes seem to be fair game any time.
Still, I like to have something to officially mark the end of summer. And this year, that something is the End of a Project.
August 31, 2013
Here’s a free hand embroidery pattern for you – a design that would make a great piece for practicing openwork fillings, like the kind used in different types of pulled thread and drawn thread embroidery, Schwalm whitework, and the like.
Of course, the design can be used for any type of surface of work, too. Feel free to experiment!
