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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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  • How-To
    Videos

    Over 75 Embroidery Stitch Videos to Help You Learn

  • Embroidery Tips & Techniques

    A Collection of Instructional Articles

 
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August 13, 2012

Embroidery Book Give-Away! RSN Whitework Stitch Guide

 

Amazon Books

Today, because it’s Monday and it’s always good to start the week on an Up Note, I’m going to give away an embroidery book!

Initially, I was going to give away two embroidery books today. But I have all kinds of Monday Morning Excuses why I changed my mind. The dominating reason, though, is that the books are completely unrelated (except in their use of needle and thread), and it occurred to me that, while you might really want one of them, you might not want the other. And what if you won the one you didn’t want??! Oh gosh! That would be the pits!!!

So I decided to do them separately. Today’s give-away:

RSN Whitework Stitch Guide Give-Away
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Uncategorized

August 10, 2012

Stitch Fun: Interlaced Herringbone – and Printables?

 

Today’s Stitch Fun is a bit challenging – but, oh! the satisfaction of conquering a challenging stitch! True, this isn’t the Most Challenging Stitch Combination in the world, but it is challenging enough that many stitchers simply don’t bother to tackle it, even though it creates a beautiful, intricately laced border or band.

Tomorrow, I’ll have a Stitch Printable available for you. This is a new idea – we’ll see how it goes over. The Printable will take you step by step through the whole process of creating the interlaced herringbone, not only for the simple band shown below, but also on corners, complete frames, and circles. More on this at the end of today’s article!

Interlaced Herringbone Stitch
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How To Videos

August 9, 2012

Knotted Pearl Stitch Video

 

The knotted pearl stitch used in hand embroidery is one of those fun, rhythmic stitches that works up fairly quickly.

The knotted pearl stitch is a lot like the Palestrina stitch, but it differs in two ways: 1. the direction it is stitches is reversed, and 2. there are two knots created in this stitch, rather than just the one knot created in the Palestrina stitch.

So the knotted pearl stitch ends up just a bit more “knotty” than the Palestrina stitch. Often, you’ll see the knotted pearl stitch called the “reverse Palestrina stitch,” but in fact, it isn’t actually the Palestrina stitch reversed – it has one additional step to it.

Knotted Pearl Stitch Video
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August 8, 2012

Embroidery Scissors by Premax

 

Though I’ve often asserted I’m not a “collector” of scissors or other needlework tools, fact is – I have quite a collection! What a paradox, eh?

Ah, but I don’t collect these things simply because I want to collect. Rather, I acquire them so that I can know what other people are talking about, using and recommending. This helps me make recommendations with greater confidence. Hopefully, these recommendations will, in turn, help you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah! It’s just a good excuse, right?!

Since our last little discussion on embroidery scissors, when I showed you a pair of bad little embroidery scissors, I’ve gotten my paws on two brands of embroidery scissors that are new to me, but that were recommended by readers. Today, I’d like to show you one of them – I like these scissors very much, and I think they’re an affordable option for a good pair of embroidery scissors.

Premax Embroidery Scissors
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August 6, 2012

Stitch Play: Woven Filling

 

Needle weaving in hand embroidery involves all kinds of stitches. Woven picot, woven wheel, various interlaced stitches – these are both examples of stitches that involve “needle weaving.” In drawn thread and whitework embroidery, needle weaving is used to create decorative woven bars in drawn thread areas. So the whole idea of needle weaving is fairly prevalent across the whole surface embroidery spectrum.

For today’s Stitch Play, we’re going to look at the most basic needle weaving technique, the woven filling. This is such a simple technique and easy to use wherever you want a filled embroidered area that looks woven.

Woven Filling in Embroidery
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