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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Miniature Stitching: Another Person!

 

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Here’s a little update on my current miniature stitchery project, a mini rendition of the “Sense of Hearing” Lady & Unicorn tapestry found in the Cluny museum in Paris.

When I set this project up at the beginning of this semester of school, my intention was to keep it on hand for those brief moments throughout the day when I could do a bit of stitching, but not a whole lot. That way, I’d have something to stitch on during busy times, and I’d be making progress on a project even if I couldn’t devote hours at a time to needlework. A little project like this one serves as motivation for me – if I do what I need to do throughout the day (and do it efficiently), then the reward is an extra few moments to stitch here and there. I like rewards like that!

So, over the past four months, approaching the project in bits and pieces, it’s come along quite far. The finish line is still far away, but at least at this point, it’s visible!

Miniature Stitching: Embroidered Lady & Unicorn tapestry
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Who Won the Agecroft Sweet Bag Thread Kit?

 

Well, as promised, today I’m announcing the winner of the Agecroft Sweet Bag silk thread kit give-away!

And you know, I thought I’d wax loquacious for a bit, and ramble on about the how fun the give-away was, how much I enjoyed reading your comments (yes, I read all 740+ comments!), and how much I appreciate the enthusiasm and interest of all of you – how you inspire me, how great I think it is to be able to “connect” with like-minded embroiderers, and on and on and on!

Yes, I was going to ramble on. But really, I know you just want the punch line! Who WON?!

Agecroft Sweet Bag Thread Kit
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Needles & the Lessons of Life

 

This week, I’ve spent a lot of time (a LOT of time) getting my workroom cleaned up and organized, in anticipation of two things: 1. several Big Projects coming up; and 2. that glorious time of year called Summer, which is when I get most of my needlework-work and major blog work done.

Between cleaning up the Disaster Zone that’s my workroom and an Incident with a Needle, I’ve learned again (for the umpteenth million time) one of Life’s Most Valuable Lessons.

Needles for Hand Embroidery
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Satin Stitch & Embroidered Monograms

 

Monograms and satin stitch just seem to go together. True, true, there are other ways of embroidering a monogram, besides using satin stitch. But I’m infatuated with satin stitch – it is the Queen of Stitches, in my book. It’s a gorgeous stitch.

Here’s a little monogramming project I’m working on right now. It’s not “little, little” – the monogram itself is 3″ tall – but it’s not huge, either. It’s just a little monogram being stitched onto a lovely linen towel.

I started out using Londonderry linen thread, which is a high quality linen thread (as linen threads go, it’s really the smoothest one I’ve ever used). Londonderry linen thread comes in 5 different sizes (from 18/3 – 100/3), and for this project, I started out with 80/3 (which is fairly fine, for linen thread) in red.

Hand Embroidered Monogram on Linen Towel
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