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
April 24, 2013
This lattice work sampler – where I’m using a bunch of different lattice stitch fillings and other techniques from the Stitch Fun series – is turning into seriously random embroidery chaos.
But it’s fun, and it’s also serving a tremendously useful purpose for me. Let me explain…
April 23, 2013
Aha! We have a winner! Yes, one lucky one of you will receive in the mail this Carrickmacross Lace Sampler Kit by Tanja Berlin, along with a handy-dandy pair of nice, sharp, curved-blade scissors, perfect for doing this kind of work.
April 22, 2013
Before I started to stitch on the Mission Rose project, I knew I’d want something over the project in the frame, to help minimize dirt and such from soiling the ground fabric.
Because the ground fabric is silk (backed with linen), and because the embroidery will be done with silk and metal threads, this isn’t the type of project that can be submerged in a nice boil of sudsy water when it’s all finished. Instead, every precaution has to be taken to keep the piece clean.
In addition to washing your hands well before each stitching session, there are other precautionary methods you can employ to help you keep your embroidery project clean during its creation. When I was working on the Medallion Project last year, I basted a piece of plain cotton muslin onto the fabric in the frame, as a built-in cover for the piece when I wasn’t working on it, as well as to protect the fabric during stitching, giving me something to rest my hands on.
April 20, 2013
Hand embroidered monograms! Ahhhh! I am twitterpated by them! They are my One Weakness… to quote Dorcas Lane.
This inordinate infatuation with embroidered monograms and decorative initials was the impetus behind a crazily obsessive era of collecting old embroidery pamphlets and magazines from the mid-1800’s through the first half of the 1900’s, before it became really popular to collect them.
In the last six years or so, it’s become increasingly The Rage to collect vintage and antique patterns. The prices have gone up considerably on these old publications – when you can actually find them. So I don’t really collect many anymore, unless a happy chance brings me into contact with a volume I’m really interested in that’s affordable.
The old French magazines like La Broderie Blanche and Journal des Demoiselles, and the old Sajou pamphlets (especially those with line drawings rather than charts) are among my favorites. I have a good pile of them that I browse through occasionally for design ideas, alphabets, and general inspiration.
And sometimes, I stumble upon a little pattern that, with a little clean-up job, would be fun to share. Like this one!
April 19, 2013
When the Mission Rose project first started taking shape, I knew two things right off: 1. that it would involve very specific silk embroidery threads; and 2. that it would involve some goldwork threads, but not a lot.
The majority of the project will be worked with silk embroidery threads, specifically with Soie de Paris by Au Ver a Soie. I used this thread for the Tudor Rose in the Medallion Project, and I loved-loved-loved it.
While I was working out those five Tudor roses, I was already thinking to myself, “I would like to do a Whole Project with Just This Thread.”
April 18, 2013
The other day, I reviewed Tanja Berlin’s new Carrickmacross Lace Sampler kit, and today, courtesy of Berlin Embroidery Designs, and today, it’s time for a give-away!
April 17, 2013
I was creeping ever-so-steadily towards the halfway point on the Hungarian Redwork Runner this past Sunday. It was an indoor day, quiet, gloomy and cloudy outside with threatening storms, and perfect for some simple stitching. And I thought to myself, “Today will be the day I hit the halfway point!”
And I really thought it would be!
I found myself starting to nod. I don’t normally nod off over my stitching. But the weather, the silence, the perfect peace of the day, a late night the night before… you see how it can happen, right?
Then a Brilliant Idea struck me! I would do something I rarely (as in, pretty much never) do. I would watch a movie while I stitched! Imagine that! A quiet day, no interruptions, rain outside, a really good movie (I’m a sucker for BBC dramas). Doesn’t that sound ideal?
And it worked! I hit the halfway point on the runner! And I was pleased.
And I looked at it.
And I thought a bit.
And then I realized….
