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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How to Set Up an Embroidery Hoop

 

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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.

How To Use an Embroidery Hoop
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DMC Embroidery Threads: How They’re Made & Whatnot

 

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.

DMC Embroidery Thread: Floche
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Early Schwalm Whitework: Book Review

 

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.

Early Schwalm Whitework
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Embroidery Stitch Videos – Updates & a Question

 

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.

Backstitch, Laced Backstitch, Whipped Backstitch
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Free Hand Embroidery Pattern: Little Bird of Paradise

 

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!

Hand Embroidery Pattern: Little Bird of Paradise
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Stitch Fun: Shisha, No Mirrors

 

Do you want to try shisha stitch, but you don’t have any mirrors to practice with?

Are you working with mixed media, and you’d like to add a bit of paper and a bit of stitching to it?

Are you embroidering something that won’t be laundered and want to add a special touch?

Did you know you can work the shisha stitch without mirrors? You can use it to attach practically anything flat or barely domed to your embroidery surfaces.

This little bit of stitch play came into being by accident.

I was preparing to work up a tutorial for traditional shisha stitch, which is a decorative technique of stitching down little mirrors onto fabric, but I didn’t have any mirrors.

In fact, the whole thought of a mirror under studio lighting while trying to photograph a stitch tutorial seemed problematic to me, so I opted for card stock. After all, it’s the technique that’s being taught – once you know the technique, you can use it however you want!

Shisha Stitch - No Mirrors
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