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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Millenium Embroidery Frame: Review

 

Amazon Books

Have you heard of the Millenium needlework frame? Well, you know I harp a lot on slate frames and on Evertite stretcher bar frames, and I do love them both. But today, I want to show you a different type of frame.

Perhaps … the Last Frame!

It’s true. I have a new love. It’s the Millenium frame, and I’ll tell you why as I show it to you.

Update, 2016: Due to an overwhelming amount of feedback from readers, I’ve adjusted my Pros & Cons list below. Please read it carefully! I still love the frames and their stand, but please be aware that lots of people have encountered some difficulties, which I detail in the Pros & Cons below.

Millenium Needlework Frame
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Cleaning Vintage Crewel Work Embroidery

 

Last week, I was delighted to hear from a reader & fellow stitcher I hadn’t heard from for a while! She wrote and sent a picture about a clean up job that she recently undertook on some embroidery. There are two reasons I’m sharing her story and photo with you: 1. There’s some good information here about cleaning a piece of time-stained needlework; and 2. The needlework is quite vibrant and pretty! I think you’ll like it.

Cleaning Hand Embroidery
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Marian Medallion Church Embroidery – Project Index

 

The Marian Medallion Project began in the summer of 2011 and was completed in May, 2012. The whole journey was chronicled here on Needle ‘n Thread, so that readers could follow along with progress.

Marian Medallion Ecclesiastical Embroidery Project

From beginning to end, every step of the project was covered (including mistakes!) so that we could all learn together on it. It was a fun adventure!

The Marian Medallion Project E-Book

You can now find The Marian Medallion Project available as an e-book here on Needle ‘n Thread, thanks to the digital formatting skills of Cindy Russell.

The e-book is in PDF format (51MB), and is delivered via a download link in your e-mail. It is 287 pages long, completely cross-referenced and interlinked throughout, with a clickable table of contents and index. Instructional and technique articles that were referred to in the original series of website posts are also included in the e-book, which can be read on your computer or any device that will read PDFs.

There are many advantages to having the entire project compiled in one document, not least among them the fact that the pages are in print-friendly format, so you can print for personal use a page, a chapter, or even the whole book!

You can find The Marian Medallion Project e-book available in the Needle ‘n Thread shop, where you’ll find a complete description of the e-book, plus photos.

Marian Medallion Church Embroidery Project
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Product & Process & Product

 

When you use the right product in a given process you can be assured of a better final product.

Last week, when we spoke about packaging of supplies and looking for needlework tools outside the Needlework Industry Proper, we were looking at buying charcoal powder to use as pounce for transferring embroidery designs.

Today, I’m going to continue in the same line, talking about another type of product that is suitable for embroidery design transfers. At the same time, I’ll answer some questions that came up after last week’s article on charcoal.

I guess what I’m trying to do here is two-fold: 1. to encourage you to look for the needlework tools you need outside of the normal needlework channels, either because they might be overpriced when bought with a “needlework” label or because they might just be impossible to find in the needlework industry of today; 2. to encourage you to at least try a form of embroidery design transfer that may seem to be inconvenient, but in fact, is most gratifying because it is so accurate and because it is a “satisfying” part of the whole embroidery process.

That being said, prick & pounce is a process you have to get used to. But once you get used to it, you may actually end up preferring prick & pounce to any other form of design transfer. The more you do it, the easier it is and the faster you can accomplish your transfer.

On to the product.

Talc for Embroidery Design Transfer
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The Nesting Place – Some Fabulous Finishes!

 

The first round of The Nesting Place – an online class offered here on Needle ‘n Thread through October and involving a darling wool, silk, and linen embroidered needlebook designed by Bobbi Chase – came to an end a little over a week ago. It was a lot of fun! I find myself still checking the classroom forum to see if anyone is still participating. I miss it. It’s kind of like summer camp coming to an end!

If you’ll allow me, I’ll do the Teacher Brag Thing, and show off some of the finished projects worked by the participants in the class.

Nesting Place Crewel Embroidered Needlebook
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