August 4, 2023

What’s a Needle Minder and How to Use It

I’ve had this article in the works ever since we first launched our collection of hand-crafted bisque needle minders last month. I talked about them at the end of this article. Our first small batch sold out really quickly!

Since then, I’ve had many inquiries from stitchers of every level – from beginners to advanced – who have not used needle minders before. It’s true that they’re not an essential tool for the embroiderer, so no, you don’t need a needle minder to embroider!

Still, I like tools that provide a good service, and I like tools that are pretty. I like the little accessories that go along with needlework, especially when they perform a job and do it with a wee bit of attractive flair!

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August 2, 2023

Helena Wintour: A Story Worth Seeing

Today, I want to share with you a somewhat obscure story involving embroidery that took place during a much-misunderstood and misrepresented time in history – a time during which, in fact, an extensive amount of needlework history was destroyed.

This is a story of a woman’s courage, independence, skill, and dedication, and I think it’s worth seeing.

Despite the historical roots of the title of the exhibition, it’s an unfortunate title and it can seem somewhat dubious. But don’t let it put you off!

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July 31, 2023

Sweet Marguerite Part 2: Tidy Up & Whitework Foundations

Good morning! (I think I missed morning today. Sorry! A little life-glitch in the schedule.)

And Happy Monday!

Today, we’re going to continue forward with Sweet Marguerite. The work that we’re doing at this point is still “preliminary,” but now we’re looking at those steps that build the foundation of most of the whitework. Before we get there, though, we have to tidy up our transfer work.

For members on Patreon, there is no PDF today. Later this week, I will post a PDF that will cover all the embroidery, including this lesson and the rest of the whitework, in one document. I can’t cover all the embroidery in one article here on the blog because it’s just too much information for one blog post, but the PDF for Patrons later this week will have everything you need to finish the whitework embroidery. In the meantime, you can follow along here on the blog to start the foundation steps.

Ready?

Sweet Marguerite Part 2: Whitework Foundations

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July 28, 2023

Sweet Marguerite Embroidery Project Index

Before we get too far into Sweet Marguerite, here’s the project index for this stitch-along.

If you visit Needle ‘n Thread and go to the Tips & Techniques page (linked in the main menu), the first section is titled “Hand Embroidery Lessons & Step-by-Step Projects.”

This is where I list project indexes, so that you can more easily browse through various projects that I’ve blogged about and follow their development in chronological order.

It also gives you the opportunity to bookmark the index for any project, so that you can easily get back to it.

With the stitch-alongs, I like to establish an index as early as possible, to keep things as neat and tidy and clear as possible! I don’t know if it helps all that much, but I hope it does!

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July 26, 2023

A Chipper Snail – and a Question for Quilters

Just a little midweek break here from our workaholic world! Everything’s been so busy lately, we hardly ever have a chance for some simple relaxation and contemplation of Things Embroidery.

So today, I’d like to introduce you to a chipper snail and offer you some fun browsing in embroidery history.

I also have a question (more of a favor) to address, especially to quilters.

Two completely unrelated topics, but both of interest to stitchers…

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July 24, 2023

Sweet Marguerite 1.5 – Finishing the Set-Up & Sizing Information!

We’ll call this Sweet Marguerite Part 1.5 because we’re finishing the set-up that we started on Friday.

If you’re a member on Patreon, these preliminary steps have already been covered in the PDF, so you won’t receive another PDF or posting for this.

However, there are some questions here that came up over the weekend, so please read the whole article so that we’re all on the same page.

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July 21, 2023

Sweet Marguerite Part 1: Preparation & Set Up

Today, we start Sweet Marguerite, a small accent linen with a touch of whitework and a decorative hemstitch.

If you don’t have a kit for Sweet Marguerite, we still have a couple colors of the kit in stock here and ready to ship. It’s a great way to have all the supplies on hand!

Please read through the entire article carefully before you begin.

We’ll be talking about materials to use for the project (for those who do not have a kit) and we’ll discuss preparing the fabric and setting it up for stitching.

If you’re a member of the Needle ‘n Thread community on Patreon, I’ve already posted a downloadable PDF over there that takes you through the transfer method that I used with this project.

We won’t be able to cover the transfer process here on the blog today, because it’s just too much information for one blog article, but we will get to it on Monday.

As always, if you have your own favorite methods of doing things and those methods work well for you, stick with them! There are always different ways to do things in the embroidery world, and I promise that none of the embroidery police are going to be checking up on how you work your own project!

I hope you enjoy this project. Let’s get started!

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

What’s a Needle Minder and How to Use It

Helena Wintour: A Story Worth Seeing

Sweet Marguerite Part 2: Tidy Up & Whitework Foundations

Sweet Marguerite Embroidery Project Index

A Chipper Snail – and a Question for Quilters

Sweet Marguerite 1.5 – Finishing the Set-Up & Sizing Information!

Sweet Marguerite Part 1: Preparation & Set Up

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos