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
Contact Mary
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
Contact Mary
June 29, 2022
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a person in possession of some embroidery tools must be in want of more embroidery tools.
I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere.
I’m not wholly convinced it’s true, but I can confirm from personal experience that it’s not unusual to end up with a wide variety of embroidery tools if you’re an avid stitcher.
June 27, 2022
Last week, after posting the most recent tutorial for Cotton Quartet, I received an influx of communication with questions and commentary on the style of embroidery that I worked on the gingham.
It’s a type of embroidery that, here in the States, is usually referred to as “chicken scratch.” It’s also known by various other names – gingham lace, gingham embroidery, hen scratch, broderie Suisse, depression lace…
Many of you recognized it, asked questions about where to find more information, patterns, and so forth, so I thought I’d just touch on the type of embroidery and re-share my resources on it, since we haven’t talked about it on Needle ‘n Thread in about five years!
June 24, 2022
Right now, my world is very colorful, and all this color has me really excited!
At long last, I have in my hands (not quite literally) on an array of lovely linen in beautiful colors – high quality linen that performs marvelously for both surface embroidery and counted embroidery. And did I mention, it’s in color?!
As icing on the cake, I’ve just gotten in some silks in Massive hanks. They’re the kind of hanks that plop when you set them down. They’re so heavy and luscious and lovely…
June 22, 2022
Now that you’ve finished up the cover for Cotton Quartet, it’s time to embellish the gingham lining and prepare both the cover and the lining for construction.
Today, we’re just going to look at the gingham embroidery inside the tool wallet, and then we’ll talk about prepping the two pieces for construction.
If you’re just joining in on Cotton Quartet, you’ll find all the articles for this project listed here in the project index.
If you are a member of the Needle ‘n Thread community on Patreon, you’ve already received these instructions in the PDF that was posted last week. The next PDF will cover all the construction instructions, but at this point, you have already received all these instructions.
June 20, 2022
When we first started chatting about the altar cover that we’re working on here in the Studio, I mentioned the whole issue of selecting the right materials and so forth for the project.
I think one of the greatest difficulties is making a decision when there are too many choices!
Especially if you need to keep things relatively simple in order to finish a project more efficiently, I think it might be best to have fewer choices.
June 17, 2022
If you’re looking for a relaxing dive into needlework history this weekend, here’s something for you!
Do you ever delve into exploring something, knowing that you’re going a bit too far in – getting kind of geeky about it?
Well, I do that with old embroidery books (as you have probably figured out by now). I doubt I can count the number of downloaded PDFs of historical embroidery books I have on my computer. I try not to download them and just forget them. I usually transfer one at a time to Dropbox, so I can access it from anywhere while on my phone or tablet. This way, when I have the opportunity, I can explore the book in depth.
Lately, I’ve been perusing a book on the history of embroidery and lace.
June 15, 2022
Ok! It’s time to finish up the outside sampler cover for Cotton Quartet! We’re going to finish the outside today, and then the next steps will be the inside embroidery, followed by construction and then finishing the outer edge.
So we’re not too far away from the finish. The finishing requires a bit more instruction than the rest of the project, though, so I’ll try to break it down into really manageable, easy-to-follow steps.
If you’re just joining in on this stitch-along project on Needle ‘n Thread, you can find all the previous installments (with instructions, tips, & techniques) available here in the Cotton Quartet project index.
For members of the Needle ‘n Thread Community over on Patreon, I’m going to be combining this lesson with setting up and embroidering the accent on the inside lining of the tool wallet, as well as other pre-finishing tips. I will have that PDF up for you before the weekend.
