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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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July 16, 2025

Heads Up: Garden Swirl Kits and Boxes – Coming Friday!

 

Amazon Books

The time has come at long last to launch the stitch-along for Garden Swirl!

The kits for this stitch-along project will launch this Friday, July 18, at 10:00 AM Central Time (I’m in Kansas – you’ll need to figure out the time based on your own location).

If you’d like a kit, then, please set a reminder so that you can grab one on Friday morning. We will have a limited number of decorative boxes available as well. (And I will send out a launch announcement on the blog that morning, too.)

I’ll explain everything below, including what’s in the kit, what comes with the decorative box, and how the ordering and shipping will work. If you’re keen to join in on this stitch-along, read on, my friends…

Garden Swirl stitch-along
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July 14, 2025

Thread Talk & Stock & a Thick Hoop

 

We’ve taken a couple more tiny steps in expanding our curated needlework supplies – especially with some new embroidery thread collections and a new hoop.

I call these supplies “curated” because they’re the tools and threads that I specially select, that I think are worthwhile to have available, that I use for many projects on Needle ‘n Thread, and that people ask me about. You see, stocking certain threads helps answer the difficult question of “Where can I get this?! when I write about my projects. That is the One Question I answer the most frequently. If I stock the threads, you can easily find them. And that’s the goal.

It pretty much boils down to this: I use them, I love them, and so I carry them.

Today, I’ll introduce you to full sets of floche and to a whitework / cutwork sample thread pack, and I’ll show you a new hoop we’re carrying.

Let’s just start on the Big End of things, shall we?

Complete Set of Floche embroidery thread
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July 10, 2025

Contrast in Crewel Embroidery by Tatiana Popova

 

Today, I want to highlight a new book by Tatiana Popova that’s recently been published by Search Press.

The book is Contrast in Crewel Embroidery: Modern Designs on Light and Dark, and the title clues us in on the unique angle that Tatiana has taken in putting the projects in this book together.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Tatiana and her books, you can read a little more about her through the following articles:

Interview with Ukrainian Designer Tatiana Popova – on Inspirations Studios

The Seasons in Silk Ribbon Embroidery – my review of her first book, which is on silk ribbon embroidery.

Tatiana also authored a book called Crewel Embroidery: 7 Enchanting Designs inspired by Fairytales, published by Search Press in 2020.

Contrast in Crewel Embroidery by Tatiana Popova
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July 8, 2025

Sign of the Arrow Needlework Shop

 

I had exactly 42 minutes to spare.

If Waze (my preferred map app) was correct, I could make a detour, spend 22 minutes at a side stop, pick up the road again, and arrive at my final destination in Kentucky right on time.

I approached the greater St. Louis area at 9:10 AM.

The traffic gods were working in my favor. I took the plunge and detoured.

At exactly 9:30 AM, I arrived at Sign of the Arrow, located at 9814 Clayton Road in St. Louis, Missouri, just as the shop opened.

The trick, of course, was going to be getting out of the shop in 22 minutes. (I’m not very good at getting out of needlework shops in 22 minutes.)

Sign of the Arrow Needlepoint and Gift Shop, St. Louis, MO
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July 3, 2025

Aaaand….I’m Back!

 

Summer is official.

It’s never really official until I take my one week off a year, which always falls at the very end of June because it hinges on other people’s schedules.

I took the week. And I’m back. So now I feel like it’s well and truly Official Summer here in the studio! These are the days when the blinds are closed against the glaring sun, the outdoor planters are watered super early, and the inside work is quiet, slow, and steady.

As usual, it takes a bit to get back into the swing of things on the work front and the home front. Strangely, the impending 3-day weekend with tomorrow’s Independence Day holiday has made the start a little rocky!

Today, I just want to update you quickly on what’s coming up, so that you know what to expect with the next stitch-along (you can read about it here), and what other items are on the schedule.

Happy Camper embroidery
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June 27, 2025

Friday Favorites: I’m Fond of These

 

A few weeks ago I put together some photos for the EGA (Embroiderers’ Guild of America), that they will use on their website and marketing for an episode of their “Virtual Lecture” series.

Are you familiar with the EGA’s virtual lecture series? The Embroiderers’ Guild of America hosts a monthly virtual lecture for their members, focusing on embroidery history, techniques, culture, and textile traditions. You can read more about this series here.

They’ve got me down for a session in April of next year – and I think it’s going to be a super fun session! Instead of a lecture, it’s a question and answer session, with questions that members will have the opportunity to submit.

If you’re not a member of the EGA, by the way, perhaps you should be! The whole organization has undergone quite a lot of updating over recent years, and their resources and events are stellar. Because I don’t have a chapter close by, I’m a Member at Large – which is a very affordable $55/year membership allowing me to participate in events, make use of their resources, and receive their quarterly publication Needle Arts Magazine – a lovely magazine featuring projects, tutorials, and needlework news and resources.

While communicating with the coordinator for the lecture series, I put together a small collection of “favorite project” photos so that they could pick and choose whatever they wanted for marketing and so forth.

Favorite embroidery projects on Needle 'n Thread
Continue reading “Friday Favorites: I’m Fond of These”