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
March 27, 2013
Easter being right around the corner, and days flying by as they always do, I’ve fallen behind a bit on my egg embroidery!
Do you ever have those grand visions of preparing hand-made gifts for a whole list of people, only to find that you have run out of time? Well, that’s the case here.
I wanted to finish five more eggs before Easter, but I have judiciously narrowed that down to two possible finishes. The others will have to wait!
March 26, 2013
With Easter right around the corner, I think it’s a great day for a give-away! And this one reminds me particularly of Spring…
While I was visiting the Deep South a couple weekends ago, a little package arrived from South Africa with a couple of Trish Burr’s “supplement” embroidery-related books in it, and today, I’m giving away the pair!
I call them supplementary books, because they are really meant to accompany other books or designs by Trish. Take a look, and you’ll see what I mean.
March 25, 2013
Little Things … I’ve been working on Little Things for about 9 months!
What are Little Things? Well, they’re little embroidered things – in fact, they are part of a project book titled Lavender Honey & Other Little Things: A Little Primer on Embroidering & Finishing that will be available here on Needle ‘n Thread in the near future.
March 22, 2013
Earlier this week, I was delighted to see some new surface embroidery kits available here in the US. It’s difficult to find commercial surface embroidery kits that employ lots of different stitches – kits that are colorful, fun, and tasteful, so this collection is exciting!
March 21, 2013
Continuing with this series on deconstructing goldwork embroidery, today we’re looking at the wheat!
I love little heads of golden wheat in embroidery. For some reason (maybe because I live in Kansas?), I’m always drawn to them. It’s amazing how many ways wheat can be rendered in embroidery!
Wheat is a prevalent element in ecclesiastical embroidery, so it isn’t surprising to find it featured on a vestment like the one we’re studying these days.
March 20, 2013
When I first started playing with lattice stitches as part of the Stitch Fun series of embroidery stitch tutorials, I was moving towards laced lattice stitches, because they’re a little more difficult to figure out than regular lattice work.
So, we mixed up the lattice stitch tutorials with a few tutorials on lacing regular stitches, remember?
Now, we’re going to combine the concept of lattice stitches and lacing stitches to produce a raised, detached filling that can be lacy, light, and lovely.
March 19, 2013
Figure embroidery has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s actually one of my goals for this year, to work a piece of figure embroidery here on Needle ‘n Thread.
But you know those New Year’s resolutions… I figure if I resolve it one year, I’ve got at least five to make it happen. Or at least, that’s how it seems to work out!
In any case, I’ve been doing some reading lately, and the topic is sniggling about in my head, so I want to talk about it. Telling you all about it always helps me to clarify things.
