When I’m working with a small embroidery design – for example, a small sample element like the interlocking knot in the plaited braid stitch sample I showed you yesterday – to transfer the design to fabric, I use a very simple method that many of you may already know. I think it’s worth mentioning, though, in case you don’t know it, because it’s definitely a time saver and very convenient.

I call it soft lead tracing, but I’m sure there is some technically correct term out there besides this. The idea is the same as carbon paper, without the carbon paper. When you can’t readily trace your design, either because you can’t see well enough through the fabric or you don’t have a sunny window or light box available, this method is a quick life-saver with certain types of designs and certain types of fabric. In fact, I generally prefer it to regular tracing with small motifs, because I think it’s more accurate, and it’s a lot faster and more convenient than hauling out the light box or taping my pattern to a windowpane.

Who won Phillipa Turnbull’s new Mellerstain Parrots kit?! Well, to find out, you’ll just have to read on…

Just a quick reminder, in case you didn’t get the opportunity to sign up for this week’s give-away, it ends on Monday morning, bright and early. If you’d like the opportunity to win Phillipa Turnbull’s beautiful Mellerstain Parrot kit, visit the original article here on Needle ‘n Thread for the give-away and follow the instructions to enter before Monday.

Are you familiar with Trebizond silk? When it comes to silk threads, Trebizond is Pure Luxury. I don’t think Trebizond has quite come into its own yet, in the surface embroidery world. Here and there, you hear about it used in surface embroidery, but mostly, it seems to more popular in needlepoint or canvas work.

Once in a while, I take questions that come into my inbox and turn them into blog posts. The other day, I received a couple questions about copyright in embroidery. I thought it might be an interesting topic to open up.

Please keep in mind, I’m only writing from the standpoint of US law, and not as an expert at it, either, though I did consult an expert to make sure I wasn’t saying anything off the mark, here. Still, I’m open to correction!

By reading the copyright laws and understanding certain terminology and applying a little common sense, what’s what in copyright issues for embroiderers should be pretty clear.

I’m still fascinated with the goldwork-on-velvet panel I’ve been exploring lately. In discussing it with Phillipa Turnbull, who is an expert in historical embroideries, she suggested Italian, and part of a canopy from a half tester bed, confirming Lesley-Ann’s comment on the original article about the piece. The half tester is a bed with a partial canopy just above the very head of the bed. No certainty on the dates, but guessing 17th / 18th century. I may follow up with some other sources Phillipa suggested, to be more certain about the time period. I’m always for consulting experts – it’s much better than just guessing, so I was grateful that Philippa kindly took the time to discuss the piece and to recommend further avenues of exploration.

But in the meantime, what really fascinates me about the panel is the variety of goldwork couching techniques displayed in it, and the variety of gold threads and thread sizes used. It isn’t until you really get up close to the piece that you start to see all the details! I’m using a magnifier to look at some parts and take notes, but the macro setting on the camera is pretty useful, too, because it can get in there close, and then I can zoom farther in, using Photoshop.