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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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    Over 75 Embroidery Stitch Videos to Help You Learn

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March 10, 2021

Striped Shell, Stitching a Starfish & Getting Crusty

 

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Last time we visited my M monogram from A Sea to Stitch, I was contemplating the tulip shell – that conch type shell in the center of the M. I wanted to make it striped, remember?

And it ended up a bit wonky some five times, and I had to keep picking it out.

I finally quit picking it out, determined just to consider it an anomaly: a wonky seashell.

I call it an anomaly, because most seashells are pretty nigh-on perfect. They don’t all look the same, but within their own little construct, they usually reflect a marvelous perfection of coloring, pattern, shape, and structure. Golly, I love seashells! I could contemplate them all day and never grow bored.

Maybe not this one, admittedly… though I’m not unhappy with it. I can see clearly what the problem is, but I’ve moved on to my overzealous crusty starfish, and I’m not going back. No siree, Bob.

Embroidered monogram M with seashells
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March 8, 2021

How to Stitch Strawberries, Part I: Design & Materials

 

Today, we venture into a new little project: embroidered strawberries!

In this series of tutorials, we will journey through embroidering a stylized, simplified bunch of five strawberries. Each strawberry is embroidered in a different technique, so that you can experience several ways to stitch your own scrumptious berries.

The series is suitable for beginners and beyond. I’ve tried to keep everything, from the design to the techniques, accessible to all levels of stitchers. You should know how to transfer a design and set up your project for stitching.

Today, we’ll talk about materials and I’ll give you the design! Let’s go!

How to Embroider Strawberries: Free Design & Tutorials
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March 5, 2021

Natural Linen Fabric Sampler Pack

 

Do you ever ponder the question of what fabric to use for your hand embroidery projects? Do you ever wish you could try out fabrics that you’ve heard of or seen, so that you can learn what you like and don’t like to stitch on?

In embroidery, we often think about embroidery thread more than we think about fabric, but believe it or not, the choice of ground fabric is as important as the choice of thread!

The right ground fabric makes a huge difference – sometimes, the key difference – between a-raging-success-of-a-project or a-ho-hum-it’s-ok-ish sort of project.

In the interest of giving folks the opportunity to try out different ground fabrics so that they can make informed choices, I’ve decided to put together sampler packs of various linens that I like, that make beautiful ground fabrics for hand embroidery.

natural linen sampler pack
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March 3, 2021

Ready to Stitch Some Strawberries? Introduction

 

Last month, we explored together a collection of tutorials on how to embroidery wheat five different ways.

This month, we’re going to embark on another little stitching expedition together, focusing on how to stitch strawberries. And yes, five ways! For some reason, five was the Magic Number. (I think the next collection will feature six ways to embroider a Certain Something…)

The purpose of these little vignettes are two-fold: to help generate ideas for your own stitching, and to give you confidence in making choices when you stitch. Sometimes, it’s useful to see that things can be embroidered in more than one way.

At the same time, they provide nice little embroidery projects that are kinda pretty (ok, I might be biased) and that are relatively quick.

Before we launch into the strawberries formally next week, I want to cover some background information and some queries that came up during the wheat adventure.

How to Embroider Strawberries - Introduction
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March 1, 2021

Sampling Along on Stitch Fun 2021

 

Just a little Stitch Fun 2021 sampler update this morning, to kick off the week and the month of March!

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been fiddling with a new camera – certainly no great, complicated thing. I just use a point and shoot for most of my blog photos. And often, I just use my phone.

But I need a regular camera for certain situations. And for the most part, it has to be a small, quick camera. If I have to tussle with a monster camera every time I needed to take a photo, I’d get nothing done.

My favorite all-time camera over these blogging years has been my trusty-rusty Canon G12. But I think I’ve practically used it to death. It’s starting to limp. So I invested in a new point and shoot – one of the latest in that line of Canon cameras – and galldernit, it has a learning curve. I think it’s going to be a great camera, as soon as the Interface to the Chair (that would be me) can figure out its nuances.

That’s my excuse, if you’re not keen on the images posted today!! I’m working on it!

Stitch Fun 2021 embroidery sampler
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Hand Embroidery Books

February 24, 2021

Piled High & Deep: Stitch Dictionaries on my Table

 

I’m a huge advocate of SDO – Stitch Dictionary Ownership.

You don’t have to own a gazillion stitch dictionaries. But I do think that every person who goes beyond the initial dabble into embroidery to pursue it as a developing interest should invest in at least one good stitch dictionary.

I won’t go so far as to say in at least two stitch dictionaries, since we have such easy access to the internet and a million online tutorials. But it’s always good to have one, as well as one or more other sources (including online) for cross referencing.

Right now, I have stitch dictionaries piled high and deep on my work table. You’ll find out why later!

Stitch Dictionaries for Hand Embroidery
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