Do you ever reach a point in a hand embroidery project where you stop and say, “Ok, wait. Do I go any farther on this thing, or do I stop now and start all over?” That’s about where I am with the Floral Glove Needlecase. Last time we talked about this particular embroidery project, I had made a decision that, in spite of the faulty transfer of the embroidery design, I was going to plug on ahead. And now I’m debating all over again.

The circled areas in the photo above are the two points that are Really Irritating me. Continue reading “Floral Glove Needlecase: Decisions, Decisions…”

Time to announce the winners of the Hedgehog Handworks gift certificates!

While Méri (of agulhas da méri) was vacationing in America, she mailed to me a gorgeous book on hand embroidery traditions in Portugal. The book is titled Bordado de Guimarães, and the text is in Portugues with an English translation. I haven’t finished reading the book yet, but I’m enjoying it so much and am completely enchanted with the needlework therein, that I had to show you some bits of the book! If you like reading about and trying regional embroidery techniques, this book may very well be worth trying to track down!

The first thing that struck me about Guimarães Embroidery from Portugal is the dimensional quality of the work.

In much of it, you will see a consistent use of the bullion knot. And many of the bullions are really long! Méri mentioned this in the letter that accompanied her gift, but I didn’t understand how extensively the bullion knot is used until I started reading the book.
Continue reading “Hand Embroidery Traditions from Portugal”

This week, the “new” Needle ‘n Thread was launched, and the first week has slipped by very smoothly for the new website. I think it’s time for a housewarming party, and instead of you giving me gifts, I’m going to give you gifts – or at least, the opportunity to win a gift!

To celebrate the new Needle ‘n Thread, I’m giving away two gift certificates to Hedgehog Handworks! (Update, 2017: Hedgehog Handworks is no longer in business, as the owner has retired…)

Needlework inspiration can come from a lot of places. Not all these places are necessarily needlework-related, either. When I can, … Continue reading Needlework & Inspiration Around the Traps

At the dawn of the 1900’s, the companies that manufactured embroidery silk (known as filo and floss silks) published little manuals of instruction in hand embroidery that were also meant to be marketing tools.

One such company was the Brainerd & Armstrong Company out of New London, Connecticut. In 1899, they published a 140+ page instructional booklet called Embroidery Lessons with Colored Studies. It’s a fantastic little piece of embroidery history, focusing on Society (or Art) Silk Embroidery. I happen to have a copy of it, and when thumbing through it the other day, I found myself here and there chuckling, often nodding in agreement, and finally wondering why I hadn’t read through the whole book before. Continue reading “Hand Embroidery: Lessons from the Past”