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
March 6, 2012
When last we visited the Medallion Project, I hadn’t quite finished the goldwork edge around the long and short stitched monogram. After a little break for a short bout of travel, the first embroidery-related thing I did on my return was finish up the gold outlining. It is finished, and I’ve even moved ahead a bit.
Actually, I moved ahead quite a bit… but I am picking it all out today! But more on that (disaster) later!
March 5, 2012
Elizabethan Stitches: A Guide to Historic English Needlework by Jacqui Carey has just hit the market – and it’s another one of those “You Definitely Need This” books, whether you’re a fan of historic English needlework or simply a surface embroiderer who is interested in all kinds of stitches and their applications!
March 2, 2012
Several weeks ago, I highlighted a beautiful vintage whitework tablecloth, embellished with coronation cord. Since then, I’ve done a little exploring. Besides finding out that Lacis regular offers some coronation cord on their website (I purchased some of theirs to see what it looks like), I found that there’s one book in print still that focuses on coronation cord (called Coronation Cord Remembered, also available through Lacis), and several booklets out of print that highlight the use of coronation cord especially in crochet and tatting, with some mentions of its uses in embroidery.
I haven’t explored the whole coronation cord question as much as I’d like to – some day, I will! In the meantime, though, I thought I should show you the stuff available from Lacis. I have to admit, it isn’t quite what I expected. If it’s something you’d like to play around with on whitework, you might want to see it, too, so that you can decide if it’s what you’re looking for.
March 1, 2012
Bead embroidery is one of is one of those types of needlework that you just want to look at and touch. I don’t do a lot with beads myself, but I love, love, love to see what others do with them! The color, the sparkle, the texture – what’s not to like about beads?
I think I was a crow in another life… I hone in on sparklies!
Today, it’s a pleasure to share with you Velia’s bead embroidered sculptures. Velia is a reader here on Needle ‘n Thread, and when I spoke of curved beading needles last week, she wrote to tell me that she uses them all the time, but it took her a while to get used to them. She attached a photo of what she does with curved beading needles. And, of course, I wanted to see More! So she graciously allowed me to share her work with you.
I wanted to share it, because we all need a splash of color in our day!
February 29, 2012
When you combine hand embroidery stitches in different ways, you never know what you’ll come up with! And sometimes, you won’t even know how to name the result.
I’m calling this the Chain Stitch Spider Daisy, or the Ribbed Spider Daisy, for two reasons: It’s a daisy created with the detached chain stitch and the ribbed spider web stitch, and when you look at it from the side, the petals are a bit too reminiscent of spider legs!
If you don’t particularly like spiders, I hope you’ll forgive me for the name.
This is a neat little flower technique, if you want to add simple flowers with a bit of texture and color contrast on them to your embroidery projects. Top it with a bead for extra sparkle and bling!
February 28, 2012
Have you seen Hazel Blomkamp’s new book yet? It’s called Crewel Twists, and it’s a beauty! Published by Search Press, Crewel Twists is already available for purchase in the UK, and will be released to the rest of the world soon.
February 27, 2012
Whipping two adjacent rows of chain stitch produces a wide line with a rope-like center. This is a fun technique for creating a textured line, and it only takes a little imagination to see how you can incorporate this into your surface embroidery.
I can see it worked up into a caterpillar! I think it would also make an interesting and elegant off-white / white combination for textured whitework embroidery. I’m sure you can come up with many more possibilities!
