June 13, 2011
Montenegrin Stitch Book Winner!
Last week, after reviewing Autopsy of the Montenegrin Stitch: Exhumed by Amy Mitten, we had a little give-away for the book, and today, the winner is announced!
June 12, 2011
Church Embroidery: Inspiration!
In ecclesiastical embroidery – both historical and contemporary – it’s fairly easy to find representations of the Holy Ghost in most collections. The Holy Ghost is symbolically represented as a dove, from Christ’s baptism in Luke 3:22: “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, as a dove upon him.” As a symbol, the dove evokes certain images – it is gentle, pure, peaceful. Within larger images on historical vestments, you might look at the whole picture and completely miss the dove, but if you look hard enough in Christian figure embroidery on vestments, sure enough, you’ll often find a little dove figured into the needlepainting somewhere.
Lately, I’ve been in touch with several embroiderers out there who have been working on different pieces of ecclesiastical embroidery for Pentecost. A couple sent photos, so I’d like to share them, and I’ll also show you some photos of historical pieces with the Holy Ghost discreetly figured into the embroidery.
June 10, 2011
Needlework Nibble – a Guilt-Free Snack!
Tricia Nguyen over on Thistle Threads is doing it again – she’s selling a special little “needlework nibble” to help a cause. For each $18 Tulip Slip Needlework Nibble kit she sells, $10 will be donated to Winterthur Museum to support their textile and needlework exhibition budget. They’ll be running an exhibit called With Cunning Needle: Four Centuries of Embroidery, from September 3, 2011 through January 8, 2012. The more funds they raise to support the exhibit, the more items they will be able to exhibit. RIght now, they’re $5,000 short of their needed budget.
June 9, 2011
Montenegrin Stitch – Book Give-Away!
Remember the book I reviewed yesterday – Autopsy of the Montenegrin Stitch: Exhumed? Well, thanks to the author Amy Mitten, I’ve got a copy to give away!
If you’ve ever tried to unravel the intricacies of the Montenegrin stitch, especially when it comes to making seamless joins between lines traveling in different directions, then you’ll want this book! Stitchers who enjoy working historical reproduction samplers will find it an immense help, as will anyone who wants to add this beautiful stitch to their repertoire.
June 8, 2011
Montenegrin Stitch – Thoroughly Montenegrin!
For those of you familiar with canvas work and with counted thread embroidery stitches – especially variations on cross stitch – you are probably familiar with Montenegrin Stitch, or have at least heard of it. Montenegrin stitch is similar to long armed cross stitch, in that the stitches “interlock” and overlap, but it is different, in that it includes a vertical stitch in its stitch movement, and the resulting band of stitches tends to look more “braided” than long armed cross stitch.
Confusing? Yes, well – try working the stitch! It can be a real bear, especially when it comes to changing directions, moving on the diagonal, and merging lines that travel in different directions.
Several years ago, Amy Mitten published a book called Autopsy of the Montenegrin Stitch, which became the definitive guide to the stitch. By examining examples of Montenegrin stitch and working out all the possibilities of the stitch herself, Amy was able to compile clear diagram instructions for Montenegrin stitch. Recently, Amy updated and re-published her book, and now we have Autopsy of the Montenegrin Stitch: Exhumed!. (Yes, she’s a bit of a mystery buff.)
June 7, 2011
Reader’s Embroidery: Circular Thing
I love it when stitchers send me pictures of the embroidery they’ve done, using embroidery patterns they’ve found here on Needle ‘n Thread! Here’s a stitched-up version of the Jacobean Circular Thing, embroidered by Marilyn.
June 6, 2011
Guide to Gingham Embroidery … or … errr … Chicken Scratch!
Chicken Scratch is such a weird name for an embroidery technique! I can only imagine that it came about because this technique of embroidery on gingham involves sharp little stitches … like chicken’s feet maybe? Or maybe some of the stitches look like the hatch marks in the ground after chickens have been foraging for peckable foodstuffs? Whatever the case, for some reason, the name was used, and it stuck.
Gingham Embroidery, gingham lace, snowflaking, and gingham cross stitch are all interchangeable words for “chicken scratch,” and golly – I’d even venture to say they’re somewhat preferable! Chicken scratch makes me itchy.
Anyway – to get one with it – summer time is a perfect time to teach embroidery to kids, or to take up a quick project yourself, and gingham embroidery can fill the bill on both accounts. One of my plans this summer is to help keep my niece occupied by making a chicken scratch apron with her. I want to incorporate this drawn-thread-on-gingham technique with the chicken scratch, using a smaller checked gingham.
It just so happens that there’s a pretty good e-book available online that teaches step-by-step the methods and variations of gingham embroidery. The book is by Laurie Latour, and it’s called The Guide to Gingham Embroidery: Book One – Stitch & Learn Gingham Lace, Snowflaking, & Gingham Cross Stitch.
