June 4, 2013
Needle Tins & Needle ID Cards – A Give-Away!
Remember these darling needle tins from a couple weeks ago?
June 3, 2013
Shadow Work Linen vs. Linen Cambric
Sometimes, when choosing ground fabrics for different types of embroidery, working up small samples to compare results is a good way to discern better from good. Often, once I work up a sample, choosing the better ground fabric for an intended project is much easier. But sometimes, I found out that either fabric will do fine – which is the case here.
To decide between two different types of linen for embroidering monograms, and especially for shadow work monograms, I worked up two samples, one of which (monogram M in shadow work) I’ve already shown you.
Today, let’s look at a different monogram worked on a different linen, but with the same threads and stitches.
June 1, 2013
Remember Home Sweet Home? Book, Kit, and Supply Information
Remember the book Home Sweet Home by Carolyn Pearce? I reviewed it when it first came out, and it proved to be quite a popular book – so much so that it sold out and whether or not it would ever be printed again was uncertain.
May 31, 2013
Mission Rose: The Inner Petals
Back to the Mission Rose embroidery project here! The rose is coming along….
May 30, 2013
Stitch Fun: Oyster Stitch Buds
Oyster stitch is an isolated embroidery stitch made up of a twisted chain stitch wrapped with a regular chain stitch, to form a chubby roundish-oval stitch that works well for petals and the like. I’m pretty sure it’s called oyster stitch because it resembles the shape of an oyster shell.
I like oyster stitch, but I don’t use it too often on its own. Lately, though, I’ve taken to stringing oyster stitches together into a line of oyster stitches, so that they look like little buds.
For today’s Stitch Fun tutorial, I thought I’d show you how to make some oyster stitch buds, using oyster stitch as a line stitch.
May 29, 2013
Needle ‘n Thread Technical Stuff: RSS Readers!
For those of you who read Needle ‘n Thread via an RSS feed – and especially via Google Reader – I thought I’d address some technical issues that are coming up in the next month.
I don’t generally like writing about the technical side of blogging because it can be really boring for folks who aren’t interested in that kind of stuff. You’re here for an embroidery fix, after all – not for technical tips on using the internet!
But there’s a changes coming up, especially for those of you who read Needle ‘n Thread and other blogs through Google Reader, so I thought it might be a good time to address those changes.
Now, for those of you who read Needle ‘n Thread directly on the website or via the daily e-mail newsletter, this doesn’t necessarily apply. If you still want to have your morning coffee with me, read on. If not, I understand!
May 28, 2013
Free Hand Embroidery Pattern: Czech Inspired Folk Flowers
Here’s a free hand embroidery pattern for you, doodled up over the weekend. It is a slightly altered version of a design from an old book – resource below!
The embroidery pattern come about like this…
Step back to my childhood with me! Memorial Day weekend transports me to childhood. Those three day weekends at the beginning and end of the summer – Memorial Day and Labor Day, respectively – were reserved for certain family rituals.
And while most people were beginning or ending the summer with picnics and cook-outs, or enjoying the first or last summer fling of camping by the lake, or lining streets for parades while slurping snow cones or dissolving into sticky messes of cotton candy – not us! No, no! We had our own unique family ritual.
It was called “Cleaning the Garage,” and while it’s a family joke now, it has become a deep-seated kind of urge. Memorial Day weekend comes around, and I feel compelled to clean the garage.
