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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Mission Rose: Curls & Leaves

 

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With the goldwork on the main rose on the Mission Rose project finished, I moved on to the curlicues on the side of the rose, and then onto the large leaves.

Before I delve into a deep explanation (there actually isn’t one) of why I did the leaves the way I did them, I should probably remind everyone again that this is a stylized design. That is, it’s not supposed to look real.

And. Uh. It doesn’t.

Mission Rose Goldwork Embroidery
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What’s a Scissor Pull?

 

One of the projects in my e-book Lavender Honey & Other Little Things is an embroidered scissor pull.

The term “scissor pull” garnered a lot of questions. What’s a scissor pull? How do I use it? Why do I need one?

It occurred to me that maybe you know it by a different name, like retractable scissor leash.

I call it a scissor pull because it’s something you hang your scissors on and… pull.

Scissor Pull Continue reading “What’s a Scissor Pull?”

Mission Rose: Large Rose Finished

 

Last time we visited the Mission Rose project, I was almost finished with the goldwork on the central rose. Well, I haven’t moved ahead as much as I’d like, as Life keeps interrupting in unpredictable ways.

Still, I always figure Some Progress is better than No Progress. No matter how little, progress is always progress, and it keeps us moving towards an eventual completion, right? 15 minutes here or there, squeezed in whenever you can, might be all the time you have to work on something, but those short bouts of stitching add up!

(Yes, I’m just trying to make myself feel better for not having more to show you!)

Mission Rose Goldwork Embroidery Project
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Embroidery Iron-on Transfer Book – Tres Nice!

 

I don’t often use iron-on transfers for hand embroidery. I’m more of a trace-your-pattern sort of gal, or transfer it in other ways, depending on the project. But good iron-on patterns have their place, and they are a Very Convenient way to get an embroidery design onto a piece of fabric.

The problem is, there’s not that great of a variety of embroidery designs available as iron-on patterns. There are, of course, the Aunt Martha iron-ons which have been around for a long time. And there are the fun-and-funky, very trendy Sublime Stitching (and similar) designs, for craft embroidery.

But for other types of general surface embroidery designs that are a little more classic and will withstand the test of time, it’s somewhat difficult to find iron-on transfers. Generally, if I’m looking for iron-on transfers that fall into this category, I look for them abroad among the French and the Italians. (For example, these Mani di Fata iron-on transfers from Italy or these iron-on transfers from Mains et Merveilles of France.)

And that brings us to the book I want to show you. DMC France has a book out that is jam-packed with a huge variety of embroidery designs in iron-on-transfer form. It’s called Fleurs en Transferts or Flower Transfers.

Fleurs en Transferts: Iron-on Floral Transfers for Embroidery
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Free Embroidery Patterns Book Online

 

I love finding old embroidery books online, especially when they offer good instruction or patterns.

While it’s often difficult to find hard copies of these wonderful old resources, many different websites provide scanned copies of out-of-copyright books, pamphlets, and whatnot relating to embroidery. My favorite online book resources are Antique Pattern Library and Internet Archive.

This morning, I’d like to point you a little treasure over at Internet Archive.

embroidery-pattern-book-01
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