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
July 2, 2013
The next step in the Mission Rose embroidery project after finishing the bud has to do with the corners on the inside area of the design, just outside the inner frame around the rose.
My plan there is a little bit of appliqué…
July 1, 2013
It’s summer in the US, and this time of year, picnics, outdoor parties and cookouts are all on the menu.
If you’re the keen outdoor picnicky type, and you love the idea of embellished picnic tablecloths, there are a few tutorials here on Needle ‘n Thread that might strike your fancy!
June 29, 2013
Book art – the manipulation, recycling, up-cycling, embellishing, cutting, folding, sculpting, stitching, or myriad-other-things done to books (especially to old books) in the quest of creativity – is pretty popular today.
While some of the things paper artists do with old books are amazing, enchanting, and incredibly artistic – like these book-cut sculptures by Sue Blackwell – most of the creative approaches that require the destruction of a book don’t thrill me all that much. I chalk it up to years of teaching literature and an almost fanatical fondness for books as books.
So although stitching on pages of books is not something I’d normally consider enticing, there are definitely exceptions. This particular exception is fascinating – especially because it is a work of restoration.
Stitching on the pages of a book is apparently not a new thing.
June 28, 2013
Back in 2009, I reviewed Luzine Happel’s book, Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework, which, in my mind, is still The Definitive Guide on Schwalm whitework embroidery.
Since then, Luzine has written quite a few books that have been translated into English, some of which I’ve reviewed – like Fancy Hems, a book on Early Schwalm Whitework, a beautiful pattern book for Schwalm embroidery, and books on filling techniques. Really, when it comes to this type of whitework embroidery and all the nuances of it – all the “sub techniques” that can be applied to other types of embroidery, too – Luzine is a goldmine of information!
Her latest books are of the sampler variety, in a sense. Here’s a look at both of them: Openwork Pattern Samplers and Openwork Needleweaving Patterns.
June 27, 2013
The last bit of silk embroidery on the Mission Rose project is finished! At least, I think that’s the last … Continue reading Mission Rose: The Bud
June 26, 2013
The Turk’s Head Knot is often seen in knot-making and other cord and rope techniques, but it’s also an embroidery stitch.
As an embroidery stitch, the Turk’s Head Knot creates an intertwined knot that sits up, plump and round, on the fabric. It can be used in place of French knots and colonial knots for a little more texture. Like the French knot and colonial knot, it can be used singly, as an isolated stitch, or it can be grouped together in clusters or used as highly textured filling.
The thing is, it’s a tricky stitch. It’s definitely knot the easiest knot in the book!
June 25, 2013
Thanks to one and all who left comments on the give-away for the complete set of DMC Diamant metallic embroidery threads!
Reading through your comments was fabulously enlightening. To hear how people stitch with metallic threads, what their thoughts are about metallic threads, how they overcome the frustrations of working with metallic embroidery threads… this was all good stuff to read!
If you happen to be a stitcher who wants advice on using metallics, read through the comments on the DMC Diamant give-away article. There’s a bunch of good info in there!
