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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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  • How-To
    Videos

    Over 75 Embroidery Stitch Videos to Help You Learn

  • Embroidery Tips & Techniques

    A Collection of Instructional Articles

 
Hand Embroidery Books

March 11, 2022

Pet Portrait Embroidery – a Fabulous Book!

 

Amazon Books

When it comes to embroidery books, there’s nothing better than a systematic, logically-presented instructional book on a niche subject.

If you want to get into the nitty-gritty of a particular type or style of embroidery, or a particular subject for embroidery, you’re really lucky when you can find a book on specifically what you want to stitch.

Pet Portrait Embroidery by Michelle Staub is just such a book. It’s a niche subject matter – not embroidery in general, but specifically the embroidery of dogs and cats. It is a meticulous instructional book laid out in a logical and systematic way. It’s a fabulous book for those who have ever wanted to capture their pets in needle and thread – or anyone who wants to learn to stitch realistic animals.

I thought I’d show to book to you up close. It’s hard not to love it, if you love animals!

Pet Portrait Embroidery by Michelle Staub
Continue reading “Pet Portrait Embroidery – a Fabulous Book!”

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March 9, 2022

The Forest & the Trees: Lessons from Whitework

 

Recently, I had a conversation about embroidery with a friend who was obsessing about stitch length and stitch spacing.

She found herself using a ruler to measure the exact length of her stitches, marking 1/8″ on her fabric along her design line so that she achieved Mega-Precise stitch length and spacing.

She was frustrated on two accounts: it was taking her a long to stitch and she felt like she wasn’t getting the hang of stitch length and spacing like she thought she would if she meticulously marked out her stitch lengths.

So we had a long discussion about things we sometimes obsess about – in needlework and other things – and why it’s important to step back.

The whitework altar cloth that I’ve been showing you lately is a really good example of what we were talking about. It illustrates well why it’s important to step back from your embroidery now and then.

Cutwork embroidery on linen: altar cloth
Continue reading “The Forest & the Trees: Lessons from Whitework”

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March 7, 2022

Bee-Jeweled Pincushion: Adding the Beads!

 

It’s time to bling up the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion with a sumptuous line of beaded flowers along the pincushion’s sides!

This is, to me, the really fun part of this project, but it takes a little time. There’s also a method and order to it that you want to follow, especially if you are relying on the materials kit for the pincushion.

If you’re just joining in here on Needle ‘n Thread, the project that we’re working on is called the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion. You can find all the previous articles on this project listed in this Bee-Jeweled Pincushion Index, so that you can stitch your own pincushion, too. The pincushion is the first in the Stitch Snippets, 2022 series of step-by-step embroidery projects that you’ll find developing here on Needle ‘n Thread throughout this year.

If you happen to be a member over on my Patreon page, you’ve already seen this lesson on adding the beads. I’ll be uploading the finish work lesson over there early this week.

So let’s look at how to bead this little thing up!

Bee-Jeweled Pincushion: Bead Embroidered Flowers
Continue reading “Bee-Jeweled Pincushion: Adding the Beads!”

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March 4, 2022

Oh, the Guilty Pleasure of Stitching What You Want

 

You might find it hard to believe that there are times when I feel guilty about embroidering. Weird, huh? Especially considering I do it for a living!

There is a certain guilty pleasure in stitching what you want to stitch, when you know you should be stitching what you need to stitch, when you stitch for a living.

Do you remember, growing up, your parents explaining to you the difference between a want and a need? I’ve always tried to keep the difference in mind when I prioritize things.

But sometimes… sometimes… you just have to capitulate to the guilty pleasure of want as opposed to need. And this week, even though I needed to get some other stitching accomplished, I really wanted to get this thing started.

And so I did!

White & Peri Project
Continue reading “Oh, the Guilty Pleasure of Stitching What You Want”

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March 2, 2022

The Well-Laced Slate Frame Wins

 

After we chatted last week about slate frames, tensioners, and the like, I thought I’d revisit the topic today after making adjustments and playing around further with slate frames all week.

Just like Bach and his well-tempered claviers (which I happen to be listening to as we speak), I say you can’t go wrong with a well-laced slate frame.

And that point is pretty much the upshot of this week’s toying about. But! There’s more to it than just that.

For those of you exploring framing options, slate frames and their tension is a topic worth pursuing a little more, think. There were some questions that rolled in last week – and some ongoing discussion back and forth with some readers on the topic of frame tension – so I thought I’d bring up the questions and some of the points that were discussed.

lacing a slate frame for embroidery
Continue reading “The Well-Laced Slate Frame Wins”

Hand Embroidery Tutorials

February 28, 2022

Bee-Jeweled Pincushion: Supply Information

 

At long last, I’ve lassoed the supply list for the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion project and, after a bit of a struggle, fought it to the ground.

Below, you’ll find the supplies I used on the sample version of the pincushion and on the various in-progress sections that you’ve seen along the way. I’ll include substitutions that I had to track down for some parts, and a few suggestions for other possibilities.

I do have more supply kits coming out, and I’ll try to keep at least some stocked on the website after the initial demand is met. At this point, much depends on supply availability.

Bee-Jeweled Pincushion Supply Information
Continue reading “Bee-Jeweled Pincushion: Supply Information”