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
June 29, 2012
Registration is now open for Vintage Strawberries, an online embroidery class focusing on needlepainting, taught by Margaret Cobleigh here on Needle ‘n Thread. Please read on for further details about the class and information about enrolling in it.
Update: the class is full. We’ll keep you posted for future classes on Needle ‘n Thread!
June 28, 2012
An embroidery hoop seems like a pretty basic piece of equipment, doesn’t it? Something that doesn’t necessarily require explanation? But setting up an embroidery hoop correctly is often the key to better end results in your embroidery, so I think it’s worth covering!
I often see beginning stitchers using hoops without a clear understanding of what the hoop is supposed to do for them. The hoop is not simply there to give us something to hold onto. Its purpose is to supply tension on the fabric. But how much tension is enough tension? And how careful are we to ensure that the tension does not change significantly through the course of an embroidery session?
So let’s look at how to set up a hoop, and talk about some different aspects of using a hoop for hand embroidery.
June 27, 2012
When it comes to threads, we all know the name DMC. It’s the most widely available embroidery thread in the US, and perhaps in the world. You can find it everywhere, from the big box stores to the local needlework shops. Most kits and charts written today, if they don’t actually contain DMC thread, have the conversion options for DMC thread. The company’s been around for ages, and although it has gone through ownership changes over the years, the name and the threads are still around.
June 26, 2012
I’m not sure how Luzine Happel does it, but she has an uncanny way of making me want to drop everything in my stitching world and devote my life to Schwalm Whitework. Luzine is the author of what I call THE (that’s pronounced “thee”) definitive guide to Schwalm whitework embroidery, called Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework. Her first self-published book on Schwalm embroidery is absolutely a must-have if you have any interest in this type of whitework.
Then she did it again, publishing a book of step-by-step instruction for Fancy Hems used for Schwalm embroidery and any other techniques where you’d like to employ a fancy hem in your embroidery. And then she published books of fillings – fillings, fillings, and more fillings to use for whitework.
And doggonit. She’s gone and done it again! Her new book is called Early Schwalm Whitework: described in great detail and illustrated with step by step instructions, or just Early Schwalm Whitework for short.
June 25, 2012
Margaret Cobleigh will be hosting an online class here on Needle ‘n Thread in the coming weeks. The class project is called Vintage Strawberries. It’s a beautiful little needlepainting project for stitchers who have at least some experience with stitching, though not necessarily with needlepainting.
June 24, 2012
Just thought I’d give you all a quick run-down on updated embroidery stitch videos here on Needle ‘n Thread, in case you’re looking for some Sunday afternoon entertainment. Ok, ok. My stitch videos are not exactly entertaining, I admit it! (Maybe I should post the bloopers. But then you’d hear me cussing….)
If you’re planning on dabbling with needle and thread today – you might, for example, be inside avoiding the heat – maybe some of these will be helpful.
I also have a question for you, posed at the very end of the article. You can skip down to it, if you want. I won’t be insulted. In fact, I’ll never know!
Here’s a list of the all-new videos on Needle ‘n Thread, with photos of what the stitches look like. There’s a link below each photo to the video tutorials. On each video page, you’ll also find photos of what the stitches look like, plus explanatory information that’s been updated, with links to other articles related to the given stitch, or just general information about the stitch, threads, or what-have-you.
June 23, 2012
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a free hand embroidery pattern here on Needle ‘n Thread! This one, I dug up from an old issue of Le Journal de Brodeuses, cleaned it up and digitized it so that I can use it as a project to demonstrate some techniques. I’ll show you that in the future. Right now, the whole concept is just bubbling about in my brain.
But in the meantime, I think it’s a great hand embroidery pattern for working simple stitches, so I thought you might want a copy of it, too!
