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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A Vintage Book of Romanian Embroidery Patterns

 

Amazon Books

If you love embroidery and needlework books as much as I do, you’ll understand why I have to share this book find with you! This isn’t a Needlework Book Review Proper, because… well, there’s not a lot to actually review in this case (it’s mostly patterns), and because it’s not a book you’ll be able to find readily.

If you do find a copy of it, though, and if you’re keen on folk embroidery, you might grab it while you can! I have had this on my “search” list for a while, and a couple months ago, I finally found a copy.

Hungarian Embroidery Pattern Book
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Hungarian Redwork Runner: Some Progress, but Not Much!

 

In the days leading up to Christmas, I didn’t have a chance to make much progress on any needlework! To those of you who gave hand embroidered gifts for Christmas and finished them all up on time, you have my enduring admiration. As for me, I’m afraid I was a bit of a slug in that regard.

Still, I did manage a wee bit o’ stitching on the Hungarian Redwork Runner. Not a whole lot, but at least some.

Hungarian Redwork Embroidery Runner
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A Merry Give-Away – Coton a Broder in Every Color!

 

I’ll share a secret with you. I love embroidery thread.

You already knew that, didn’t you?

But there’s embroidery thread, and there’s Embroidery Thread. When it comes to cotton Embroidery Thread, I have two Favorites: floche and coton a broder.

Coton a broder is often called “cutwork thread,” and in white, it comes in various sizes suitable for different types of whitework and cutwork.

But if you want many colors of coton a broder, size 25 is the size to look for. Coton a broder size 25 is a marvelous thread for monogramming. And it works beautifully in heirloom sewing applications (like smocking). It’s a nice thread for all kinds of surface embroidery applications. It comes in a total of 182 colors.

Coton a broder size 25
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Joy 3 – Putting the Design Together & Patterns

 

Day before yesterday, we talked a little bit about developing an embroidery pattern that incorporates monograms into a one-word design. We started with the letter J in this Holly and Joy design. Yesterday, we added the letter O, and today, we’ll finish off with the last letter, a simple decorative border, and some layout options.

JOY - Hand Embroidery Design with Monograms
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