Needlework, after all, would be pretty difficult without needles. They’re about the only tool you have to have for embroidery. You could get away with no scissors, no hoop. But could you embroider (as in, regular embroidery) without a needle?

I don’t think so.

When you first start embroidering, the answer to What Needle Should I Use? can be pretty basic. One conveniently sized needle can do the trick for most beginner applications.

My go-to needle type and size for most regular surface embroidery is a #7 crewel needle, for example, and if you’re a beginner and you’re using 3 strands of floss in the needle, that size needle will generally work great for you.

But as you progress on your embroidery journey, you may find that certain needles work better for some techniques, certain needles might be easier to handle, easier to thread – there are, in fact, many good reasons to get familiar with a variety of needle types and sizes.

Archive Dive on Needles

You’ll find loads of articles on needles – and on topics related to needles – available on the blog. I’ll highlight some key articles in the list below, to give you a springboard for exploration, if you want to learn more about embroidery needles.

• All About Embroidery Needles covers basic and not-so-basic information about embroidery needles. It’s a good place to start.
• Hand Embroidery Needles: How to Choose Them & Use Them presents different types of needles for different tasks, with some needle-selecting tips.
• The Chenille Needle focuses on the benefits of using a chenille needle – long-eyed and sharp-tipped – for practically any kind of embroidery application.
• On Threading a Needle offers a few useful tips on threading needles.
• Embroidery Needle Facts: Three Points Worth Knowing presents three facts you might not know about embroidery needles, and some of these facts might even enhance your relationship with your needle.
• Pitching a Curve talks about the usefulness of curved embroidery needles.
• Milliner vs Bullion focuses on a very specific type of needle with a round eye and a consistently thick shaft – perfect for certain jobs.
• Problem Solving for Stitchers: Needles without Nickel provides a source for stitchers who have a nickel allergy.

I guess it’s pretty obvious that we love needles here at Needle ‘n Thread! They’re a tool worth celebrating!

And there are, believe it or not, many more articles on Needle ‘n Thread about needles! You can find them by exploring the archives by date (in the left column of the website if you’re on a computer, or in the “hamburger menu” in the top right on mobile devices), or exploring the tag “needles” (unfortunately, not all articles are tagged, but many are!)

Looking for Reliable Needles?

If you’re looking for good quality, reliable embroidery needles, I recommend three brands especially:

John James (which are considered “English needles”) is probably the most widely available brand here in the States for a variety of types and sizes of needles that are affordable. Overall, they are good needles and you can feel confident purchasing them when you come across them in quilt, sewing, and needlework shops.

Bohin needles are French needles, and they are also fairly widely available in the US, in quilt and specialty shops. These are excellent needles. I offer these very convenient variety packs of Bohin Needles here in the shop. They provide you with practically every kind of needle you’ll ever need for your embroidery and hand sewing.

We offer a wide variety of Tulip Needles in the shop, too. These are what I’d consider the cream of the crop as far as hand needles go. They are superior quality, smooth, lovely-to-use needles. I know it’s hard to believe there’s a difference in “feel” between needle brands, but there is. These needles are more expensive than most and can be cost prohibitive, but if you are good at keeping track of your needles and you stitch a lot, you will appreciate the difference!

More ABC Archives

I’ve received a few requests for an index of the ABC Archives series that I’ve been running since last September. I’ll put that together for you soon, and I’ll permanently link it under Tips and Techniques in the main menu on Needle ‘n Thread.

Hope your week is going well!

For those who don’t know, my dad (who is 95 this year), lives with me and I take care of him (right now, with lots of extra family help, thankfully!).

He has lately taken a turn for the worse and things are pretty demanding, mentally, physically, and of course, time-wise. This is taking a toll on work at Needle ‘n Thread – which takes a toll on, well, pretty much everything for Anna and me!

This was my last outing with both my Mom and Dad, in June of 2020. We went to the Brookville Hotel in Kansas, because some 50 or so years ago, they had gone there together when they were visiting Kansas. Mom passed away in August of that year. Dad has gone decidedly downhill ever since then – and even more so recently – which is to be expected at his age. He does not look quite so spry these days! I love this picture!

I don’t know how long this stage will last, but please bear with us.

In the meantime, Anna is keeping up with shipping at the studio.

I’m working on computer projects for Needle ‘n Thread from home as I can. (And – blah! – taxes!) And basically just trying to keep things together as best as possible.

So my sincere apologies if I can’t keep up with the blog as regularly. I hope to – but can’t guarantee it. We shall see what the near future brings, and as things develop, I’ll know better what we need to do business-wise. Thanks so much for your patience!

New in the Shop

We’ve been bringing several choice goods since January, that we’ve had planned for the shop for a while. I just haven’t had time to list many of them.

This week, I listed the Avlea Folk Embroidery kits that I wrote about earlier.

I also listed these gorgeous journals that we use for tracking project notes and progress in the studio. I selected them specifically for their beautiful covers that remind me of textile – and other – art from past ages, from around the world.

We have Book 6 of The Handpicked Collection from Inspirations Studios coming soon. We’ll let you know when it gets here.

Finally, after a long hoop shortage, we are flush with many sizes of embroidery hoops – including new sizes that we’ve added to our offerings. If you’re looking for high quality embroidery hoops, we have plenty!

Have a terrific Wednesday. I hope to “see” you Friday!

I had a hard time deciding on this one. Should I do the Marian Medallion? This was a very thorough step-by-step project, which included all kinds of techniques – and a smaller project (this Tudor-style goldwork and silk rose). There’s a lot to learn from that project!

But I decided instead to focus on Monograms, because I’ve touched on them so many times over the years. There’s a good collection of them here on the website, as well as very serviceable tips on how to stitch monograms in all kinds of ways.

If you haven’t explored it yet, you might check out this index of embroidered monograms with tips & techniques on how to achieve the different styles of monograms presented there.

There are a lot of good links in there to techniques, and, at the end of the article, you’ll find further links for more tips.

Monogram Designs

Here on the Hand Embroidery Patterns Index, if you scroll down the page, you’ll find a section with a good collection of monogram alphabets that you can use for your own projects. Those were added slowly to the website over quite a bit of time, but there are links to each letter in each style alphabet. You can save the letter image, print it, re-size it, and so forth.

You’ll also find a downloadable PDF with 16 full monogram alphabets available here in the shop. This is a great resource if you love embroidering monograms for gifts, on household goods, for bridal showers and weddings, for ornaments, Christmas stockings, and more!

Perhaps one of my favorite monogram alphabets and embroidery projects is this floral voided alphabet. These voided monograms are such fun projects, and they offer a lot of scope for a variety of stitches, colors, textures, thread types – great for exploration and experimentation! You can find the downloadable PDF for this voided monogram alphabet here. It includes the designs in two formats for all the letters of the alphabet, plus a step-by-step guide on stitching the monograms, plus a stitch dictionary for the stitches used on the samples.

The Appeal of Monograms

Monograms have a perennial appeal. When you view them as embroidery projects, they are small, manageable projects that can be accomplished relatively quickly and satisfactorily. They can be as advanced or as simple as you want them to be.

The personal aspect of a monogram makes any monogrammed item uniquely yours (or the recipient’s). Monogram goods make excellent gifts, but they are also perfect projects to stitch just for you, too.

More Ahead!

Next up in this series, we’ll dig into the archives with the letter N. I have you doubt you can guess what that one will be! We’ll discuss all kinds of tips and helpful information about everyone’s favorite tool!

Folk Embroidery Cross Stitch Kits Available!

I mentioned last week that I’d have these Avlea Folk Embroidery Cross Stitch kits available in the shop again this week, and they are here!

There are several project kits to choose from now, besides Arcadian Peony, which I’ve been working on at home while taking care of dad. I’m almost finished with it.

I’ll be starting Clara’s Garden soon, and hope to have it finished well before Easter. I love the colors in it!

Happy Monday!

(And now, back to our regularly scheduled program…)

Oh joy! Oh bliss! It’s the Weeeeeekend!

I don’t actually live for the weekend. For one thing, I love my job, so weekdays don’t bother me.

For another thing, Saturdays are so stinkin’ busy! If the day is successful and I get everything done, sure, there’s a lot of satisfaction in that – but it’s hard to face Saturday from the vantage point of the pillow at 6:00 AM.

But Sundays! Sundays are different. Sundays are relaxed – church, brunch with the family, and hanging out with dad. And that’s when I stitch on my “Home Project” with some serious lusty gusto.

I showed you this project and its set-up a few weeks back.

These projects are so satisfying to stitch. They are, for me, ideal “home projects” because they give me something to do with my hands, without being too brain taxing (I don’t have to think about it or make decisions about what I’m stitching), and they’re compact, requiring minimal equipment.

I’m almost finished with this one – only one more motif and the remaining leaves on the border. I suspect it will be finished by the end of the weekend.

Once I finish the stitching, I’ll hem stitch the runner, photographing the process to share with you. I have some ideas about the hem stitching, so we’ll see what develops…

One point that I’d like to stress about this type of project is that it is a low stress project (for me). I know that some people find counted work more difficult than surface embroidery, requiring more concentration, and so forth.

With these projects, though, I don’t experience any stress or tension. I just pick one part of the project that I count out with absolute precision (in this case, the double frame outline) and I make sure that everything else in the project is counted from that element. And it all works out.

As I stitch, I don’t obsess over small … shall we call them “fluctuations”? Those little errors that won’t be noticed or make any difference in the finished project.

For example, on some of the decorative gold stitches along the edges of the frame, my count somehow got off. The every-other-gold-stitches are charted with two stitches butting up next to each other, but I didn’t once that when I was stitching it.

So, instead of butting up the two stitches or trying to figure out how my count got off, I just “compensated” as I stitched the last little area, and made slight adjustments on a few stitches. I ended up with every-other-space stitched, as I thought it was supposed to be, and it looks fine.

Because I count from the frame stitches, which I know are accurate, it doesn’t really matter to me if the count on my gold stitches is off.

There are other types of “fluctuations” (ok, fine – mistakes) that I don’t let bother me, either. I just find the quick fix.

For example, on the element above, see the gold in the middle of the blue? Well, at the very top of that gold section, where there’s just the one gold stitch, it used to be solid blue. When I was stitching the blue (which I stitched first), I forgot to leave a blank space there.

Did I go back and pick out the blue?

No.

I just covered the blue stitch with a gold stitch.

Can you tell?

Up close, yes, you might be able to – if you’re zooming in on the image.

But with the naked eye, can you see it?

No.

Would it matter if you could?

No.

Would it matter if I had left the blue stitch blue?

No.

These things don’t matter. In the scheme of things, no one will ever notice. I won’t even notice, because I won’t think about it again when this piece is finished. It’s simply not That Kind of Piece. It’s just for my own occupation, at home, and it works well for what it is.

Keep in mind that these particular types of “fluctuations” (mistakes) don’t alter the placement of anything in the design, so they don’t throw off the design anywhere else.

So it doesn’t matter.

About Equipment

When I first wrote about this project, I was working it in hand.

But I have “trigger thumb” in my right hand, and working in-hand was aggravating it. I decided to bring a hoop home.

Digging through my hoop and frame bin, I realized I didn’t have any ideal sized hoops that weren’t already occupied with other projects. Isn’t that always the case?!?

After foraging a bit, I found a set of 8″ q-snaps, and they work fine.

So now I can prop the q-snap on the edge of my little sofa table and stitch two-handed, without having to hold onto the work.

Besides alleviating some of the aggravation on my right hand, I can actually stitch much, much faster with the project in the a hoop (or q-snaps, in this case). I thought I could stitch faster with it in hand, but no!

When I stitch two handed, my right hand is below the work to receive the needle, and my left hand is above the work to direct the needle down into the fabric.

On counted work like this – and with needlepoint, too – when my right hand receives the needle, I simply push it back up, eye-first, into the next stitch’s hole. I don’t even turn the needle. There’s no need to, because there’s plenty of room for the eye to go into the hole first. It makes for some fast stitching.

Coming Very Soon!

Next week, we will have this kit available again, along with a few other similar kits with beautiful designs. Look for them!

And next week, I’ll be starting a new one, too, because this one will be finished. I have one in mind that I’d like to use at Easter, and I’ll show it to you once I get going on it.

Have a lovely weekend!

It seems like a long, long time (and it is, I suppose) since we last visited this maniturgium that I am embroidering. I really hoped to finish it before Christmas, but alas. Now there’s a little more urgency to get it finished.

If you’re new to this project, don’t worry – I’ll provide links at the end of the article to all the previous information about it, including what it is, what it’s for, the design development, and so forth.

As far as the lettering on the project goes, I have to finish the U and the M at the end of the phrase “Duc in Altum.” Right now, I’ve got the M outlined with split stitch, and I’m ready to start the shaded filling, from top to bottom, in light blue silk to a very dark, dark blue.

Previously, I was using a wider hoop on the lettering, but I switched to a very small round hoop so that I could work just the U and the M, without interfering too much with the previously embroidered letters. You can see “Alt” falling off the work area on the left, and I’ve caught just the tip of the T (it is a T – the letter form is similar to an “uncial” of 4th – 8th century manuscript lettering) in the smaller hoop.

If I had tried to use the wider hoop that I started with, I’d have to catch the A and the L in the hoop…

…but you see I got ahead of myself and added a bit of silver around those letters. I don’t want to catch that in a hoop.

This is what I get for not thinking ahead.

This is the thing: on this type of project, especially if you had any inkling at all whatsoever that you might add something like a touch of silver thread to it, it would make more sense to use a slate frame or similar, where you can roll the embroidery along, without the interference that comes with something like a hoop.

But I really envisioned this as a much quicker project, and I didn’t want to set up a slate frame, and I prefer stitching in a hoop on something this small, and blah blah blah with my gazillion excuses.

But don’t worry! I’ve figured out something (I think) for the rest of the work, if a little hoop won’t fill the bill.

I’ll tell you about it later when I get to that point and my theory fails.

This is the part of the T that’s caught in the edge of the little hoop. It’ll be ok!

It’s not my favorite part of the lettering, to be sure. I’m not thrilled with the shading.

But it’ll be ok!

It’s fun to look at up close though.

With the naked eye, you’d never see this much detail in the thread or the stitching. I think that’s why I like to look at close-ups. The fibers looks so sumptuous when you zoom in on the image this much!

Enough of that, though!

Once I finish the U and the M at the end of the phrase, I need to go back to “Duc” at the beginning, and add the sort of ombre “glints” that run down each letter vertically. You can see this particular development of drippiness on the letters, here. I like them better with this added little touch.

Then, I’ll embroider the cross in the middle and the fish on the ends.

Half of me wants to embroidery a very subtle netting background on the whole piece – that is, a fishnet sort of background, maybe in the finest of off-white or ecru silk. I would like the net to billow and contract, adding a sense of movement to it.

This is just something I have in my head, though, and I don’t know if it will actually come about. Besides the fact that I’m working against a deadline for this piece, there’s also the fact that I could mess the whole thing up by adding more to it. Heh heh. But still… I just might do it. We shall see!

Further Reading on this Project

If you want to read the backstory, learn what a maniturgium is, see what the text is all about, and follow the development of design and stitching on this project, here’s a list of links to all the previous articles in chronological order from the beginning:

Book, Fish, and News (in which I first start playing around with design ideas and thoughts – but there’s other unrelated website news in this article, too.)

Doodling & Designing: Maniturgium Project

Embroidered Maniturgium: Battling the Indecision of Decision Making

Blues: Experimenting and Shading on Embroidered Lettering

Duc is Done & Deep

Drippy Water on Lettering

Adding a Touch of Silver

And that brings us to L – for Lattice Fillings!

Some folks refer to lattice fillings or lattice work or lattice stitches as “trellis fillings.” I am careful not to call them “trellis” stitches, because there is a stitch called trellis stitch (you can find a tutorial for it here) that is not at all similar to lattice fillings.

Lattice fillings are essentially laid work – where long threads are laid in some sort of grid-type pattern, and the intersections are couched (sometimes decoratively, sometimes not). You can achieve all kinds variations with lattice work in embroidery by varying the type, color, order, angle, and whatnot of your laid threads, as well as varying the method of couching your intersections, as well as adding any extra decoration you stitching inside the resulting lattice.

Lattice fillings are a ripe ground for fun experimentation!

There are quite a few tutorials for different types of lattice stitch fillings back in the archives on Needle ‘n Thread. You’ll find quite a few of them in the Stitch Fun Index here.

A few highlights of some favorites:

Griffin Stitch – this is a highly decorative lattice filling with great possibilities for color.

Battlement couching – one of my favorite lattice fillings, because you can achieve a very interesting “depth” or 3-D affect with this technique.

Laced lattice stitches are also a really fun approach to embellishing lattice work.

A Free Design that Lends to Lattice Filling

Also back in the archives is this free hand embroidery design called Feathered Fourths, which lends itself really well to lattice work.

The Ultimate, Albeit Quirky, Lattice Exploration

This downloadable PDF called the Lattice Jumble: A Stitch Fun Sampler takes most of the lattice tutorials from the Stitch Fun Series – and other stitches, too – and compiles them into a conglomeration of elements that are fun to fill with lattice work. The PDF came about because folks wanted to work the design I was playing around with during the series.

The Lattice Jumble project has been around for quite a while, and it’s still pretty popular in the archives!

More to Come!

Of course there’s more to come in this series – we’re just about halfway through the A-B-C sequence here! – so keep an eye out for M! (Betchya can’t guess what it is!)

Happy Monday!

As far as the background goes, suffice it to say, this was something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and I’ve been saving for it since about 2012. Life constantly intervened. Aside from a short jaunt to Canada one summer, I haven’t traveled out of the country since 2002.

The Travel Bug bit badly last year. In September, I said, “I go.”

Anna said, “I go with you.”

And so we went.

Instead of giving you a play-by-play of the trip, I’m going to share a smattering of inspirational things that we saw and experienced. Were we seeking out embroidery everywhere we went? No, not at all. But inspiration, yes – because travel begets inspiration.

If you’re curious, come along for a little meander through Prague, Bavaria (southeastern Germany), and a little bit of Austria and France. (And all in no particular order.)

To make it legit, we’ll start with some embroidery.

If you’re in the Munich area, the Bavarian National Museum is worth a stop!

There is much, much more there than clothing from past eras, but there’s enough clothing to thrill the costumer in you, if there is one.

There’s one inside Anna – she loves historical costume – so she was on the lookout for just such delights as these embroidered waistcoats, court dresses and…

and…

…a monkey.

All was fine until the monkey. I found this guy a little bizarre and creepy, among all that silk.

But this court dress made up for it.

This is French – a robe parée – popularized into the court dress by Marie Antoinette (late 1700’s). The monochrome silk is lavishly but delicately embroidered and perfectly sumptuous.

One of my favorite museum visits was the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz.

The exhibition and the demonstration of the press (which is a modified wine press) were fascinating. I could have lingered there for a while, even though the actual exhibit is quite small. The influence that this press had on the rest of history is mind boggling.

I could see this embroidered, couldn’t you?

I love illumination!

During Advent, Strasbourg Cathedral displays a set of 14 tapestries depicting the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that were woven for Notre Dame in Paris in the 1650’s. They were sold to Strasbourg some 80 or so years later.

The tapestries are only on display during Advent and the Christmas season, so I was super happy to be there at the right time!

The tapestries were woven in wool and silk. The colors are amazingly vibrant, for being 400-ish years old!

The fourteen tapestries are only displayed in Advent because the weather is more conducive to the conservation of the tapestries. The heat of summer, and all that accompanies it, isn’t as “friendly” to the textiles, so they are only up for a brief period during the colder, less humid winter.

Trips to Europe can be overwhelming. There are so many things to see, so much beauty, art, inspiration everywhere you look. It is very easy to lose the details, amidst the wonder of it all.

My approach when traveling like this is to concentrate not on everything, but on some things. There’s no point in trying to pack in everything, or even to notice everything. It would just all turn into a jumble! So I prefer to enjoy general impressions, and then to make a point to look for certain aspects of art or architecture that especially interest me.

This might be gargoyles on buildings. It might be stained glass. It might be stone work. Doors. Or ceilings. Whatever it is, I generally find myself looking for those particular aspects through the whole trip.

On this trip, it was doors and ceilings. My travel motto was, more or less, “look up.”

This “tympanum” at the entrance of Strasbourg Cathedral gave me pause. Gosh!

At some church or another, I did see a bit of filet lace. I don’t think this is “the good stuff” – more like daily use altar linen.

And while we’re at it, a little bit more handmade altar lace at another church. Again, probably “daily use” – not their nicest stuff for great feast days or celebrations, I’m sure. But still nice – and someone made that!

If you are in Bavaria, you will see carved wood. Especially if you are there around Christmas, there’s no way you’d be able to miss seeing carved wood. The area is famous for its carved nativity scenes. But there is oh! so much more! than nativity scenes.

We spent a little time in Oberammergau, where I had the opportunity to talk to a master carver. Fascinating!

When I go back to Bavaria, I will have to base myself there. I could have talked to the artisans there until the cows came home. They struggle with the fact that the art of wood carving – which has been so long part of their heritage – is dying. Young people are not interested.

There are definitely differences, too, in the quality of wood items throughout Bavaria – and even right there in Oberammergau. Some wood carvers now rely on machines for part of the work. Others still rely simply on their hands and their hand-held carving tools.

And oh! The smell of the wood shops! So warm and woody. It was a lovely visit!

It smelled almost as good as the cafe where we had lunch.

But we won’t talk about that right now.

Bavaria is practically its own art museum. Many buildings in most of the towns we passed through – and the outlying farms and homes – feature these Lüftlmalerei (airy, or outdoor, paintings), murals that are painted on the outside of homes, shops, hotels, restaurants. Pretty much any building!

The murals depict scenes from the Bible, particular saints, or just general Bavarian life.

From scrollwork around windows and doors to elaborate Biblical scenes, the scenes on the outsides of the buildings are captivating, charming, and just lovely.

“Look up!”

There are ceilings, and then there are Ceilings!

The ceilings everywhere! Of course, churches and grand buildings of state have the most impressive ceilings. This particular ceiling above is probably my favorite, just because the ornamentation on the vaults and arches is so pretty.

This is the Basilica of St. Ludmilla in Prague.

And yet another ceiling, in the Pilgrimage Church at Wies. I was glad we stopped here! It is out in the middle of seemingly nowhere, surrounded by beautiful countryside. It’s a Unesco world heritage site, and very, very, very, Rococo in style.

Appropriately, the ceiling is a depiction of heaven.

I don’t think this photo does justice to the ceiling’s utter beauty – oh my word! The color, especially when the morning sun came through! The natural light enlivened it, but my camera didn’t quite capture that.

Jumping back to Prague, I grabbed this photo as we were walking very briskly through Praha 1 (Old Town). I regret not getting a full head-on photo. What a great window!

And speaking of Prague, we visited the church of Our Lady of Victories there, which is home to the Infant of Prague, a small state of Baby Jesus.

The Infant is dressed in robes befitting each liturgical season. Over the years, many countries around the globe have sent gifts of vestments for the Infant, and there is a small museum in the back of the church, displaying these robes.

They are all embroidered to some extent or another. The example above is one of the most elaborate in the collection. There’s also a robe embroidered by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, in goldwork, from the 1700’s.

On one robe, amidst other embroidery, there was this tiny butterfly.

Jumping back to Strasbourg at this point, because it was Advent, most places we visited were seriously decked out for Christmas.

I didn’t quite understand the pink pigs… but ok.

Pardon, but we just jumped back to Prague. Look up!

There’s nowhere in Old Town Prague that doesn’t have something to look at on the buildings.

And when I say “look up,” I really mean UP. (Oops, this is back in Strasbourg – see what I meant by “no particular order”?)

Besides buildings and streets and museums and markets and cafes, of course we saw beautiful countryside.

What was amazing to me was that we went from the above green-grassed valley to this:

… in the same morning.

It was winter! But I was surprised at how much green was everywhere, even in the higher altitudes. We even saw violas blooming in Salzburg.

Did we do anything besides visit churches, museums, and the like?

Of course. We ate good food…

…probably stopped at too many cafes…

…we wandered streets…

…we visited innumerable Christmas markets…

…(every major town or city we visited had more than one!)…

…and we even managed to take one selfie.

And that, my friends, was our trip!

I’m so glad we went! And I’m glad I could share a little bit of it with you!

Have a lovely weekend!

But it is significant, and I’ll tell you why.

It means I’m getting very close to finishing something!

And what is that something?

I stitched a small section on this embroidery project called Plique-a-jour: An Art Nouveau Floral in Silk & Gold. You might remember this project from last year. You can see the finish here.

Why is this a good sign?

Because when I start going through a project one more time, stitching small sections like this, it’s to capture a photo or a concept that I’m missing for the instructions. And while this approach doesn’t sound very efficient, it happens!

The funny thing is, as I started stitching this little section, I suddenly wanted to stitch the whole entire project again!

(Actually, that’s probably not very funny at this point.)

Anyway, my point is this: It’s a good sign when I start stitching small bits because it means I’m very close to having the instructions finished, which means I’m close to launching the kit.

Yay!!!

We’re going to have a Huge Party in the studio the day this kit goes out the door! You’re welcome to celebrate with us!

Plique-a-Jour is a “limited run” embroidery kit that will be available in the not-too-distant future. It is a higher end kit compared to the smaller stitch-along kits and the like that you see more regularly here on Needle ‘n Thread. This kit features silk ground fabric, a range of gorgeous silk threads, goldwork threads, embellishments, and a printed instructional booklet. All the details will be forthcoming!

I was happy to finish that little section and get a few clear, up-close photos that demonstrate a couple key concepts.

This morning, I’ll move on to another little section that needs the same attention, and then I’ll get back to the computer! So exciting!

There’s a lot more going on in the studio these days, too! We’ve got some other project progress to share. But there’s also a lot of office-ish work happening behind the scenes. For example, we have a new shredder. Anna (she’s my work side-kick) is in shred-heaven. Nothing is safe here Everything is headed to the shredder these days.

I’m almost afraid for my clothes…

…not to mention my skin.

(It’s always the quiet ones, isn’t it?)

Happy Wednesday!

So welcome to Late Monday at Needle ‘n Thread!

Last week, I mentioned this counted piece that I’ve been doing at home and promised to share some more of it, when it actually started to look like itself. So here’s an update following the wet weekend. We also carry these kits in the shop.

The project is “Acadian Peony” by Avlea Folk Embroidery, and you can find the kit available here in the shop – along with other similar kits – if you want to stitch it. (If they are out of stock, they will be restocked soon.

This is the same company that makes these very pretty needle minders that I carry.

I haven’t gotten Super Far on the project, but any progress is progress, says I.

I’m enjoying it. It worked out well this weekend, with the good rainy weather all day Saturday. I used it as my housework, laundry, and cooking carrot. Once I got chores done, dad situated, and a good book cued up on Audible, I enjoyed a couple hours of stitching by the window as the rain splattered about outside.

My whole working kit for this is fairly minimal – there’s the ground fabric; thread (which I pre-cut and put on thread-drops held together by a needle tube on a ring); a chart; scissors; a pencil; and a little collection of pins.

As I stuck the pins into this little heart on Saturday, I chuckled. That was about the extent of my nod to Valentine’s Day!

Because the project has two borders that run the length and width of the design, I used the pins to mark where the borders end. That way, I don’t have to count while I’m stitching. I have one “concentrated counting moment,” put the pins in, and just stitch to the pins. Everything else in the design can be counted from those two borders, so it really requires very little concentration.

As I mentioned before, my “home projects” (there aren’t too many of them – I do most stitching at the studio) have to be easily transportable, easily packed up, easy to see – essentially, they must be no-fuss projects. The less equipment required, the better!

When I mentioned this in my earlier post, I got a lot of feedback and a lot of questions about why I don’t have a stitching station at home, some advice on having duplicate equipment – lamps, magnifiers, stands, etc. – at home, so that I don’t have to transport equipment, and so forth.

Oh my friends! I’m not sure how to make it clearer that my house is small. I don’t have space for a needlework stand in my living room, or a magnifier, or even room for projects to stay out. The room is about 11 by 12 feet. That’s all the “living space” in the entire house. There is no other living room or den. Small House. And because it’s a small house, I have to be pretty choosy about what takes up space. I have the studio (my place of work) where I can spread out stitching stuff. I’m very grateful for what I have, and it doesn’t bother me to keep the Big Stitching Stuff at the studio. In fact, in the scheme of things, it just Makes Sense.

Besides, look!! What could be more satisfying than a project that reduces so tidily into a small pouch?

When I need to stitch, I can take it out, and when I’m finished, it packs right up into minimal space.

Soooo Satisfying.

So that was my weekend time spent with needle and thread. It was good! And now, here at work, I can get down to business with Big Stuff!

I hope your week is off to a tidy start! Hard to believe we’re over halfway through February!

From the front, they look like the same stitch, but the back tells a different story.

Then, earlier this week, I shared this tutorial with you for “faux” fly stitch, which is how one of the leaves was filled. The other is filled with regular fly stitch.

And while it’s a perfectly legit way to work a filling, there is a small problem with these leaves in particular, no matter which of the two stitches you use. I suggested that there was a problem and promised to talk about it and provide solutions.

But I know I’m going to be getting into some Sticky Territory here! It’s sticky, because the internet is overrun with projects, tutorials, and the like that actually promote the problem.

I think it’s a problem worth addressing, especially for those who plan to stick with embroidery for a while as a hobby, and who want to improve the long-term results of their stitching.

Here are the leaves again. They look pretty good, all taut and happy in the hoop!

And here is the back of the embroidery, where you can see the back of the leaves.

Not exactly lovely, fine. But as far as the back goes, it’s ok.

All looks well.

And really, it is well – but only in one particular circumstance. In every other circumstance, all is not well.

Let me explain…

If you leave these two leaves embroidered like this in the hoop as shown above (think: the “hoop art” trend), then there’s no problem with them (right now). Assume the hoop and fabric won’t be subjected to shifts in humidity, won’t be moved around much, and yes – all is well.

BUT…

If you plan to take this embroidery out of the hoop, if the finished product is meant for any use, if the fabric won’t be under the same tension, if the needlework will go through laundry, if you live in an environment prone to humidity, and many other circumstances that the embroidery could be subjected to, then all is not well.

And this is because of the size of the embroidered element and the choice of the filling stitches.

You can see here how long the longest stitches are on these leaves. They’re just under 3/4″ of an inch long.

That’s a long stitch. That’s a long distance for a thread to travel without any assistance to stay put.

Take the work out of the hoop, relieve the fabric of tension, move the fabric even just a little, and all of sudden, those stitches are not lying as smoothly. They aren’t as taut across the fabric. They aren’t as parallel as they were. They aren’t, in short, the same. They’ve relaxed.

Over time, they aren’t going to un-relax. They are going to relax more. They are subject to entropy, as all things are, and as time goes on, they will not keep their previously-pristine structure.

Turn the work over, and you can see that the stitches across the back are gaping.

If the shape were smaller, matters would be different. But on larger shapes, longer stitches are not desirable, unless they are somehow held in place. This is why, in laid work or on trellis stitches, it’s not enough to just work a grid of very long stitches that cross over each other. No indeed! You must couch the intersections on those long stitches, to hold the stitches in place.

Because they will shift.

Once upon a time, I recall watching a stitch video on satin stitch, where the stitcher (bless her heart) demonstrated satin stitch across a three-inch circle, using stranded cotton. While the video demonstrated the movement of the stitch, it also mislead a lot of people to believe that satin stitch was a good filling for a three-inch circle!

It’s simply not.

Filling large spaces with long stitches in embroidery is a recipe for disaster. If you want your embroidery to last and to look good over time, you have to consider the choice of fillings for large spaces.

Long stitches without some other technique to help them remain in place are never a good idea.

Does this mean you can never use these stitches for leaves? Absolutely not! You can! If you are using the stitches by themselves, use the stitches on smaller leaves:

And if you want to work Big Leaves with either the fly stitch or the “faux” fly stitch, you can do that, too – but you just need to enhance them a bit to give them more holding power.

On the somewhat messy example above (funny what shows up in close-up photos that you totally miss in real life!), on the left side of the stitch, I worked a backstitch down the leaf, following the general shape of the outline and set inside that half of the leaf. It holds the long stitches down.

On the right side of the leaf, I worked a stem stitch.

I could have gotten a bit more fancy (and I would have seen the messier stitches more clearly) by using a different shade of green, to liven up the leaf a little. Or, if you want the extra stitch lines to remain subtle, you can use the same color green as the foundation leaf, as I did in the sample.

That extra line of embroidery over the too-long stitches will hold those stitches in place, keeping them secure from shifting.

You can use any kind of line stitch for this approach. Experiment! You’ll likely come up with some beautiful and interesting combinations!

And that, my friends, brings our green-leaf discussion to a close.

If you want to read the backstory on these two leaves, here are the previous articles:

Stitches: What is What, and How to Tell
“Faux” Fly Stitch Tutorial

Have a lovely weekend!