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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The End and The Beginning: More Wool Explorations

 

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On Friday, I shared with you this exploration in wool thread, using DMC’s new Eco Vita line of crewel-weight needlework wool.

I had planned to finish the piece that very day – after all, wool stitches up Fast – but as luck (and Time) would have it, I never did get to my coveted afternoon stitching session. And I didn’t have one minute of stitching time over the weekend, either. What is this world coming to, I ask you?!?

But Monday came around, and lo! I snatched time in the afternoon to finish the project up.

DMC Eco Vita crewel wool embroidery thread
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Stitch-Along Explanations & Expectations: FAQ’s

 

Happy Monday, Everyone! It’s a fresh start to the week – and a very exciting week it is, too, because we’re going to start the Purple Posy Stitch Snippet stitch-along this very week!

Most of you have had a chance to receive your kits in the mail. Those who are following along without the kit will be able to source materials, working from your own stash, or with materials purchased from your own resources, or with possible suitable substitutions that we will talk about as the project progresses.

I have had a small influx of questions about the stitch-along, so today, I want to address those questions to better clarify what a stitch-along is and what you can expect from it.

It seems I haven’t been clear enough about what you can expect, and I apologize for that. Part of this is the nature of blogging. We live in a world of hurry, hurry, hurry and short attention spans. We tend to skim rather than read, and often, we miss the information that’s there, especially if the formatting is poor or the blogger (that would be me!) tends to say too much, and people just see words, words, words. (Guilty as charged!)

So… without further ado, here are some Frequently Asked Questions and their answers concerning the stitch-alongs here on Needle ‘n Thread!

Besides these questions below, I encourage you to read this article from a couple weeks ago that introduced Purple Posy.

Stitch-Along FAQ's
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Preliminary Stitching on a Wee Wool Project

 

I’ve had a couple pleasant afternoons this week, concocting and then stitching, a wee embroidery project with which to test the wool threads that I mentioned here a while back.

I’ve not finished the project yet, but it won’t take too long to finish it, I reckon. That’s a Great Thing about most wool embroidery thread (crewel weight wool) – it stitches up really fast!

The first test stitching I’m doing is with the new Eco Vita line of crewel wool from DMC. I doodled up a little design that I thought would work well with the more muted, almost vintage-like natural hues of this thread.

DMC Eco Vita crewel wool
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Hardanger Filling Stitches – Review & Pre-Order

 

Here in the US, the time is drawing near for the release of Yvette Stanton’s newest needlework book, Hardanger Filling Stitches! Yay!

This is a book I’ve been anticipating ever since I heard she was writing it! So I’m pretty excited it’s almost here, and I’m even more excited to be able to offer it to you through my shop, where you can pre-order it now for shipment in the first week of March.

Hardanger Filling Stitches is everything you could want in an instructional book on Hardanger fillings, from traditional to contemporary. If you are a Reticello enthusiast, you will immediately recognize that the filling techniques covered in the book can apply equally well to Reticello and other forms of gridded cutwork that produce a lace-like effect.

Let’s take a look at the book up close…

Hardanger Filling Stitches by Yvette Stanton
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Purple Posy Materials Kits are Here!

 

Today’s the day! Wooohooo! I am So Excited about launching Purple Posy and getting started with the stitch-along!

There’s nothing better than getting a project going, is there? And I love it when we have a project going together. It’s fun to be a little more “connected” as we work through the stitch-along, don’t you think?

Besides launching the kit for Purple Posy today, I have some other technical news for you having to do with small changes in Needle ‘n Thread operations, so please read on so that you’re not taken by surprise.

Purple Posy Stitch Snippet stitch-along
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My Current Bullion Knot Frenzy

 

I’ve been experimenting with a different, new-to-me method for making bullion knots.

It came about this way:

A couple inquiring minds directed me to a reel on Instagram and asked me to explain to them what was going on in the reel and what the resulting stitch was. They thought it looked like a bullion knot, but it didn’t seem to be made like a bullion knot.

Subtly, there’s more than one aspect to their question at work here, which I plan to explore further down the road. It will be fun to delve deep into all facets of their question, because without knowing it, they’re proposing a couple different really interesting topics related to embroidery stitches.

Experimenting with a different bullion knot method
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Introducing Purple Posy, a Tape Measure Cozy!

 

At the end of next week, I’ll be launching the kits for the first Stitch Snippet stitch-along of 2024. I’m very excited about it, and I hope you are, too!

Stitch Snippets is a series of stitch-alongs here on Needle ‘n Thread. The instructions are offered here on the website for free, for you to follow along at your own pace. If you are a member of the Needle ‘n Thread Community on Patreon, you’ll receive all the lessons for the stitch-along in a downloadable and printable PDF format, along with other little bits of instruction that we’ll talk about along the way.

With every stitch-along, my goal is to offer a project that results in something finished and ready to use or display. So whether the embroidery project results in a small framed piece for display (like Autumn Fire) or a needle and scissor wallet (like Cotton Quartet) or a bead-embroidered pincushion (like the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion), at the end of the whole step-by-step process, you’ll have a finished piece of embroidery that you can be mighty pleased with!

This approach will not only help you learn different aspects of embroidery, but it will also increase your confidence in finishing your own embroidery into beautiful and useful items.

Without further ado, then, I’d like to introduce you to Purple Posy, a tape measure cozy.

It’s a fun Snippet, with all kinds of great learning aspects to it!

Read on, and I’ll tell you what you can expect…

Stitch Snippet: Purple Posy Tape Measure Cozy
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