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
September 21, 2011
The Spanish Knotted Feather Stitch is such a pretty stitch! And it’s really easy! As far as movement of the stitch goes, it’s a combination of the twisted chain stitch and the feather stitch. It creates a pretty zig-zag line that takes gentle curves well.
September 20, 2011
Normally, I write about embroidery. Today, I’m writing about paint.
Sometimes, you can combine the two concepts. You can embroider painted things. You can paint embroidered things. You can paint something that looks embroidered. Or you can embroider something that looks painted!
These sweet little strawberries are painted by Carolyn Phillips, of Sunshine Designs. Carolyn paints little pretty things on silk dupioni, and I think that’s how we started chatting about her paintings – we were discussing silk fabric. Carolyn does all kinds of interesting things with fabric.
But these strawberries – they are especially sweet!
September 19, 2011
For those of you who live in the Northeast or may be traveling to the Northeast, you might want to take a day excursion (or two day… or three!) out to Delaware, to the Winterthur Museum between now and January 8th, to see their exhibition of textiles called “With Cunning Needle.” It includes some gorgeous pieces of historical embroidery and, of course, the Plimoth Jacket.
September 17, 2011
It’s been a while since I’ve posted another Hungarian embroidery pattern from Lilly’s Legacy! This one is really hard to name descriptively. It’s busy, it’s colorful, and for some reason, it reminds me of a circus. I think it’s the striped “pods” around the outside of the design.
Many of Lilly’s patterns weren’t necessarily intended as embroidery patterns, per se. They can certainly be used as embroidery patterns, as they are typical of the folk art traditions of Hungary, and this folk art translates well into Hungarian embroidery styles. But we’ve already seen patterns that were intended as wood inlay or painted designs. This particular pattern that I’m sharing with you today can be used for many arts & crafts applications: wood design, folk painting, appliqué, paper crafts, and – of course – embroidery. There is no indication on the pattern what Lilly intended this one for. All I can tell from the pattern is that it was painted in 1956.
September 16, 2011
I love gold passing thread! I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again! It always looks nice, no matter how it’s used. It’s just a great metal thread.
September 15, 2011
I’ve been tacking a lot of felt padding for goldwork lately. I thought I’d be a lot farther along two projects that involve felt padding, but hey… at least there’s some progress going on! (I feel as if I say that a bit too much – becoming an excuse, perhaps?)
September 14, 2011
Following up on Anne’s article yesterday on tips & techniques for using flat silk, here’s a photo of her embroidery set up, with the flat silk hitched onto her awl, which is stuck in a hole in her embroidery frame! I received lots of questions via e-mail about this method of securing the silk, so Anne snapped a photo!
I’ll also answer a few other questions about flat silk, and share a couple tips.
