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
February 7, 2025
On Monday, I promised I’d show you the beginnings of a developing embroidery project.
I love everything about this particular project so far – the Art Nouveau design, the ground fabric, the color choices, and yes, the metal threads that will accent the piece.
February 5, 2025
For all my buddies out there who are into historical needlework, this is a heck of a treat.
Choice and Precious Work: Treasures from the Schoolroom, 1650-1770, The Needle and Beyond has been my reading companion lately, and I have to say, there are few catalogues of art that have compelled me to keep reading like this one has.
Sometimes, art catalogues hit me as a bit yawny – especially if they tend to be slightly too esoteric, slightly too highfalutin-scholarly to be interesting.
It’s not that I have a problem with scholarliness – I served my time in the world of higher academia – but in general, I’m not a fan of grandiloquent scholarly writing and I like it even less when it’s coming from the broader world of art. Too often, it reminds me of those caricatured pretentious wine tastings that make you want to cry, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but let’s just get down to the tasting, shall we?”
Get me to the meat of the matter!
This catalogue, though, is different. Blessedly different…
February 3, 2025
A couple weeks ago, I wrote you a note about color options and making color choices for embroidery projects.
We’re still doing that.
The design for the project in question needed some work, so between playing with the design and juggling colors, we’re getting a little closer to execution.
January 31, 2025
Today, we’re going to enjoy a bit of Stitch Fun – musing about a stitch, wondering about its name, and showing you how it’s worked.
Stitch Fun! is this series of stitching tutorials here on Needle ‘n Thread. In the series, we explore different embroidery stitches mostly as combinations or composites, used in different ways and offering a wide range of possibilities for further exploration.
I started the Stitch Fun! series back in 2012, and the list of tutorials is fairly decent. Not exhaustive by any means, but a good list to explore interesting stitches, combinations, composites, and techniques.
The whole point of the series has always been to have fun exploring stitches.
Today’s stitch exploration doesn’t really have a proper name that I can find. It’s a combination of two layers of herringbone, one of which is laced into the other. So maybe we could call it layered herringbone or something to that effect.
January 29, 2025
If you’re an inveterate arts & crafts sort of person, then perhaps you have a Bucket List of projects that you dream about getting to some day.
I do.
I have a Project Bucket List. They’re not all embroidery projects, but a whole lot of ’em are!
But see, my Project Bucket List has one Mighty Big Flaw.
And this is the flaw:
There is no one bucket large enough to contain my list.
And so I often wonder if I will actually ever achieve anything on that list. Knowing myself, my life, and my circumstances, I often tell myself rather practically that it isn’t likely I’ll get to one of them, let alone all of my BLPs (which I pronounce “Blips”) – Bucket List Projects.
What kind of attitude is that? I argue with myself. As my Mom used to say, “Say you can, say you can’t – either way, you’re right.” In other words, it’s really up to me.
I’m here today to tell you that right now, at the end of January in 2025, I have taken One Step towards One BLP.
January 27, 2025
Do you ever use stretcher bar frames for your embroidery projects?
I do. I use them especially for small-to-medium sized projects that will take longer to work, but not as long as projects that I’d set up in a slate frame – which are usually pretty extensive projects.
I like stretcher bars because they’re quick to set up compared to a slate frame, they provide excellent tension if they’re set up correctly, and, if you’re using certain stretcher bars, they’re adjustable.
When I use stretcher bar frames, I always use Evertite Stretcher Bars, and since I’ve received a repeated question about stretcher bars and about Evertite Stretcher Bars in particular, I thought I’d answer that question here.
January 23, 2025
Remember last week when I asked you to let me know your questions, challenges, hurdles, mountains, molehills, difficulties, and what-have-yous that might cause you frustration when you embroider?
I received a lot of emails about the backside of embroidery. It kind of made me sad, because it tells me that people are adding undue stress to their creative projects that are supposed to be stress relievers.
So today, I’m going on record to say this, once and for all:
STOP.
Please stop stressing about the Back of your Embroidery.
Now, I’m not saying “Don’t ever think about the back of your embroidery.”
Rather, I’m saying “Don’t worry so much about the back of your embroidery that it becomes a crippling, stressful factor for you.”
Pull up a chair, pour yourself a nice cup of something warm and soothing, and let’s have a good old-fashioned natter about this topic. Hopefully, we can put to rest some misconceptions and give you some general guidance to relieve your anxieties over the back of your embroidery.
