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
October 9, 2012
Yesterday, we looked at embroidering a tree trunk, and today, I’d like to show you how I added leaves to my silk gimp tree. I would’ve included all the information in one article, but holy cow! I was up to 2,000 words, and I figured no one needs that much of me in one day!
October 8, 2012
While playing around with silk gimp the other day, I was struck with the inspiration to embroider this tree.
Now, trees may seem like fairly mundane, unimportant things, but can you imagine life on this earth without trees? Trees may be common, but they are, at the same time, essential, and in art, throughout history, the tree has enjoyed an important representative role, symbolizing many different things across cultures.
Trees show up in hand embroidery in practically every era and every culture, in some respect or another. Therefore, I didn’t feel too odd about branching out with the silk gimp the other day and embroidering a tree.
Today, I’ll show you how I worked the trunk and branches, and while meandering through the topic, I’ll talk a bit about the silk gimp used for the tree (making some clarifications about the thread, what it is, and its pending availability), and a bit about how you can adapt the process covered here to other materials. Ready?
October 6, 2012
Here in Kansas, the leaves are changing, the air is chilly, the landscape is blazing autumn under a deep blue sky. It’s finally fall, my favorite season.
Most people probably think that Kansas is one unending expanse of flat crop land, that we all live in Auntie Em’s farm house, and our next door neighbors are either munchkins or green-faced witches.
October 5, 2012
Thread Addiction. I suffer from it. Do you?
The main target of my addiction is silk, with a hefty helping of gold thrown in for kicks. I can’t help it! Threads – especially silk and gold – are my One Weakness. (Please don’t bring up linen right now, ok?)
I’ve tried to overcome the problem, but I’ve discovered that it’s much more fun to talk to my support group (um, yes… that would be you) about threads than it is to try to kid myself out of my love for them.
Well, you know what They say: All good things in moderation! Right? So let’s have a nice little moderate chat about a “new” (old!) thread on the market called Silk Gimp.
October 4, 2012
The Royal School of Needlework has been producing their Essential Stitch Guide series in conjunction with Search Press for a couple years now. I’ve reviewed all the books in the series so far (Blackwork, Crewelwork, Silk Shading, Stumpwork, and Whitework).
The most recent addition to the series is the Goldwork stitch guide, by Helen McCook. Here’s a glimpse of it and my impressions.
October 3, 2012
One area of embroidery that interests me intensely is ecclesiastical embroidery. For those of you who have been hanging around with me at Needle ‘n Thread for a while, you probably already know that! I got into ecclesiastical embroidery when I was studying for my BA some 20-odd years ago. During a history of art course, I got hooked on the subject, thanks to a book by Pugin that my professor loaned to me.
That book sparked a notorious habit for seeking out examples of ecclesiastical embroidery, visiting museums and sacristies of old churches and secluded convents and taking lots of photos, buying old pieces and studying them, foraging in every corner of the globe (thanks to the internet) for old books on the subject, and pretty much hunting down anything I could get my hands and eyes on that has to do with ecclesiastical embroidery.
It’s been almost a 25 year love affair now with the topic, and I don’t see the infatuation ending any time soon. I am forever learning something new on the subject!
October 2, 2012
After showing you yesterday’s interlaced chain stitch, I thought I’d follow up with another composite embroidery stitch that involves lacing – Guilloche Stitch.
