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Hand Embroidery: Lettering & Text 9: Combo Herringbone and Split Stitch

2009-11-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

One thing I've found as I've progressed on this hand embroidered lettering sampler is that, while there are lots and lots of hand embroidery stitches out there, not all of them are wholly suited to lettering. Since lettering demands clarity (after all, you want your reader to be able to read it!), it's important to select stitches that will produce clear text.

In this tutorial, I'm combining herringbone stitch (for the thick part of the initial letter) with split stitch for the rest of the lettering. For thread, I'm using Stef Francis silk, which is a first for me. I've got quite a few skeins of Stef Francis silk, but to tell you the truth, I've never used it until now. I wanted a rich purply color, and I wanted a thread with a bit more texture, so this thread suited my needs.

The thread is variegated, and, although it's silk, it has a bit of fuzziness to it, kind of like a soft wool. I like it a lot!

Between the two parallel lines that form the backbone of the L on "Lazy" I'm working a closed herringbone stitch. Basically, this is just herringbone stitch worked close together, so there isn't any space (or at least, not much!) between the stitches. So, first you go down in your fabric - a bit away from your last stitch in order to give you room to come up right next to your last stitch.

When you come up, you come up right next to your last stitch, to close the gap you left when you took your needle down into the fabric. To understand this clearly, it helps to know the movement of the herringbone stitch - if you're unfamiliar with it, check out my herringbone stitch video tutorial, which may be somewhat helpful.

When you cross over to the other side of your stitching area (to the opposite parallel line), you'll take your needle down into the fabric a little bit away from your last stitch. You can see the gap in the photo above. Then you come up inside that gap and cross back over to the other side, working in this manner down between the parallel lines.

As you get to the base of the spine of the L, where things narrow up a bit, just move your lines closer and closer, filling in as best as you can, keeping your stitch movement the same. It'll fill right in to a narrow point.

You can see pretty clearly where the variegation kicks in on this thread. After I stitched it, this block of color change was rather disappointing, but I've gotten used to it now and I don't mind it too much. I'm not really keen on variegation, when it happens in such segmented blocks of color. But, still... I liked stitching with this thread!

After finishing the spine of the L, I jumped down to embroider the base line of the L, using split stitch. Since I've already covered split stitch in a previous lettering tutorial, I won't bore you with the details - I'll just show you how the letters progressed from this point!

Here's the base line of the L. A hint on this thread: After stitching a bit with the same strand, it gets fuzzy just like wool does, so it's helpful to start a fresh piece, if you want a really nice looking split stitch. I am not quite satisfied with this base line. (But no, I didn't pick it out!)

I liked the curl on the top of the L much better. It was stitched with a fresh strand of thread.

Here are the rest of the letters, all worked in split stitch, too.

And here's the sampler so far! It's growing on me, the more I work on it. I like the variety of colors and stitches, and I think it would be fun to do a much more meaningful phrase (or saying, poem, proverb, etc.) in the same mixed-up manner - it'd make a great little gift for someone, to stitch up something like this, but with something a bit more profound, personal, or pertinent.

If you're just joining in on these lessons on embroidered writing, I've posted all the previous lessons in under the Hand Embroidered Lettering Index. You're welcome to check them out!

Next up in this series is a really bright and crazy word - with combined stitches and a few added touches to liven the word up a bit.

If you have any suggestions, comments, questions, and the like, don't hesitate to leave a comment below!

Enjoy the weekend!

Hand Embroidered Needlebook Kit Underway

2009-11-19T04:53:00.001-06:00

Well, after my post the other day about my "mad" purchase of a rather pricey needlebook kit, I felt pretty good after reading all your comments! Nothing like getting a group of people together with the same interests in order to justify the occasional splurge, I say! Thanks for the shot in the arm! I'm pretty excited about the little needlebook, now that the project is underway. Don't expect to be amazed - I've only made a tiny bit of progress - but I thought I'd share it with you and make a few comments about the experience so far.

Before beginning any embroidery kit, it's helpful - I'd almost say "essential" - to read through the directions before jumping in. So that's the first thing I did. It wouldn't do to start stitching along, only to run into a problem that could have been avoided by reading ahead.

The next step is generally set-up work. It took me a couple days to get the set-up done, due to numerous interruptions and a general lack of embroidery time.

Remember that the kit is designed for counted techniques, so it makes sense to grid things off so that the placement is correct. You may also remember my determination to go Surface Embroidery on this kit... and I am sticking with that plan! Still, the lines are necessary to mark off the edge, and to mark off the various areas for adornment on the needlebook. These are just basting lines, and they will be pulled out while I stitch.

This is the monogram I'm stitching. It's from an old Sajou pamphlet (I think?). I had scanned it into my computer and cleaned it up a while ago, with plans. So I shrunk it to fit the needlebook, and altered the flowers (which were daisies) to round circles, which will be bullion roses.

It's kind of hard to see. I traced the monogram on using a .005 (super-duper fine) micron pen and a very light touch. I used a light box to make the tracing possible, and even then, on this fabric (which is slightly darker than a flax or natural colored linen), it was still difficult to trace. Still, it's on there, and that's all that matters.

When the fabric's held at a slant, it's easier to see the marking.

I intend to do the decorative bands that run down the sides of the needlebook covers in hand, without a hoop, but since I'm stitching the monogram in satin stitch, I definitely wanted to use a hoop. I find I get better results with satin stitch when the fabric is taut.

And here's the first bout of stitching. I was surprised at the color. I decided to keep the color scheme for the original design, but I didn't realize just how grey this is. It's really grey!

It's a difficult color to stitch on this color of fabric, when working tiny split stitches around the outline of the monogram. I had a difficult time seeing where I was going!

The color at first did not seem too attractive, and I was worried that I would not be very happy with it. But I decided to stick with it, anyway, and I found it grew on me. It really does match the reproduction fabric that lines the needlebook perfectly, so it's a good choice of color.

This is the padding for the satin stitched monogram. I worked a small, single-thread split stitch around the area, and then filled in with longer stitches.

Starting in the middle of the area to set my stitch direction, I stitched to the top part of this area in satin stitch, over the padding and the outline.

Now, this isn't as easy as it could be, and that's because this fabric, which is well-suited to counted work, is not so well-suited to surface embroidery. There's too much space between the weave, and it requires splitting the weave quite often, in order to get the stitches to lie comfortably next to each other.

This is the finished section, satin stitched. I've managed to pad the top section and I've started outlining the middle area of the letter, but this is as far as I've gotten.

I think I'll be pleased with the result, but we'll have to see. The whole monogram - due to the outlining and padding under the satin stitches - is going to be a bit thicker than I first imagined, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. We'll see how it works out!

I'll definitely keep you posted!

And once again, thanks heaps for your input on the kit purchase. I knew you'd make me feel better about it!

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Fan Flowers C

2009-11-18T05:00:00.002-06:00

Here's another monogram for hand embroidery, the C in the latest series of free hand embroidery patterns here on Needle 'n Thread...

If you're looking for stitching suggestions for this series of monograms, please check out the Letter A, where I've mentioned a few ideas for stitches. Also, if you have any ideas or input for stitching these letters, feel free to leave a comment!

Here's the small C:

And here's the large C:

And, if you'd like to save a PDF version of the small and large C, here 'tis:

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Fan Flowers C (PDF)

Enjoy!

Hand Embroidery: Lettering & Text 8: Split Stitch

2009-11-17T04:46:00.000-06:00

Split stitch is a perfect stitch for hand embroidering lettering and text. In this tutorial, we'll talk a little bit about threads and take a look at using the split stitch to embroider words. We'll also look at stitching an isolated French knot.

If you're just joining in on these hand embroidery tutorials for writing with your needle and thread, you might want to take a look at the index of lessons so far in this series. In previous lessons, I've covered subjects such as starting and ending threads, traveling threads on the back of your work so that they are invisible from the front, and combining stitches.

Before venturing into this tutorial, you also might want to check out my split stitch video tutorial, especially if you're not quite sure of how to do the split stitch.

In this tutorial, I'm embroidering the word "jumped" using the split stitch. I'm using cotton floche in a coral color. (I love this color, by the way!)

Floche is a four-ply cotton thread with a very nice shine. It is relatively softly twisted, and it is one single strand - it is not normally strandable. That is, you don't normally separate floche into smaller strands to stitch with.

I chose floche because it's a beautiful thread for split stitch. I prefer working split stitch in a single-strand thread, rather than working it with two strands of cotton or silk. Why is that? Because I think you achieve a better looking split stitch with a single strand of thread. Using two strands of floss, the split falls between the two strands and separates them so much that you don't get the close "hugging" of the fibers around the working thread. This close "hugging" makes a solid-looking split stitch.

If you don't have floche, try a perle cotton #8, or, if that's not available, a #5 will also do, but it will be slightly thicker.

When working the split stitch, the key to getting a nice looking stitch is to split the thread in the middle. With floche, the thread is thick enough that it's pretty easy to see. It is more difficult to find the middle of a single strand of DMC cotton floss, because it is much finer than floche. Because of this, it's hard to split the thread right in the middle. With floche, the middle split is not so difficult.

To split the thread easily, make sure that your straight stitches (before splitting them) are pulled firmly so that they hug against the fabric. If they are loose and bulging up from the fabric, it's harder to split them in the middle.

So in the photos above, you can see that I began at the top of the J using the same method of starting my thread discussed in earlier tutorials. Then I just worked the split stitch straight down the letter. As the tail curved, I didn't really have to turn my work, because the split stitch doesn't depend on stitch direction. But if it's easier for you to turn you work, then by all means, turn it!

To end the thread, turn the work over and whip the backstitches that were formed on the back of the fabric, anchoring the thread under these stitches.

I'm going to use a French knot to dot the J. To dot the J (it's lower case), begin in the same manner as discussed in the article on dotting I's. Stitch three anchoring threads very close together, over only one thread of fabric, stitching each stitch into the stitch before. This will require you to stitch perpendicular stitches. I didn't do that in the photo above - but it will work better if you do it that way!

Now all you have to do is work your French knot over your anchoring stitches, making sure that the knot is fat enough to cover the anchoring stitches. I used three wraps on my needle for this knot.

Turn your fabric over and hitch your working thread under the stitches behind the knot. Then cut your thread.

The U is split stitched just like the J.

In working the M, when you come to the point where the direction changes, end your split stitch line and then begin the next split stitch line.

Instead of taking a straight stitch forward, notice that I brought my needle up a stitch length away from where I wanted my line to start, and took a stitch length backwards. Then continue split stitching as normal.

Keep your stitches relatively small when working around tight curves. This is the M, finished.

Here you have the P and the E finished. Pick a starting point on each letter that makes sense, so that you can follow the flow of the letter easily. With the P, I started at the base and worked up. With the E, I started in the middle of the letter, worked around the loop and down the tail.

With the D, I started at the top of the tail and worked down around the loop.

And here's the sampler so far! I still need to add an "S" or two to the text! This word is supposed to be "jumps" rather than "jumped." That's what I get for relying on my foggy memories of junior high typing class!

If you're practicing on text yourself and have a blog, feel free to leave a link so we can check out your progress. You're also welcome to post photos in my Needle 'n Thread group on Flickr, if you like. If you do post any, drop back by and let me know, so I can check them out!

Enjoy the tutorial! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below!

Needlebook Embroidery Kit Unboxed

2009-11-16T04:44:00.003-06:00

There are some hand embroidery kits available on the market today that I like because I like the project itself - and then there are some kits I like because I like the materials. And there are some kits I like because I like the project and the materials - and this is one of the latter. The project enticed me because it is a needlebook. The materials enticed me because of the threads...

I've made several embroidered needlebooks in my life, but I've never been satisfied with my less-than-professional finish. This particular kit, I surmised, would be worth the investment, because I was certain I would learn to make a nice, finished needlebook. That was the first thing that caught my eye about the kit - the look of the needlebook. Once I read the description of the kit, I knew it would be almost a perfect match for me: the threads are Au Ver a Soie's Soie d'Alger, a thread a really love working with!

The name of the kit is "Nicole," and it is a limited edition needlebook kit distributed by Access Commodities. I bought the kit through The Mad Samplar, justifying it for all the reasons above, plus the fact that I could make the needlebook up as a nice gift for Christmas.

The cover of the box doesn't quite display the finished needlebook to its advantage - you can see the finished needlebook on The Mad Samplar website, in their new needlework shop. The description on the website reads:

"This is the second in a series of French Needle Maid Needle Books. The design was inspired by the 18th Century French Reproduction fabric procured for the lining of the needlebook. In 'reverse' fashion, the line and embroidery color choices were based on the fabric..."

I liked the fact that, when I opened the box, everything was wrapped in matching tissue paper. Right off, I figured this was a rather classy kit. And you might be thinking that, for the price tag, it should be classy! I agree... but wait. Look what's in the kit, and then let's talk price again.

So far, so good - instructions abound! There are two sets of instruction for the needlebook: one is a general little booklet that covers the question of constructing the book once it is embroidered; the other focuses on this particular needlebook, and contains specific counts and patterns for the book.

Everything is printed nicely - and this little booklet will be a gem to keep for any future needlebook projects.

The instructions are accompanied by diagrams and are very clear. After reading through both sets of instructions, I did not have any questions about what to do to create the needlebook.

For fabric, the kit contains a piece of 34 ct Wren Wing linen, a piece of cotton lining (the French Reproduction fabric mentioned above), and two pre-cut squares of heavy interfacing.

Included are seven full 5-meter skeins of Soie d'Alger. There's no way the embroidery will require this much thread - it's a generous amount, and a real sell point for me.

There's a full spool of Londonberry Linen thread in black, and a full spool of Soie 100/3 from Au Ver a Soie, in black as well. Also included are two lengths of silk ribbon (pink and black) for finish work, buttons, needle felt, and three needles.

Now, let's get back to the price tag. I surfed around online to get some prices, and added up the retail cost of just these threads. Depending on where you buy them, the threads alone will cost a minimum of $31.45. That's more than half the cost of the kit right there. I'd estimate that the supplies in the kit, retail, would cost me a minimum of $40. Between the designer, the middle-people (the store that sells it and the distributor) there's a balance of $18.50 to be split.

I think that's a pretty good deal, then, for the kit, even if the first look at the price tag made me gasp a bit.

This isn't the type of purchase I would make every day (hahahah - or every month... or probably more than even once a year!) But given my excuses above (yes, yes, I suppose they are excuses!), I'm glad I bought the kit, and I'm looking forward to working it.

One thing I wasn't aware of was that the monogram alphabet does not come with the kit. It is an old Sajou alphabet, and it can be found in a number of places online, I think. I haven't looked for it yet, but it looks familiar. I may even have it in a book somewhere, myself. But, this didn't really both me much, 'cuz guess what??

Oh, I forgot to mention... I'm not stitching this design! ???? What??? I paid that much for a kit, and I'm not even stitching the design that goes with it???!!! That's right - I'm going Surface on this one instead of counted, using my own monogram. I'm going to keep the general look of it, with the stripes down the side, and the little bunch of flowers on the back - but I'm going to work everything in surface stitches. I think the roses are begging for bullions, as are the little buds in the fancy stripes. And the monogram? Well, I haven't decided on stitches for it yet. I'll let you know when I get there! Of course, I'm keeping the color scheme. The colors all work together so well - I would be daft to change them!

So here's another little work in progress. I've started setting up the fabric and basting in the areas for stitching... I'll show you as I go along!

Ok - tell me something! Was it silly of me to pay the price for this kit? What do YOU look for in a kit? Am I NUTS?! (Ok, maybe you shouldn't answer that one!)

Enjoy your Monday!

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Fan Flowers B

2009-11-14T10:13:00.003-06:00

Here's the B monogram for hand embroidery, in my newest series of monograms...

You can find stitching suggestions for this particular monogram on the first post in the series, featuring the A. Make sure you read the comments - some readers have made suggestions that are worthwhile!

You can save and print the images, and if you need to enlarge or reduce them, this can be done on a photocopier or in an editing program on your computer.

Here's the small B:

Here's the large B:

For more monograms in this alphabet and others, please visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

Enjoy!

Colbert Embroidery: Combining Surface and Counted Techniques

2009-11-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

Colbert embroidery is an embroidery technique that combines surface embroidery stitches and counted work in one piece of needlework. It apparently developed in the 19th century, to mimic the embroidered laces (such as Dresden lace) of the century before. It is not so fine as Dresden lace, though - in fact, Colbert embroidery tends to look rather bold and coarse next to the delicate whitework of Dresden lace. And, to boot, Colbert embroidery is usually worked in color.

Colbert embroidery reminds me a lot of the free-form blackwork of the 17th century. Like blackwork from this early era (and unlike most blackwork today), Colbert embroidery is typified by bold lines that make up the predominant design of the piece, while the backgrounds are filled with geometric filling patterns.

Colbert embroidery is not too well-known today - look it up online, and you'll find only a few resources available, some of which have simplified the look of the technique quite a bit. In fact, in its heyday, the technique was quite elaborate and intricate, as can be seen from the samples that are featured in Therese Dillmont's Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework.

The photos in Dillmont's book are black and white, of course, but you can see clearly that Colbert embroidery was a rather "busy" technique. The flowing lines and shapes of flowers, leaves, and so forth were formed by surface stitches or couched braid. Then, within the shapes and over the background fabric, various counted fillings were worked. The technique was used to decorate pillows, mats, and so forth.

The structured, counted filling patterns contrast quite vividly with the flowing lines and curves of the designs. According to Dillmont, Colbert embroidery involves "large designs worked on coarse, transparent material with various filling stitches and braid outlines... The foundation is soft (washed) congress canvas..." and the threads used were actually quite a variety, from cording to stranded and pearl cotton to silk.

Today, Colbert embroidery still exists, and there are even books about the technique, though they aren't very common. Through The Mad Samplar, I picked up one book on the technique at the online needlework retail show that ran last week.

You can see from the cover of the book that the technique has been somewhat simplified. It's quite bold and grand, isn't it?

However, though somewhat simplified compared to the samples in Dillmont, it still reflects the combination of surface stitches in bold designs and geometric background fillings. In the book above, Broderies Colbert, the actual design area is left voided, which makes it somewhat similar to Assisi work.

The voiding of the bold designs is effective, I think. It creates such a stark contrast with the background.

While the book does not go into stitch directions (at all), it does give close up images of different background techniques, which would be a cinch to imitate. The text is in French, dedicated pretty much just to materials lists for the various projects featured in the book - so knowledge of the language isn't entirely necessary, as most of the supplies are pretty straightforward.

In the back of the book are small line patterns that are suitable for enlargement.

When I saw this technique and started reading a bit about it, I made an immediate connection between it and the book Wessex Stitchery, which I've already reviewed.

Wessex Stitchery focuses on a variety of filling techniques - some, admittedly, are probably too busy for Colbert embroidery. But others would serve the technique well, I think.

The photo above is from Wessex Stitchery - and the filling pattern featured there would work for Colbert embroidery, too, I think. The idea of combining Colbert embroidery with Wessex stitchery presents some interesting possibilities.

Colbert embroidery is worked today on Congress cloth, Jobelan or Etamin fabrics - all of which are cotton or blends and resemble canvas more than they resemble fabric. And this means that, in the areas that aren't stitched, you can see through to whatever is behind the fabric.

I am wondering how the technique would work on linen; perhaps the weave would have to be looser to accommodate some of the thicker background motifs. I'm also wondering how the technique would work for, say, a monogram, if the monogram were voided (that is, empty of stitching), but outlined with a surface stitch, and then the background were filled with some of the intricate fillings in the Wessex Stitchery book. A good pillow for a gift? A Christmas stocking? Oh, the possibilities...

And isn't this just the Greatest Thing about embroidery? When it comes to designing or to combining techniques, we really are only limited by our imaginations!

Have you ever tried Colbert embroidery? Do you know of any additional, thorough resources on the technique that you'd like to share with the rest of us? Does this technique appeal to you at all - or do you see any possibilities for combinations or for projects? What are YOUR thoughts?

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings! Have a terrific weekend!

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Fan Flowers A

2009-11-12T05:51:00.001-06:00

Here's a new series of monograms for hand embroidery. I'll be posting the sporadically, as time allows for cleaning them up. This is a pretty monogram, and a little bit formal. I like the fan flowers, personally!

You can hand embroidery monograms in countless ways. With this particular collection, I think the small cross bars are well-suited to satin stitch, though they could be outlined and filled with seed stitch. The letter itself would look nice outlined in any type of stitch suitable for lines and curves (like stem stitch, split stitch, chain stitch, outline stitch, backstitch, whipped backstitch, etc.), and they don't have to be filled at all. But if you like contrasts, and if you satin stitch the small cross bars, then the letters might look nice with seed stitch filling.

The fan flowers themselves? Well, it depends on the look you want. If you're going for something formal, I'd satin stitch them. If, however, you want something a wee bit less time consuming, daisy stitch would work. If you use daisy stitch, I'd not necessarily draw out the entire petal on the fabric when transferring the design - I'd just but a dot where the petal ends and begins. Daisy stitch will change the look of the petals - they won't look as pointy and palm-like.

I'm providing a small version and a large version, in .gif format here. You can also download the PDF and print it. The monograms should come out to 3.5" tall and 6.5" tall in the PDF. You can also enlarge or shrink the design as you wish.

Here's the larger version:

And finally, here's the PDF:

Monogram for Hand Embroidery: Fan Flower Alphabet - A

For different monogram alphabets, please don't hesitate to visit my Index of Monograms for Hand Embroidery.

If you have any ideas for interpreting this monogram alphabet in stitches, please do leave a comment below with your suggestions! How would YOU stitch this monogram, and what would you put it on? Your comments will certainly help inspire other readers looking for stitching ideas! Thanks!

Enjoy!

Hand Embroidery: Lettering & Text 7 in Satin Stitch and Chain Stitch

2009-11-11T08:51:00.004-06:00

Moving on to the next word in the hand embroidered lettering series, today's tutorial concentrates on a satin stitched initial letter, with the rest of the word worked in chain stitch. After all, who says the whole word has to be embroidered with the same stitches?!

I'll be working with wool thread in this tutorial, embroidering the word "Fox." If you're a beginner at hand embroidery, you may wish to check out two videos: padded satin stitch and chain stitch. If you're just joining in on these tutorials, I've got an up-to-date index of all the hand embroidered lettering tutorials, if you want to check out some of the previous concepts covered.

For this tutorial, I'm using Simply Wool from Gentle Art, Inc. This is a fine wool embroidery thread, and I really liked working with it. It's a beautiful color of red, first of all, and secondly, the wool itself is slightly finer and softer than Appleton, while still retaining the typical look and feel of wool thread. If they had a broader color range (they only offer about 36 colors right now) and if it weren't quite so expensive, it would be my wool of choice. Compared to Appleton, though, it's really expensive - between $3-$3.50, depending on where you buy it, for 10 yards. (Appleton's about $1.30 for 27 yards, and they offer 421 shades right now).

The spine of the F in Fox is thick, and I'm going to satin stitch it first. I could satin stitch it without padding it, but for this letter, I want it to lift up off the fabric a bit, so that it is definitely bolder than the rest of the letters in the word. So, I'm padding the satin stitch along the spine of the F. To begin, split stitch along both parallel lines.

I stitched down the left line of the spine and up the right. Now, I'm going to add the padding between the two lines. I jumped over the left of the right split stitch line, and now I'm just going to fill that area between the two will very long split stitches - so, only about 3 or 4 split stitches straight down in lines.

You can see I ended up with 3 filling lines between the two outside lines, and again, those inside filling lines are made up of a few long split stitches. That's the padding - now it's time to start the satin stitching.

I'm working the satin stitch horizontal over the padded bar. On a shape like this, you can also stitch your satin stitch on a diagonal, but I used the horizontal on purpose. When you begin the satin stitch, don't begin right on the edge of the bar. Begin around half-way up the bar, and then stitch to one end. Then go back to your starting point and stitch to the other end.

The arrows in both pictures above demonstrate this idea of starting in the middle and working to each end.

For the small bar on the F, I worked two long straight stitches side by side over the drawn line. They were obviously thicker than the drawn line, but that's ok. I'm going to satin stitch over these straight stitches, in a manner similar to what is called "trailing." Trailing is basically an overcast stitch (like a small satin stitch) worked over a long thread or group of threads used for padding. With this little bar on the F, I stitched one straight stitch out from the spine of the F to the end of the little bar, then went back to the spine and stitched another straight stitch right next to the first. Then, starting at the end of the bar - not next to the spine - I worked the overcast stitch over the bar. An overcast stitch is technically the same concept as a satin stitch, but, again, much smaller. I think it's called overcast, because it is just going "over and over." In some old books, you see it called "over and over stitch."

There's the small bar.

For the longer bar at the top of the F, I did the same exact thing - worked two long straight stitches side-by-side, and then worked the overcast stitch over them, beginning from the outside edge and working towards the spine of the F.

When I finished overcasting the top bar, this is what it looked like.

But I didn't like this.

So I just added two more satin stitches at the top of the spine, to get it to look like this.

There's the completed F. It's nice and bold, and I really like the color!

For the other two letter - O and X - I'm using chain stitch. I began the thread on the O in the same manner discussed in the previous lettering tutorials, so that I started stitching the chain stitch at the top of the O.

I've arrived here back at the top of the O, where it is practically time to end the thread. I have room for one more stitch here.

And, in taking that last stitch, it slightly overlaps the first stitch. To end, anchor the last chain stitch in the middle of the first chain stitch. To end off your thread, turn your work over and run the thread under the stitches on the back of the O.

And there you have the F and the O.

I chain stitched the small bar of the X first.

Then, turning my work over, I worked the thread under the stitches already there, to the cross on the X, as indicated by the red large arrow. Then I brought my needle up to the front of the work and took some tiny "stepping" stitches over to where I wanted to begin the chain stitch on larger cross of the X. These stitches are indicated by the smaller red arrows. The purpose here is to keep my thread from traveling across the back of the work where it might be seen from the front. This keeps the back of the work nice and tidy.

Then, I chain stitched down the cross to the intersection of the X, stopped at the intersection (I didn't stitch over the other arm of the X), and then picked up the line on the other side, and continued to the tip.

And that is FOX.

And here is the sampler so far!

Enjoy!

Hand Embroidery: Lettering & Text 6: Buttonhole and Stem Stitch

2009-11-10T12:34:00.003-06:00

Today's tutorial on hand embroidered lettering focuses on combining buttonhole stitch and stem stitch, on letters that have thick and thin lines. The word I'll be embroidering on the sampler is "over."

If you're just joining in on this series of tutorials, you might want to check out the tutorial on stem stitched lettering. Additionally, it is necessary to know how to work the buttonhole stitch.

For the word "over," I'm using is DMC's Alsatian Twist (size 12). It is a super-nice thread to stitch with, very smooth and it doesn't twist up much at all when you're stitching. I really like it!

Anyway, on with the instruction!

Begin your thread with the tacking stitches I described in the first stitching lesson. You can tack these stitches in the middle of the thicker part of the letter, since they will be covered up with the buttonhole stitches.

After starting the thread, I came up with my needle and working thread at the top of the O, and turned the hoop so that the O was resting on its side and I was stitching from left to right, as in the photo above.

I buttonhole stitched the side of the O, from left to right, down to the base.

When I arrived at the base, I moved from buttonhole stitch to stem stitch (an easy transition, as the outside "rope" of the buttonhole stitch is simply stem stitch), and I stitched the narrow part of the letter O, across the base, in the direction of the arrow in the photo above, turning my hoop to accommodate my stitching direction.

Now, with the O resting on its other side, I moved back into the buttonhole stitch up the side of the O.

When I got to the top of the O, I reverted back to stem stitch to close the gap at the top of the letter.

And there's the O.

To end the thread, take the needle to the back and run it under the stitches on the back of the O.

For the next letter, V, I started as I did with the O, making the anchor stitches in the wide part of the letter.

I began with a straight stitch first, from the outside of the thickest part of the V, towards the inside, then bringing my needle back up on the outside of the letter, where the rope-like edge of the buttonhole stitch will be.

Then I began the buttonhole stitch down the side of the V, keeping my work turned so that I was stitching from left to right.

As I moved towards the base of the V, where the letter became narrow, I switched to stem stitch.

The right hand side of the V is worked solely in stem stitch.

For the E, it was easier to turn the work completely, so that the letters were upside down. I began with anchoring stitches on the top part of the E, which is a thin line. The anchoring stitches will be covered by the stem stitch.

The thin line at the top of the E is worked in stem stitch.

In the photo above, you can see where I am moving into buttonhole stitch. The last stem stitch is on the lower line, and my needle is going down on the upper line of the thick part of the letter.

I worked the buttonhole stitch down the thick part of the E...

... and at this point, where the letter narrowed again to a single line, I moved back to stem stitch.

After finishing the base of the E, I had to move up to work the center cross on the E, so the needle needs to come up there. Instead of carrying the thread straight across the back of the fabric to that point....

... I turned my work over and ran the thread under the stitches already there.

And that completes the first three letters.

For the R, begin the same way as for the V, with the anchoring stitches and then a straight stitch on the edge of the letter.

Work the buttonhole stitch down the thick spine of the R, anchoring the buttonhole stitch by stitching directly over the last stitch with a tiny anchor stitch. Then, stem stitch the rest of the thin lines on the R.

And that's OVER.

Visit the index of these hand embroidered lettering lessons for more tutorials!

Enjoy!

Free Hand Embroidery Pattern: Turkey!

2009-11-09T05:21:00.000-06:00

Here's a free hand embroidery pattern for you, in case you feel like embroidering a turkey...

In America, the turkey is the Great American Thanksgiving Icon. I like Thanksgiving weekend - don't get me wrong! - but my liking the weekend has far less to do with the turkey than it does with the fact that it is a four day weekend of family gatherings that usually incite a festive holiday mood. (And it signals only three more weeks until school holidays for Christmas!)

To tell you the truth, when it comes to Thanksgiving weekend, I could take or leave the turkey.

Still.... I do like turkeys in general, despite the connotations often associated with the name of the bird. "You turkey!" is not really a compliment, you know. "Don't let the turkeys get you down" implies that the turkey is negative, maybe even hostile or oppressive. I wonder why that is? When I see wild turkeys here in Kansas (and they abound!), they make me happy. I like to see the birds here and there, clustered on the edges of newly harvested fields. I love to have my windows open in the autumn and hear the turkeys out in the woods behind my house.

They don't go "gobble, gobble," by the way.

I think, in general, the turkey has gotten a bad rap.

And really, I'm not sure my drawing helps. If I were a turkey with these feet, I'd be pretty embarrassed.

Still, it makes an adequate little turkey embroidery pattern, which you can enlarge or reduce, depending on what you want to do with it. Reduced a bit (the PDF version, especially), I think it would look pretty stately and turkey-like, stitched in the corner of cloth napkins or a bread cloth for your Thanksgiving table.

Here's the pattern - click on it for a larger version, then save it to your computer. You can then enlarge or reduce it as you wish.

And here's the PDF version:

Hand Embroidery Pattern - Turkey (PDF)

Enjoy!

Highlights from the Needle Show Retail

2009-11-06T06:29:00.004-06:00

The Online Needle Show for retail buyers is now open - and you'll find quite a large collection of shops and designers listed, waiting for you to come browsing through. Sometimes, though, it's hard to make it through a whole long list like this, especially if we hit a few links at random and don't find anything we like. I thought I'd point out a few things that caught my eye, in case you're interested in direct links.

First off, there's the Mad Samplar Book Company and Needlework Shop. The owner, Paige, has recently expanded her site, which has focused on specialty needlework books, into a shop that now carries kits and charts, and hopefully will expand further to carry some specialty supplies (well, this is my hope, anyway!). What I want to specifically point out is that she is now carrying Luzine Happel's books, Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework and Fancy Hems! They're the first two books listed on her show page, so if you're interested in them, go look!

Another favorite at the Needle Show is Chickadee Hollow Designs. For the surface embroiderer, Chickadee Hollow offers some primitive designs, as well as some fun crazy-quilt-looking items, such as her Christmas stockings. These aren't precisely "crazy quilting" - rather, they are printed designs that give you the fun of seam embellishments and surface embroidery, without the piecework.

Another favorite of mine featured at the show is the French Needle. Featuring mostly cross stitch designs, you'll find some really pretty European ones there. You'll also find some nice French books on alphabets, and, if you visit her shop directly, you'll also find some surface embroidery kits from Europe, including reproduction kits of the Bayeux tapestry. (I've got one of these - some day, I'll find time to stitch it!)

Thistle Needleworks features Gumnut Yarns from Australia. I like these threads - they're expensive, but they're really beautiful. If you're looking for some specialty threads for a fine project, you might want to check them out.

Mani di Donna carries some neat biscornu patterns. Threads of Gold carries some beautiful reproduction samplers. And Shakespeare's Peddler (where I get my Dovo scissors) has some interesting thread packs and a very pretty Ackworth Box available.

Those are the vendors that caught my eye at the show. Granted, I haven't had a chance to browse through Every Single Link! How about you? Have you browsed through the shops yet and found anything in particular that struck your fancy?? Do tell!

Hand Embroidered Lettering and Text 5: Whipped Backstitch

2009-11-05T04:40:00.013-06:00

To hand embroider relatively small letters, I like to use whipped backstitch. The letters I'm embroidering in this tutorial are approximately half an inch high. Whipped backstitch works really well with them because it provides a fairly smooth, very precise line without much extra bulk.

If you don't know how to backstitch, feel free to check out my video tutorial for backstitch. Then you can check out the whipped backstitch video tutorial.

I'm working the word "Brown" on my lettering sampler in one strand of DMC floss. "Brown" is smaller than the other words so far on the lettering sampler - with the exception of the "B," the letters are just less than half an inch tall.

I should be using a #10 embroidery (or crewel) needle, and I think, in most of these photos, I am. But towards the end of stitching the word, after one of those unavoidable interruptions, I couldn't find my #10 needle, so I switched to a #9. I suggest a #10 - or, if you have one, a #11.

I began by backstitching up the spine of the B. When I finished covering the pencil line with the backstitch, I brought my needle up in the fabric right at the top of the line of stitches.

Working back down the line towards me, I whipped the backstitches by sliding my needle from right to left under each backstitch, all the way down the line.

Now, since I started whipping my stitches from right to left and down the line towards me, I made sure that, as I stitched each letter, I kept the same direction. Yesterday's article demonstrates the importance of consistent stitch direction. If you haven't read it yet, you might want to check it out so that you can see the distinct differences between stitching in different directions.

After whipping down the line, I jumped over to the base of the B and backstitched the lower bump. For some reason unbeknownst to me at this moment, I did not finish backstitching up the top bump. You can, of course - it will save you time and having to travel your thread on the back of the fabric to get to your next starting point.

I turned my work so that I was whipping the backstitches (again, from right to left) down the stitches towards me. To keep everything going correctly in the same direction and avoid confusion, just turn your hoop as you stitch.

So there's the first bump of the B, done.

To get to the next bump without carrying a loose thread across the back of my stitching, I turned my work over so I could run my thread under the backs of the stitches and move up to the next bump.

The backstitching on the second bump of the B is whipped in the same was as it was on the first bump of the B.

And there you have the B...

The R is stitched in the same manner. I began with the spine first and backstitched up it, then whipped the backstitches, moving from right to left, coming down the spine.

Then, turning my work over and running my working thread under the back of the stitches, I moved back up to the top of the R and backstitched the bump and the tail. See where the arrow points? I left a tiny space at the top of the tail, just below the bump, because this is where I will sink my thread after whipping the tail of the R.

Then I brought my needle up where the bump comes in contact with the spine in the middle of the letter.

My backstitching brought me to the base of the tail. In order to keep the stitching direction correct, I turned my hoop so that the letters were upside-down, and I whipped the backstitches on the tail, sinking the thread in the tiny space next to the bump.

Then I moved over next to the spine, brought my needle up, and whip stitched the bump of the R, turning the hoop as necessary to keep the stitching in the right direction.

And there you have the B and the R complete.

Now, it's time to work on the O. Remember that, because these letters are not connected, each time a new letter is started, you have to start the thread again. In the first two stitching tutorials of this series, I discussed how to start your threads with each letter.

Once the O was backstitched, I brought my needle up inside the O, ready to whip the stitches.

Again, to keep the stitch direction correct, I turned my hoop so that the letters were upside-down.

While stitching around the O, just keep turning the hoop to keep the direction.

The black arrow in the photo above indicates where I started whipping the backstitches. As I finished the circle, I sunk my needle on the outside of the O (indicated by the red arrow), opposite to where I started.

I'm sure you're getting the hang of this by now! So let's move quickly through the rest of the letters. Backstitch the complete W, then whip the backstitches down the last leg, towards you, working your needle from right to left.

For the next leg, turn your hoop around so the letters are upside-down again, and whip the next leg, then turn the hoop again, whip the next leg, then turn the hoop one more time to whip the last backstitched line of the W. As you finish whipping the backstitches in each line, you sink your thread to make a sharp finish, then bring your needle up at the top of the next line.

The finished W...

Work the N just as you did the W, backstitching the whole thing first, then whipping the backstitches and turning your hoop as you need to. As you finish whipping each line of the backstitching, remember to sink your thread and start the next line new, to keep the angles sharp.

And here is the finished word, and the lettering sampler so far!

We've now covered plain backstitch lettering, which also focused on how to travel your threads on the back of the fabric to make sure you don't leave loose threads; we've covered stem stitch on lettering, making sure that the stitch direction is kept consistent; we've seen how to dot an I in hand embroidery; and now we've seen whipped backstitch, which is a nice stitch for small lettering.

The next tutorial will cover combining two stitches - buttonhole and stem stitch - on letters that are thick in some parts and thin in others.

All these tutorials are easily accessible under Tips and Tricks for Hand Embroidery in the Editor's Floss located at the top of the right column of the website, and also directly at the Index of Tutorials for Hand Embroidered Lettering.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, don't hesitate to leave them in the comment section below!

Enjoy!

Stitch Direction Makes a Difference

2009-11-04T09:45:00.002-06:00

Before venturing a bit further on the hand embroidered lettering tutorials, I wanted to show you how the direction in which you stitch can make a difference in the look of your stitches. Here, I'm focusing on whipped backstitch, but the concept applies to any whipped stitch.

I'm starting with a small backstitched line, which I've stitched from the top of my fabric down towards the base.

The arrow in the above photo indicates the direction I stitched the line. This part really doesn't make that much of a difference, but you can see that, from the base of the line, I'm beginning to whip the back stitches from right to left, going back UP the line.

I'm going to whip each stitch, going in the same direction - up the line - and working my needle in the same direction, from right to left, as the curved arrows indicatel

After whipping the first line of backstitch, I stitched another line right next to it, and as you can see in the photo above, I began whipping the backstitch at the top of the line, working DOWN towards me, and still whipping the stitches from right to left. The difference here is the direction in which I am traveling, which is down the line instead of up it, as I did with the first line.

Though the whipping of the stitch is done in the same direction (from right to left under the backstitches), the direction in which I stitched (from the base to the top on the left line, and from the top to the base on the right line) makes a difference in the way the two lines look when they are whipped. The left line is smoother looking, and the right line is a little chunkier looking. This is because, when I worked the left line, the working thread was untwisting while I whipped the stitches, and when I worked the right line, the working thread was twisting itself as I whipped the stitches.

My point here is not to say that one way of whipping the stitches is better than the other. Rather, the idea is that, when you are working a whipped stitch, if you want all your stitching to look the same, you have to be consistent in two ways: 1. in the direction your stitching is traveling (here, up the line or down the line); and 2. in the direction in which you whip the stitch (from right to left or left to right).

It helps to work two parallel practice lines before you start whipping your stitches, to see what look you like better, so that you can be consistent in whipping your stitches in the same direction.

SO - when we move on to the next hand embroidered lettering tutorial (tomorrow's post), you'll see that I made an effort to be consistent with the direction of my stitching and the direction in which I moved my needle to whip the stitches.

Needlework Temptations and the Musings of a Retail Customer

2009-11-03T04:46:00.000-06:00

In the mood for a little needlework temptation? Well, I almost didn't share this one, but then I reconsidered! You see, there's a little side of me that's whispering, "Don't do this to your readers .... " and another little side of me that's practically shouting, "Are you kidding?! They won't want to miss this!" And then there's the other little side of me (oh, it's true - I have so many sides!) that is calmly saying, "There's nothing wrong with looking. Just be prudent..."

Each year, twice a year, there's an online wholesale needlework event - a trade show, as a matter of fact - called The Needlework Show. The concept behind it is fairly simple - shop owners can browse through the inventory of different wholesalers in the trade and order stuff for their shops, without having to travel to a trade show. Regular retail customers (you and me) can browse through and see the things that are available, and ask our local needlework shops to order this or that thing that we might see. It's a nice concept, but for the average retail shopper, unless you're in pretty close cahoots with your local needlework shop, it just doesn't mean all that much, except that we do get to see some new stuff coming out on the market.

Mostly, I keep up with the event to see what's going on in the world of needlework threads (several thread companies usually display their wares during the show) and to see if there's anything new and enticing in the way of needlework accessories.

Well, guess what? There's a new show in town, created by the same folks, only it's called Needle Show Retail... and it's our opportunity to experience the "trade show" approach to needlework supplies.

This is the way it works: between November 5th - 8th, you register as a customer, and then you browse the booths. Some of the booths are simply for advertising, while others will be taking orders. You get to see what's coming out new on the market, or what specialty items are available, and then, you get to shop through the various retailers. Basically, what you're getting is the convenience of shopping or browsing through many retailers all in one spot. They'll only be displaying a small number of items, though - my guess is, they'll be displaying what's new or particularly popular in their shops.

Even though this approach is mega-convenient (if the shops feature any needlework goods that you are interested in), I would gently suggest that you might take a look at what's available on the retail market, then see if your own LOCAL needlework shop can order what you want. If they can't or won't, then order online. Supporting your local needlework shop first will help ensure that your local needlework shop stays in business!

Now, speaking of interest in Local Needlework Shops and so forth, I have been musing a bit about a recent surge of interest in an interesting project called The 3/50 Project. Have you heard about it? It is a movement to encourage people to shop locally at privately owned businesses that have brick-and-mortar stores. (Ironically enough, the 3/50 Project has an online shop for their promotional merchandise, and no ... ahem ... brick and mortar store...)

I'd love to know what you all think of this project. I agree wholeheartedly with the concept - I live in a small town, and I know the value of small privately owned businesses.

But as a serious needleworker who regularly shops for needlework supplies through retail businesses (and mostly online, because my LNS does not cater to my interests), I find there's another side of the issue that bears consideration and has me thinking:

When I shop for needlework supplies that I often need in my projects, or when I shop for kits that are suited to my tastes, the only place I can find them is through online retail businesses, most of which don't have brick-and-mortar stores. Some of these businesses are in the States (the Japanese Embroidery Center, Hedgehog Handworks, Yodamo, The French Needle, Thistle Threads, etc.) and some are not (Berlin Embroidery, Benton & Johnson, Alison Cole, for example).

The way I see it, for the needleworker in the US who is interested in a variety of needlework techniques, if we were to restrict ourselves solely to brick and mortar stores, it surely would mean the death of most needlework techniques in America, with the exception of cross stitch and needlepoint. I would sorely love to find a brick-and-mortar store in the States that supplies the range of metal threads for goldwork; that supplies floche and coton a broder for surface embroidery, whitework and cutwork; that carries a range of fine linen; that sells beautiful surface embroidery kits from a variety of talented designers...

Does such a store exist anywhere except through the combination of retailers available online? I'm afraid it doesn't. And if we turn our backs equally on these specialty retailers who sell online only, we would be eliminating our ability to embroider with the specialty supplies that we need. Many of these small online specialty needlework shops are home-grown businesses begun by a needleworker with a real passion for needlework and a real fortitude to undertake running a business for a rather slim market. I can't begrudge them their lack of brick and mortar.

So that's what I've been musing about. At the same time, I do have a fear for the survival of small local needlework shops in the present economy, so I do my bit when I can and shop locally.

Any thoughts on the subject? And hey - if you've found the Ultimate Needlework Shop - feel free to recommend it in the comments section below!

Comparison of Flat Silks - Stitched Experiment

2009-11-02T05:08:00.001-06:00

Ilke, a reader from the UK, worked the following piece in order to compare different types of flat silk. She has written a comprehensive comparison between five flat (or "semi-flat" - if that's an acceptible term!) silks available on today's market: Eterna, Au Ver a Soie's Soie Ovale, Piper's (which is also the same as Helen Stevens's True Embroideries Sleave Silk), JEC flat silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center, and House of Embroidery's Fine Flat Silk. She also includes Pearsall's Filofloss, which has been discontinued. For her impressions of these different silks, and a close-up look at them stitched, read on...

First, we'll begin with the stitched piece that Ilke uses to demonstrate the various silks she is comparing in this "experiment." I've left the photo rather large so that you can click on it and look at the stitches fairly close.

Now, I'm going to let Ilke tell you all about her experiment. You'll find some very useful and thorough information here - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

This is a comparison experiment between the flat silks I've got. There are quite a few, but for the moment I will ignore the ones which either come in very few shades (like Erawan Thai silk), or which come in variegated shades only (like Stef Francis), because they aren't suitable if you want to build up a collection with a good range of shades for ordinary charts (as opposed to monochrome designs, blackwork, Assisi designs or charts which are specifically designed for variegated threads).

Five flat silks remain: Eterna Stranded (ES), Au Ver á Soie Soie Ovale (SO), Pipers 90 Floss Silk (P), JEC Flat Silk (JEC), and House of Embroidery Fine Flat Silk (HE) (which is strictly speaking variegated, but has quite a few shades which are only very softly shaded). I've added a sixth silk, Pearsall's Filofloss (PF) – it's a flat silk which came in many different colours, but it has unfortunately been discontinued and replaced with Filoselle, which is a twisted silk.

All six silks are filament (reeled) silk (with the possible exception of HE); this means that the very fine filaments that make up the thread were reeled in one continuous strand from the silk moth's cocoon, and not spun from short pieces and leftover odds and ends. Because filament silks are built up out of continuous filaments, they are stronger and less prone to fuzziness than spun silks. On the other hand, they do tend to snag quite easily, on anything that isn't smooth – the edge of your fabric, rough skin, anything. Fortunately, it is also easily smoothed back into shape again, and can then be used again without looking any the worse for it.

ES and PF are stranded silks, 12 and 6 strands respectively, but because ES strands are so fine, the threads come to roughly the same thickness. ES strands are about 1/2a strand of DMC, PF strands are a little heavier than a strand of DMC.
SO, P, JEC and HE are single-stranded silks. SO is about 2 strands of DMC, JEC a little less than 2 strands, HE about 1 strand, P is about 1/2 a strand. SO and JEC, being thicker than the others, are a little less versatile in playing with different amounts of coverage, although they can be divided by very carefully separating the filaments (up to 16) which make up the threads – this is rather a fiddly job, though.
Each of these flat silks actually seem to give better coverage than their thickness would make you expect, because the silk lies flat and has a higher lustre than stranded cotton.

ES comes in 545 shades, in 5m skeins at $1.05
SO comes in about 50 shades, in 15m reels at $2.20
P comes in 224 shades, in 80m or 150m reels at $1 or £1.65
JEC comes in about 250 shades, in 60m reels at $7 or £4.70
HE comes in about 100 shades, in 30m card bobbins at £2.25 (100m reels are available direct from H of E, but I don't know the price)
PF is no longer available; I don't know how many shades it came in.

The amount of "coverage" you get per skein or reel compared to DMC stranded cotton is approximately as follows:
ES equals about 5m of DMC ($0.21/m)
SO equals about 5m of DMC ($0.44/m)
P equals about 6 1/2 or 12m of DMC (£0.15/m or £0.14/m)
JEC equals about 18m of DMC ($0.39/m or £0.26/m)
HE equals about 5m of DMC (£0.45/m)

Of these, I have read that only JEC is a truly flat silk. In practice there is little difference with P and OS, but ES, HE and PF are indeed a little less flat. In the case of ES and PF this may be because they are stranded, and have a slight twist to combine the strands, even though the strands themselves are flat. P and HE will usually have to be combined to get the required thickness, and so need occasional smoothing with the needle to get it to lie fully flat when stitched.

The project is stitched on burgundy 28ct Lugana over two.

I started with Eterna Stranded (the darker part of the rose). For good coverage, 5 strands are required. The strands lie quite flat without much help, although occasionally it needs a little smoothing with the needle. The silk snags fairly easily, but is as easily smoothed back into shape again. On the whole it is quite easy to work with, and it has a strong lustre. Drawbacks to this silk are that occasionally a skein may have some unevenness in some of the strands which cannot be smoothed out, and sometimes even broken strands; there are also occasional irregularities in the dyeing, leaving white spots. Even when this happens, however, only a very small part of the skein is rendered unusable, and as it is one of the cheapest flat silks around it is no great burden to buy a little more than you need, just in case.

The second part was stitched with JEC Flat Silk (the lighter part of the rose). In order to experiment with coverage, I stitched the left-hand petals using one thread, and the right-hand ones using a double thread. For good coverage, the double thread is needed; a single thread gives a more lacy effect. The thread lies perfectly flat without any assistance, but it does snag on absolutely everything, so it is essential to make sure that the edges of your fabric are smooth. As with the Eterna silk, however, this snagging has no lasting effect on its smoothness or its lustre, which is very strong with a slight haziness to the shine. In spite of the snagging, I found this a lovely silk to work with simply because it feels so smooth and looks lovely the moment you've laid a stitch; the sheen is very visible even when only one thread is used, but even stronger with a double thread (as there is more surface).

I then used House of Embroidery Fine Flat Silk for the top left-hand leaf. This silk surprised me, as it looks as though it has a very slight twist which might affect its sheen, but it stitches up beautifully with a lovely strong lustre. A double thread gives good coverage, and it is easy to work with, hardly snagging at all. It feels a little more springy than the other silks, and needs good tension and railroading to lie nice and flat.

The next leaf down is done in Pearsall's FiloFloss. Two strands give very good coverage, and apart from some slight snagging it is easy to work with, although it does need "dangling" occasionally to make sure it doesn't tangle, something none of the other silks seems to need a lot. This has a moderate lustre, and when stitched does show a slight twist, although only when compared to other flat silks.

The top right-hand leaf and the stem are stitched in Pipers 90 denier Silk Floss. This is the thinnest of the silks, and needs four threads to get satisfactory coverage; in some cases five or six threads may be needed. Although it is a bit fiddly to cut all the threads to the same length and smooth them together into one thread, once you're stitching with it, it behaves beautifully. It needs a bit of smoothing and/or railroading to lie flat, but it doesn't snag, and it has a good lustre.

Finally the lower right-hand leaf was done in Soie Ovale - the left-hand "leaflet" using a double thread, the other two using a single. On the reel, SO and JEC look very much the same thickness, but when stitched there is a clear difference, with SO giving much better coverage; so much so that the double thread was really a bit too chunky for my taste on this 28ct. This silk is the worst for snagging after the JEC, but it is also one of the flattest, and lies flat without needing much encouragement beyond an occasional smoothing stroke of the needle. It has a strong but subtle lustre with the same slight haziness that JEC has - both are reminiscent of vintage silk in their look.

So which is the best silk? It's very difficult to say because so much of it is a matter of taste, and it will also vary with the project you are choosing your silk for. Personally, I like the strong but soft lustre of the absolutely flat silks Soie Ovale and JEC. The difficulty with both is the snagging, which can get a little frustrating if you've been too impatient to bind your fabric and haven't been looking after your hands so they're all rough :oops:... Simple care for the fabric and the hands should reduce the snagging greatly, though, so no real reason to steer clear of them. Another slight disadvantage is that for finer work, or for more control over the thickness of your thread, you have to separate the actual filaments, which can be done but is a bit fiddly. JEC beats SO here because it is a little thinner and so separating threads should only be necessary for things like miniature embroidery. JEC also wins hands down when you compare the two in range of colour and price.

So what of the next flattest silk, Pipers 90 Silk Floss? I liked this more than I though I would - it is so thin I feared it wouldn't "gel" into a nice plump thread with a smooth surface, but it did; it also snagged very little. Other advantages are that it comes in a wide range of colours, is relatively cheap, and because of its thinness it is easy to combine into whatever thickness of thread you need. The combining is a little fiddly, even when you use a loop start and so have to cut only half the number of required threads, but I think you would quickly get used to it. One disadvantage is that the delivery times can be quite long, and emails don't always seem to get through, although when you actually call them and speak to them they are very helpful indeed.

Then the two "odd ones out" - FiloFloss because it is no longer available, and House of Embroidery because it comes in shaded rather than solid colours. Both are easy to work with, and HE actually had a much flatter look than I expected from the reel. HE is a good choice if you like the effect of subtle colour variation without going for full-blown variegated (although they do those as well). Most of the other silks which come in shaded colours (like some of the Dinky Dyes, Gloriana, Waterlilies, Belle Soie and so on) are not flat silks, and Stef Francis' flat silk tends to be bolder in its colour variations.

And finally the first flat silk I ever tried, Eterna Stranded. This has an awful lot going for it: it is inexpensive (even with a weak pound only Pipers comes close), comes in a staggering range of colours, and divides into thin strands so can easily be combined to any thickness. For snagging, it is average - better-behaved than SO and JEC, worse than P, HE and PF. For flatness and lustre, again average - it does not lie so naturally flat as SO and JEC, but needs less encouragement than P, HE and PF. The irregularities in the silk and the dyeing are a definite disadvantage, but this is compensated for by the price.

Final verdict:
For special projects I would go for SO (if the colours were available) or JEC, but they are too pricey and labour-intensive for "everyday" use. P is a very good alternative, although being so thin they are a pain to wind on bobbins (voice of experience there ...). I will certainly be expanding my collection of them over time. But if you want to use a flat silk almost in the way you would use your ordinary cottons, ES is probably the best choice because it has the widest colour range, is the least fiddly, and comes at an affordable price. HE are lovely for flat silk projects that need a little colour variation.

Thank you SO MUCH, Ilke, for this informative article! I'm eager to try House of Embroidery's thread - I haven't tried their silk! And I'm really grateful for your insight to the rest of these threads!

Boo! My Only Embroidered Pumpkins

2009-10-31T10:02:00.004-05:00

Happy Halloween, everyone. I've never really embroidered for Halloween before, but I do have two pumpkins I'll (re)share with you - resurrecting an old project that I had a lot of fun stitching!

These are embroidered pillowcases, and the theme for them is "opposites" - so I embroidered one black and one white pillowcase with faces. On the white pillow case, they're all awake and having a blast, and on the black pillowcase, they're snoozing away comfortably.

The pumpkin was easy enough to embroider while he was awake...

... but sleeping pumpkins pose a slight problem, when it comes to closing their eyes. When I worked this project, I think I embroidered those eyes two or three times, trying to get a "sleepy" look.

Yep, I can safely say this was one of my Just for Fun projects that was really fun!

I hope you have a fun day, that you get out and enjoy the autumn weather (if you're in the same hemisphere - spring, for the rest of you!), and that you have a terrific weekend!

Hand Embroidery on Gingham - Christmas Trees!

2009-10-30T13:15:00.000-05:00

Laurie Latour of Future Christian Homemakers is quite an enthusiast when it comes to hand embroidery on gingham. If you have not seen her Gingham Museum on her website, it is worth taking a look at, especially if you are interested in elaborate "chicken scratch" embroidery that is unique and really beautiful. She has quite a collection of embroidered aprons, and they're all detailed with close-up photos and commentary.

Laurie's been experimenting with gingham lately, coming up with several Christmas designs that are really attractive. I especially like this series of Christmas trees she's been working on, so I was very happy when she said I could share them with you.

Traditionally, embroidery on gingham is worked in white or in the color of the darkest square on the fabric. Laurie played a little with this, but found that contrasting colors worked best on this series of trees.

The trees are embroidered on 1/8" homespun fabric (available online through Jubilee Fabric), and their finished size is approximately 3.25" tall by 2.75" wide - the perfect size for an ornament or a Christmas card.

This first tree is worked with a combination of dark green and sparkly white thread - although I like it, I have to admit I like the trees worked in colors that contrast with the fabric better. Laurie used two strands of DMC 890 (green) for the tree, and two strands of Treasure Braid Petit High Gloss (P410) for the circles and x's.

I like this tree a better, with the green stitched on the red homespun. She used the same color green as on the tree above, but instead of the white braid, she used Treasure Braid Petite (PB68), a multi-colored sparkly thread. It's hard to capture the sparkle in the picture, but you can imagine how nice it looks if you're familiar at all with Rainbow Gallery's Treasure Braids (pictured down below).

This tree, I really like. I like the kelly green floss on the red, with the gold braid! It's very pretty, and oh-so-Christmassy.

This tree, however, is my absolute fave. I love the contrast of the bold red stitches, and I like the dark geen with the gold braid.

Which is your favorite, of the four trees above?

Although this isn't a full tutorial, if you are interested in working up some similar trees, in the photo above, you can see the "skeleton" pattern for the design. For further directions on gingham embroidery, you can check out some tips for embroidering on gingham at the Future Christian Homemakers website.

This, by the way, is Treasure Braid. You can find it at most local needlework shops that carry cross stitch or needlepointing supplies.

While wandering through Laurie's website, I came across this little book that Laurie publishes, Classic Prayers for Children. It is a sweet book of prayers and poems for children, beautifully illustrated. It struck me as a perfect stocking stuffer or First Communion treasure for little kids.

I love the work of preservation that Laurie is doing with gingham embroidery. She is building quite a collection of vintage gingham embroidery and documenting them so that we can see the unique designs and stitch combinations used in the technique. If yuou get a chance, make sure you check out her website!

Have a terrific weekend!

Goldwork and Tudor Designs: Possibilities!

2009-10-29T04:49:00.001-05:00

I've really been itching to do some goldwork lately, but I've got so many projects already going and several projects that I need to get started on, that all I can do when it comes to goldwork right now is dream. You know how that is, don't you? This one particular design has be besotted...

BibliOdyssey is one of those places I go to get inspired, and last week when I visited, I wasn't disappointed - there was no lack of inspirational stuff floating about the website. This post on The Tudor Pattern Book really caught my eye, and this one pattern in particular struck me as particularly suitable for goldwork.

When considering an picture or design that is not made specifically for embroidery, I usually try to isolate the elements within the design that would work as an embroidered image. So I took this picture from BibliOdyssey, opened it in Photoshop and got rid of the background. I didn't spand a lot of time cleaning the thing up - just a few button clicks - but I did at least isolate the part I like.

At this point, I figured I could trace the image in Inkscape or a similar program, to end up with a crisp line drawing, but instead, I started playing with a couple very basic filters in Photoshop and reduced the image to this:

For some reason, a black and white image is my preferred format for any kind of potential embroidery design. I seem to see more possibilities when I can reduce the image to outlines with a bit of shading but no color.

With this piece, I'm thinking in terms of a combination of silk shading and goldwork.

So what do you think? Should I just chuck everything else and launch into a completely senseless goldwork project?

Oh well! Since "chucking" everything else right now probably isn't prudent, I suppose I'll just stay the present course. However, if I do drift off...

... you'll know what I'm doing!

Fancy Hems Winner!

2009-10-28T06:26:00.003-05:00

Good morning, folks! This post is short and sweet - announcing the winnder of Fancy Hems and a little rundown on what's coming up on Needle 'n Thread later in the week!

First of all, the winner of Luzine Happel's book Fancy Hems is ....

Mommablogger.... who apparently happened to be visiting Kansas a while ago and doesn't like the dirt. Yep. We have a lot of that stuff in Kansas.... Please drop me an e-mail with your mailing address, and I'll get that off to you as soon as possible! Congratulations!

Coming up this week on Needle 'n Thread: some musings on an embroidery design for goldwork, another lettering tutorial, and some great information from a reader on gingham embroidery Christmas trees! So stay tuned....

Have a terrific Wednesday!

Reader's Embroidery: Quaker Motif as a Christmas Ornament

2009-10-27T05:45:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I posted a hand embroidery pattern for a Quaker sampler design, converted for surface embroidery. I haven't had time to stitch it myself, but Jan Miller has. Using the bird in a tree design, Jan made a beautiful Christmas ornament - and she sent pictures. Thanks, Jan!

My first thought when I finished converting this design into a surface embroidery pattern was that it would make a pretty Christmas tree ornament. So I was delighted to see Jan's rendition.

Using simple stitches that suit the pattern very well, Jan stitched the ornament on white velvet, I think. She finished it with a matching hand-made tassel.

I love the dark green and the deep red - they suit the design. One reader suggested that simple color tones were best, rather than a variety of shades, since plain color choices would work best in keeping with the simplicity of the Quaker design.

I still want to stitch this pattern up, and hope to one of these days! Has anyone else tried this design? I'd love to see what other people do with it!

Thanks again, Janice, for sending along the pictures!

What are you working on? If you want to share photos of your recent needlework adventures, drop me a line!

Schwalm Embroidery Photos & a Give-Away!

2009-10-26T05:30:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, photos of needlework can be the best source of inspiration for me. When I see a beautiful piece of needlework in a photo, it makes me..... well. It makes me want to DO something - to make something beautiful! But the fact o' the matter is, there just aren't enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the year to do all the needlework things I'd like to do! Do you ever feel that way? So, often, I content myself with looking at pictures. And along those lines, here are some photos of magnificent examples of Schwalm whitework embroidery.

These first two pieces belong to a friend, Joey, who helped Luzine Happel with the translation of two of her Schwalm embroidery books, Basic Principles of Schwalm Whitework and Fancy Hems.

This first piece is a teacloth embroidered by Luzine. Isn't it gorgeous? You can click on the photo for a closer view of it. The stitching is so stunning! Check out the variety of filling stitches!

This second piece is a decorative pillow, with the Schwalm work covering a red pillow - which makes the whitework stand out beautifully. I had not considered finishing a whitework pillow this way, with a contrasting fabric behind the whitework, but it makes all the sense in the world if you really want to show off the whitework. Again, you can click on the photo for a larger version.

The books above are published by the Museum der Schwalm in Germany. The books are a kind of photographic journal of the pieces that have been featured in the museum's displays. Talk about inspiration!

Here's one piece featured in one of the books. Pretty, isn't it? I don't know if it's exactly "traditional" Schwalm embroidery as far as design goes - the design seems a bit more contemporary. I like it a lot!

A lampshade! I think I would love to have this in my house... but I can't help wondering if it would stay this pristine? I'd feel obliged to put it under glass to keep the Kansas dust off it!

Yep, I do love to browse through these types of books!! They goad me into doing something with my needle and thread.

A Give-Away!

Now, speaking of Schwalm work (again), I'd like to give away another book. Joey sent me a copy of Fancy Hems, but since I already have one, I thought it would be a good opportunity to put this excellent book into some other keen stitcher's hands.

You can read my thorough review of Fancy Hems here on Needle 'n Thread, to see what the book is about. Note that it's not just for stitchers interested in Schwalm whitework. Anyone interested in drawn thread or pulled thread embroidery will find this book useful and instructive.

If you'd like to win this copy of Fancy Hems, here's how the give-away works:

Leave a comment below (on this article, on the website - not via e-mail or on other posts), answering the following question:

If you could launch into a Schwalm project right now, assuming you have the materials and instructions at hand, what would you make?

Make sure you leave a name, even if you use the "anonymous" feature when posting your comment. I'll draw for a winner on Wednesday, October 28th, by 5:30 am.

Best of luck!

Hand Embroidery: Lettering and Text 4: Stem Stitch

2009-10-23T12:40:00.000-05:00

Stem stitch is a beautiful rope-like hand embroidery stitch that works great for writing with a needle and thread. There are two real difficulties with stem stitch: stitch direction and curves. I'll try to eliminate both of those difficulties in this tutorial.

Before venturing into the tutorial, you might want to take a look at my stem stitch video to get the hang of the motion of the stitch, and you might find it useful to read this article on stem stitch vs. outline stitch.

The best way to keep your stem stitch always looking right as you embroider words is to first establish your stitch direction. Now, with stem stitch, whether you are right handed or left handed is an important consideration, so let's first clarify some stitching directions for both types of stitchers.

Right Handed Stitchers

Stitching Direction: For righties, stem stitch always travels left-to-right. It is true that you can move your hoop around and work the stitches vertically, but for right handers, whenever you consider the line you are stitching as horizontal to the floor, you will notice that, if you're working stem stitch, the direction of your line is going to be from left to right.

Needle / Thread placement: For right handers, when looking at your horizontal line that is moving from left to right, the working thread always hangs below the line, below the needle.

Left Handed Stitchers

Stitching Direction: For lefties, when you stitch a line horizontal to the floor, it will always travel from the right to the left. Even if you are stitching vertically, if you "turn the hoop" in your mind's eye, the line should always be moving from right to left.

Needle / Thread placement: For left handed stitchers, the working thread should always be above the needle, above the stitching line.

Now, these principles of stitching direction and thread placement hold true, even when traveling around curves. To change the placement of the thread as you round a curve in order for the stitches to hold themselves in the curve will mar the look of your stem stitch.

[I have to throw this note in, because it does put a wrench in the works, but please consider these directions to be written for s-twisted threads only. If stitching with z-twisted threads, the directions must be reversed. But let's forget that consideration for now, and assume that we will mostly be working with s-twisted threads - your typical DMC stranded cotton, pearl cotton, floche, most stranded silks, etc. If you want to see a close-up picture of what I mean about Z-twist and S-twist on threads, check out this post on The Silk Mill threads. There is a close-up picture of threads half-way through the post that show the difference in twist direction. Additionally, if you really want some in-depth reading on thread twists, this PDF on knowledge of sewing threads is somewhat interesting.]

To begin, I'm going to anchor my thread just as I did in the first backstitch lettering lesson. I will be traveling from the base of the circle on the "q" around to the top of the circle, down the long tail, and then up and around the curl on the tail.

To keep the stitch direction from left to right (I am right handed), I turned the work over. As I progress around the curve, I'll simply turn my hoop, so that I can keep the same direction with ease.

As I round the curve and come to the top of the head on the "q," I am back to working right-side-up again.

Now, I could make a sharp "corner" here where the loop runs into the back of the "q", but instead of doing that, I'm going to make a smooth, tight curve here. To do this, I am taking my stitches very small in the corner, but I'm still keeping the correct placement of the working thread.

Now, I've turned my work again, keeping the left-to-right direction of stitching, and heading down the back and the tail of the "q". Coming right out of the curve, I resumed a stitch length that is slightly longer than the stitches I used in the curve, but not so long as to look thinner or out of proportion with the other stitches on the "q" so far.

Approaching the point where the tail curls back over on itself at the base of the letter, I'm going to keep right on going with my stem stitch, crossing the intersection of the lines, and moving into the tight curve of that little curl.

As I start into the curve, I'm going to start decreasing the length of my stitches.

After I worked around the curve in shorter stitches, keeping the working thread below the needle and turning the hoop to keep the left-to-right direction, I started to lengthen the stitches again slightly coming out of the curve.

Now, keep in mind that this shortening and lengthening of stitches does not have to be mathematically accurate or anything! You just want your stitches to "take the curve" while keeping the closed-rope-look of the stem stitch, so just adjust your stitches slightly if you need to, in order to get them comfortably and neatly around the curve.

Now it's time to cross the curl over the back of the "q" and this is quite easy. As you approach the already-stitched line, simply jump your next stitch over the line. Work the stem stitch as you normally would - only cross over the stitches already there.

Return back to the end of the previous stitch, just like you would with any stem stitch, and cross over one more time, to complete the stem stitch.

And there's the finished letter.

The techniques for rounding curves and crossing over already stitched lines will remain the same throughout the rest of the tutorial here, so I won't go in as much detail with each letter.

The next step is to travel your thread on the back of your work up to where the next letter starts.

Whip your thread around the stitches on the back of the letter, taking the most direct path to the spot where the next letter begins.

Here, I'm stitching the connection between the q and the u, stopping at the point where the connection meets the downstroke of the u. If I were handwriting this, I would not lift my pen off the paper at this point, but when embroidering letters, I don't double these lines.

Now, I've turned my work so that I can continue working left-to-right. I've ended the last stitch where the connection meets the downstroke of the u, and then I've brought my needle up at the top of the downstroke. I did not need to "travel" my thread at all here, because this spot is pretty much directly above where my last stitch ended, and only a very short distance away. I'll be stitching through that carried thread on the back - it will line up with my next stitches and not show through to the front of the work.

I continued down the downstroke, then around the curve, then up the other side of the u.

Then I moved back down and stitched the connection between the u and the i.

Again, as a reminder, as you stitch your letters, always look ahead and work out a sensible path to follow for stitching. On this u, two paths presented itself, and both would have been fine: the first path is the one I took - down the downstroke and up the other side of the u. Alternately, I could have gone down the downstroke, around the curve, and stopped where the curve met the second downstroke on the u, then worked the downstroke and the connection. Either way would've been fine, and perhaps the second way would have been more consistent, as it would have matched the first half of the letter better. But it really doesn't matter in this case - the letter is clear, and the stitching is tidy. And that's really what you want to achieve.

Here, I've stitched the downstroke of the i, and the connection with the c.

Now you can see I'm in a situation where I can't carry my thread across to the next beginning point, nor can I "travel" the thread on the back through any stitches already there. Yet I have a long enough thread to keep stitching... so, what to do?

I could end my thread and start again, but why bother, when I can "start" without ending??

Just as I start a thread by taking tiny anchoring stitches, here, I'm taking tiny stitches along to the next starting point. I will cover these stitches up with the stem stitch, and I've avoided having to end my thread and start a new one and having a thread carrying visibly across the back of the fabric.

To keep the left-to-right direction of stitching, and to keep my working thread in the correct place in relation to the needle (below the needle), I started the c upside-down and turned the hoop as I progressed through the curve.

Continuing from the c, I worked my way up the top loop of the k.

I turned the work to accommodate the direction of the line, taking smaller stitches around the top of the loop of the k.

Then, coming down the back of the k, I stopped here for one main reason: I was out of thread. This was a good place to stop. If I had had more thread, I probably would have continued down the whole back of the k, but I will pick that part up with the new thread, and move up the k here, instead of down.

When you get to a point where two lines converge to make a sharp corner, as happens here in the middle of the k, it is necessary to end one line of stitching and start a new one. End the line of stitching around the loop right in the corner, as you see in the photo above. To start the next line of stitching (the downstroke of the k here), bring your needle up in the fabric a stitch length away.

Then take the needle down into the fabric right in the corner, to make the first stitch. Basically, I'm beginning this stem stitch line with a backstitch, if you want to think of it this way.

Now, bring your working thread up halfway the length of that backstitch, on the line, but above the stitch, to continue on with the stem stitch.

And the last stroke of the k is finished!

So, there you have the stem stitch worked on cursive lettering, using two strands of DMC stranded cotton.

If you're interested, feel free to check out my other tutorials on hand embroidering text. The next tutorial will focus on smaller text using a finer line.

Some Embroidery Related Links and AWOL

2009-10-22T13:20:00.001-05:00

I've been absent without leave the last few days. My apologies - I've been really sick with whatever is going around! I plan to put more tutorials together for later in the week once I get to feeling better, but for today, I'd like to share with you a few embroidery-related links I've come across lately that I hope you find interesting.

First up - I'm a sucker for free hand embroidery patterns. Given the current and upcoming seasons (fall and winter), I thought these free patterns were worth taking a look at:

-- Jacobian leaves: I've mentioned these before. Now that it's autumn, methinks these leaf patterns are even more significant. While you're checking out Kelly's Jacobean leaves, take a few minutes to check out two new patterns she's put up lately - Bloomin' Marvellous 1 and Bloomin' Marvellous 2. They're a perfect way to practice a variety of stitches on small motifs. Bloomin' Marvellous 2 is my favorite - it looks like lots of fun!

-- Cute pumpkin tea towel design - from Bird Brain Designs.

-- Christmas ornaments: Twelve Days of Christmas - these designs from Tricia-Rennea would make darling hand embroidered ornmaments, and could also be used to decorate all kinds of Christmas items - tree skirt, table runner, bread basket liner, etc.

-- Heart Christmas Tree Ornament - from Matryoshka Biscornue, a counted cross stitch ornament that's very pretty.

I wonder if you've had a chance to check out these old Sajou patterns from Pattern Maker Charts that are free for the downloading. They are mostly Very Nice cross stitch alphabets, along with some pretty border designs and so forth. I like keeping up with this blog!

Moving out of the realm of free patterns, here's some good needlework news:

You know I'm a Trish Burr fan. I don't know if you know I'm a bird fan. I am, I am! Trish Burr's kingfisher stole my bird-loving heart..... and then she made another bird kit, and ... it ... is ... gorgeous. If you haven't seen her Lilac Breasted Roller that she has added to her embroidery kits page, do check it out. If you like beautiful birds and you're a lover of needlepainting (long and short stitch shading), then you'll probably be taken by this beautiful creature.

And finally, Yvette Stanton of White Threads (and Vetty Creations) has finished her Left-Handed stitch dictionary - The Left-Handed Embroiderer's Companion - and has sent it off to press! Yvette's stitch samples - worked on beautiful colors of felt - look absolutely lucious. There's inspiration to be had in this book, I tell you! And I can't wait to get my hands on it! It's not due out until January, but it's available for pre-order now.

I think that about does it from this end. I'm going back to "recovery" mode. In the meantime, I've fallen behind a bit on website e-mail, so if you haven't heard from me, this is why. If you have an urgent-urgent question, feel free to e-mail me again, and your question will move to the top of the list.

To LISA (in San Francisco?) I did try to reply to your e-mail, but it bounced back (AOL addresses always bounce back on me). If you want to try again with an alternate e-mail address, please do!

Hand Embroidery: Lettering and Text 3: Dot the I

2009-10-19T04:45:00.000-05:00

Remember when you learned penmanship and your teacher had to remind you to dot your i's and cross your t's? The same thing holds true when writing with your needle and thread - dotting the i's and crossing the t's are important, but dotting the i's is the part that's tricky. The dot floats above the lettering, presenting the problem of traveling up to it to stitch the dot. You don't want your thread to show through the front, so how do you get up there to the dot, without traveling a thread on the back of your work? Here's one way.

When hand embroidering your lettering or text, by the way, it doesn't really matter when you dot your i, not like it does in penmanship. With embroidery, you already have your lettering mapped out for you. You know exactly where that dot on that i is going to be. So while it may seem to be out of sequence to talk about dotting an i before we've even written the word, the fact is, it doesn't really matter! Besides, since you might be writing a completely different text on your sampler, I thought it a good idea to address this question, in case you already have some i's to dot!

Start by bringing an unknotted thread to the front of the fabric, right where you want your dot. The thread does not connect to any other lettering - you're just starting out with a new thread, and bringing it to the front of your fabric. In this particular tutorial, I'm using two strands of DMC cotton, but the technique applies equally as well to stitching with any kind of embroidery thread, really.

On the back of your fabric, leave about an inch-long tail, so that you can easily get ahold of it to snip it, later.

Now we're going to work a couple anchoring stitches. Going back to the front of your fabric, take one tiny straight stitch over only one or two threads of fabric. If you're working with a larger text on muslin or a high thread count cotton, you can certainly take the stitch over two or three fabric threads. It depends a bit, too, on what size you want your dot. If you want your dot to be relatively small, then take this anchoring stitch over as few threads as possible in your fabric, making the anchoring stitches as small as possible. After you take your first tiny stitch, bring the needle back up right next to that stitch.

Now, take your second anchoring stitch straight into that first tiny stitch.

Now your thread is anchored sufficiently to stitch the dot. Turn the fabric over, pull your working thread out of the way, and snip off the one-inch tail that you left on the back. Snip as close as possible to the fabric, but don't pull up on the tail with any force. Just try to snip right next to the fabric.

On the front of your fabric, this is what you'll have - two tiny stitches, worked perpendicular to each other, the second stitch stitched into the first.

Now, stitch over those anchoring stitches with two straight stitches, side-by-side, that cover the anchoring stitches. Bring the needle up right above the anchoring stitches and go down right below them, then bring the needle up again in the same exact hole above the ancoring stitches, and go down in the same hole below them, arranging the two straight stitches to lie right next to each other over the anchoring stitches.

If you are working with a single strand of thread, you might have to take several straight stitches to cover your anchoring stitches. The trick is always going up and down in the same hole above and below your anchoring stitches, and making sure your straight stitches are lying side-by-side. This is what will make the dot look round.

Now, turn the work over, and take the needle through the stitches on the back, running through them twice, once in one direction, and once perpendicular to that. If you can't manage a perpendicular stitch, then run the needle under the stitches twice, going in the same direction each time.

Cut your thread close to the fabric, but don't pull up on it before cutting. Just get as close as you can, without risking cutting your stitches or your fabric.

And there's your perfect little dot, floating by itself above the text.

Next up, we'll cover the lettering on that word, using stem stitch and focusing on connecting cursive text and keeping the direction of the stem stitch right.

For more tutorials on hand embroidered lettering and text, visit the Hand Embroidery: Lettering and Text Index of tutorials.

Any questions? Feel free to leave them in the comments below, and I'll do my best to answer them!