October 14, 2022

My Mellor = More Mellor

What is this gibberish? you may well ask.

I like the word mellor. Say it over and over again, and it starts to sound a little odd, but it has a nice mouth feel, for a word. Tack a British accent onto it and it sounds quite posh. Say it as an American and it sounds round and full and comfortable.

Mellor.

What is it? It’s a goldwork tool. I’ve talked it about it before on Needle ‘n Thread, but today, I’m writing about it for a different reasons. I’m writing about it today by way of REJOICING!

And I’ll tell you why…

Hand Embroidery Tutorials

October 12, 2022

Autumn Fire 4: Grass & Blocking

Here we are, finishing up the embroidery on Autumn Fire today! One more installment after today, and we’re finished with this little Stitch Snippet! Hurray!

If you are new to this project, you’ll find links to the previous stitch-along installments for Autumn Fire at the end of today’s article.

If you’re a member of the Needle ‘n Thread community on Patreon, the PDF this week – which will post before the end of the day on Friday, if not sooner – will include this installment plus the rest of the project to the end.

Before the project is over, I’ll also make a more permanent index for it under Tips & Techniques in the main menu on Needle ‘n Thread, where you’ll find the previous Stitch Snippets projects already available from earlier this year.

For those still wanting kits, yes! We will have more kits. We’re just waiting on one element. Remember, you can stitch the project at your own pace. The instructions will be on the blog for those who need to catch up later.

And now, we move forward to the next part of the project!

Uncategorized

October 10, 2022

Mary Linwood – Embroidery Artist & Pioneer in Many Ways

Howdy and Happy Monday!

Today, I’m going to send you down a little rabbit hole, thanks to a nudge from my pal Margaret, who dropped me a line about Mary Linwood the other day.

Hand Embroidery Books

October 7, 2022

Oh Wow! A Passion for Needlework at the Whitehouse Daylesford

Several years ago, Inspirations Studios launched a new series of books called A Passion for Needlework. Each volume is a celebration of exquisite needlework projects, displayed in extraordinary, beautiful settings.

The books are not only project and instructional books, but they are wonderful display books that are perfect for a coffee table or side table in your home. They’re a great way to share your passion for needlework with visitors, family, and friends who can enjoy meandering through the books and reveling in the beauty they present.

At the same time, they are very usable project and instruction books. The projects are, of course, inspirational in themselves. Since the first book was published, I’ve always thought that creating each project in each book would be a roadmap for an incredible embroidery journey.

A Passion for Needlework 4 / The Whitehouse Daylesford is the newest book in the series. It is also the largest – an impressive tome of beautiful needlework and sumptuous photography in 240 pages sewn into a hard cover, linen binding, gold foil, a ribbon bookmark, premium print quality, and a pocket for pattern storage.

A Passion for Needlework 4: Whitehouse Daylesford

Hand Embroidery Tutorials

October 5, 2022

Autumn Fire 3: Leaves & Color

Woooohooo! Today’s the fun color day with Autumn Fire! We get to do two things that I just love doing, when it comes to embroidery:

1. We’re going to work with silk thread; and

2. We’re going to manipulate color.

If you’re just joining in, Autumn Fire is part of the Stitch Snippets series here on Needle ‘n Thread. This is a series of a stitch-along projects that develop here on the website and are available as PDF downloads for members on Patreon.

Although the first round of materials kits sold out, I’ll have more available in the near future. We’re just waiting on a couple key supplies.

Last week, we talked about design transfer and embroidering the trunk and branches of the tree. This week, we’re adding the fiery foliage.

Uncategorized

September 30, 2022

Goldwork Progress: Moving on to the Sparkly Parts!

Oh golly. It’s Friday! Hurray!

Here in my small hometown in Kansas, it’s the last weekend of the Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival (Othello this year – spoiler: everyone dies). And that means that it’s going to be another busy weekend!

Next week, with that yearly milestone behind us, we will settle down again to some Big Progress here in the studio. We’ll be focusing on two things this coming week: 1. organizing, reducing, and packing supplies up for the eventually-imminent studio move; and 2. Goldwork. Goldwork. and More Goldwork.

We’ve been making some progress on the goldwork altar cover, I’m happy to say. Anna has been plugging away at the couching – which is finally all finished! – and I’ve started the chip work on the tiny tail of one letter.

Hand Embroidery Tutorials

September 28, 2022

Autumn Fire 2: Transfer & The Trunk

Time to launch into the official work on Autumn Fire!

Last week, we covered some preliminaries. Today, we are going to talk about design transfer and how to stitch the trunk and limbs of the tree.

As usual with stitch-alongs on Needle ‘n Thread, I’ll eventually have an index of these articles available so you can easily find them in one place here on the website, under Tips & Techniques in the main menu.

For members on Patreon, you’ll receive the instructions in PDF format, which makes it easier to save and print.

For those looking for the materials kit for Autumn Fire, we will have those in stock for you again. We’re just working on getting supplies in. Thanks for your patience!

Let the fun begin!

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

My Mellor = More Mellor

Autumn Fire 4: Grass & Blocking

Mary Linwood – Embroidery Artist & Pioneer in Many Ways

Oh Wow! A Passion for Needlework at the Whitehouse Daylesford

Autumn Fire 3: Leaves & Color

Goldwork Progress: Moving on to the Sparkly Parts!

Autumn Fire 2: Transfer & The Trunk

Connect with Mary

How-To Videos

Embroidery Tips & Techniques

Connect with Mary

How-To
Videos